Re: [Finale] long, flat slurs

2013-03-28 Thread Mark D Lew
>Is there a way to flatten long slurs easily? I know it's been discussed
>here in the past, but I don't think a solution was given.

This has for many many years been one of my main complaints (and feature 
requests) for Finale.  The problem is that Finale relies on a Bezier curve for 
all slurs.  The Bezier equation is a powerful one and can achieve many shapes, 
but it can't match everything and one thing it simply can't do is have a long 
straight section in the middle while maintaining soft curves at the end.

I'm only familiar with Finale. Does Sibelius or any other engraving program use 
anything other than Bezier curves for slurs?

The solution, mathematically, is to add another variable to the equation which 
specifies a length of line segment to interpolate in the middle. The drawing 
routine would then not just draw a Bezier curve; rather, it would draw a Bezier 
curve, cut it in half at the midpoint, insert a line segment of length x 
centered at that midpoint with the same slope, and attach the two halves of the 
curve at either end.

>From the user's point of view, this would involve little change. All slurs 
>currently possible would fit into this standard with a line segment value of 
>zero. A new handle or other input could be added to let users tweak this new 
>variable, but the others would still be in place. Users could play with the 
>new handle if they like, or they could ignore it. For most of us, we would 
>ignore it except when there's a long slur that looks ugly, in which case we'd 
>stretch out the middle until it looks good.

This scheme, by the way, exactly parallels what engravers have traditionally 
done for generations. Slurs were drawn with a curve template, but when they are 
particularly long one would use the curve template at both ends and draw the 
middle part with a straight edge.

mdl

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Re: [Finale] long, flat slurs

2013-03-28 Thread Chuck Israels
And the ugliest to my eye is when slurs cross systems.  I adjust them by hand 
but always find the results less than satisfactory, and I don't think I am 
among the most picky.

Chuck


On Mar 28, 2013, at 9:19 AM, SN jef chippewa  
wrote:

> 
> james ingram (copyist for stocki 1974-2000 or so) exported his 
> finale-generated files and worked on them using an external graphics 
> programme (with custom plugins) for such things.
> 
> as robert pointed out, there is simply no native solution.
> 
> 
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Chuck Israels
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Re: [Finale] long, flat slurs

2013-03-28 Thread SN jef chippewa

james ingram (copyist for stocki 1974-2000 or so) exported his 
finale-generated files and worked on them using an external graphics 
programme (with custom plugins) for such things.

as robert pointed out, there is simply no native solution.


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Re: [Finale] long, flat slurs

2013-03-28 Thread Robert Patterson
There is no solution that I have ever found that was good enough. I have
tried using custom lines with hand-crafted endpoints, but I was never
satisfied with the result.

It is a mysterious and frustrating omission of all notation programs that I
am aware of. It is doubly so for Finale, since Finale clearly used Ted
Ross's book as an authoritative source, and Ross spells out long slurs
pretty clearly.

On Thu, Mar 28, 2013 at 10:54 AM, Ryan  wrote:

> Is there a way to flatten long slurs easily? I know it's been discussed
> here in the past, but I don't think a solution was given.
> I'd like to have long slurs that resemble those in the string parts of this
> example<
> http://javanese.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/3/34/IMSLP71597-PMLP46407-Nielsen_-_Symphony_No._3_-_II._Andante_pastorale.pdf
> >
> .
> Thanks!
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>
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