On May 31, 2009, at 8:53 PM, Adam Golding wrote:
2009/5/31 John Howell <john.how...@vt.edu>
At 2:22 PM -0700 5/31/09, Eric Dannewitz wrote:
No, that is NOT Speedy. Speedy allows you to be holding down a chord
and then deciding on the notes value. Sibelius, as far as I know,
does
not have this.
I fully realize that different people have different ways of
working, but I
find this particular argument (duration before pitch or pitch before
duration) rather amusing. In hand copying (remember doing THAT,
anyone?!!),
you do both simultaneously, placing a note on a line or space and
making it
black or white, and then finish up the details. And that goes
clear back to
monks with featers! Any computer program breaks that down and
requires
doing one and then the other. Big deal! The human mind is really
a bit
more flexible that that.
I used Mosaic for years, and I honestly can't remember the order
for entry.
Duration first, I think, using the number keys, then pitch entry
(which
would make it more similar to Sibelius), but I honestly can't
remember how
the pitch was entered, except that mousing it (as always) was the
least
desirable option. (So soon we forget!!) But I can't remember
getting
emotionally involved about it, either.
John
For what it's worth, when improvising or composing at the piano,
you hit a
note first, and then later choose when to change notes or stop the
note.
And when composing on paper you can write black noteheads without
rhythms,
or rhythms without pitches, and that flexibility can be very useful
(in
fact, I wish there were more cases of computer composition
environments
allowing composition in such an 'abstract' manner where not all
parameters
are initially specified..).
Oh yeah, that's for sure! Having to specify the exact rhythm right
away is what keeps me from using Finale as a composition tool. I can
only go to Finale once I know what I am doing, after the pencil
sketch stage at the earliest.
As for John not getting emotionally involved with his tools, well I
guess some people think like that. Not me, though. Even when I use
paper and pencil I still need my brand of paper and the kind of
pencil I am used to, or it is a distraction. It doesn't take much to
derail my train of thought when I'm in creative mode.
Christopher
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