"Mark D. Lew" wrote: > I still think the answer for making EL and TIS compatible is to add a > function that organizes the data in the lyric pool. > > Obviously the software can figure out what syllable is currently assigned > to what note, so it can go through the lyric pool to sort out and clean up > the data without actually altering what syllable appears under any note. > There can be a designated sort order just like you'd do in a database -- > something like staff first, then deck, then front to back. An Organize > Lyric Data function would establish one-to-one correspondence between > syllables and notes (so that you don't end up with one syllable assigned to > more than one note, which can lead to unpleasant surprises if you alter one > of them with TIS) and then re-order all the syllables according to the sort > pattern.
Well, there are times when one wants syllables assigned to more than one note. I sometimes use this when I do hymns which have a descant sung only to the last stanza. In this case, I assign the topmost staff to the descant, the middle staff to the soprano / alto, and the bottom staff to the tenor bass. If the descant scans substantially the same as the last stanza, then I will assign the same set of lyrics to both the top and middle staves. Still, I agree with your suggestions about a function to sort the lyrics block. I suspect this can be implemented as a plug in. : specify how you want the lyrics sorted, what behaviour you would like for orphans (I do not want all orphans moved; I purposely create them for the purpose of setting place markers in the lyrics block: in my files, if you want to see where the lyrics for the Alto staff, you've but to locate the [ALTO] syllable, and they are located between that label, and the one which reads [TENOR]), and what to do about one syllable attached to two notes, on the one hand, or two notes attached to the same syllable, on the other.. Once the sort behavior is defined, then the plug in can go through, access the notes, in the specified order, and order the syllables in the lyrics block accordingly. I wrote > > Mark's desire for a built in zoom is not a > >priority of mine, but I can see how it might be useful in some > >circumstances. and Mark responded > I'm not sure what the difference between "built in zoom" and "independent > zoom" is. the only difference is that I was too lazy to go back and see exactly what Mark wrote, so I could quote it exactly. In this context, I see the two terms as equivalent. > As long as we're complaining about the lyric system, here's one that hasn't > come up yet. > > Am I the only who wrestles with situations where two syllables are too > close for a hyphen to comfortably fit in between, but not close enough to > read nicely without one? No, you're not the only one. But I found a really good solution to the problem a while ago which doesn't involve Finale. When confronted with this problem, I've taken to switching to fonts from suppliers other than Microsoft and Finale for lyrics and certain text blocks. One thing that neither MS (and I understand this to be true for MAC, too) nor Finale make available for lyrics is a "condensed font". If we use Times as an example, Times condensed is a font which is as tall, and where the characters have the same width of stroke, but where the characters are narrower. There are a number of collections available which contain condensed fonts. There are several collections, "1,111 Selected Fonts" from Hemming (cf <http://www.hemming.co.uk>, which also contains a music font, "Sonata light") is one; another is the collection "Click Art : Fonts 2" from Broderbund is another; as are "4000 fonts" from Topic Entertainment (cf <http://www.topics-ent.com>), and the "2000 fonts" collection from Greenstreet (cf. <http://greenstreetsoftware.com>). I don't think I paid more than about $20.00 (US) for any of these collections. Advanced word processing software packages also include a certain number of condensed fonts, though one should investigate the licensing on these before using them with Finale; some of these may be licensed only for use with the particular software package with which they were bundled. By the way, this is how some engravers and typesetters solved the problems; in some cases, typing most of the lyric in a normal width, and using condensed versions of the same font only when abosultely needed. ns _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
