Discuss Notion Music Composition Software here.
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A single dynamic mark applies only to one half of a grand staff? This is news to me but it seems to be what I'm finding.
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by michaelmyers1 on Mon Oct 02, 2017 10:37 pm
Dynamic marks are quirky in Notion, and I've found them to be even quirkier for grand staves.

At one time I thought that if the mark was placed between the two staves that it would affect both. However, recent experiments have led me to think, like you, that this is not the case, and basically one has to duplicate the marks for upper and lower staves if playback is to be correct.

Anyone else have any insight on this?

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by Surf.Whammy on Tue Oct 03, 2017 8:59 am
Pianists usually play with both hands, and there's no rule that says the left hand must be doing the same thing as the right hand . . .

In fact, it's usually the case that the left hand and the right hand are doing very different things . . .

The left hand usually plays bass, and the right hand usually plays chords and melodies . . .

The perspective here in the sound isolation studio is that it's logical to treat the two staves separately unless there is a specific reason to treat them identically . . .

THOUGHTS

The best example I have at present is the grand piano in the Intro section of "Sweet Hour of Prayer", where I made the bass clef notes louder to emphasize the bass . . .

This is the original music notation for the slow part; and I think the dynamic marks apply to both clefs . . .

[NOTE: This is done in NOTION 6 with the original dynamics, and it's loud and from my perspective a bit annoying. Later, I did some arranging and producing; and I adjusted the dynamics and kept the tempo consistent at 84 BPM; but I left the ritardando . . . ]

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There is a tempo change and other stuff, but I left it as notated for this version, since the original goal was to provide a version for a piano student to be able to hear how the sheet music sounded when played on a grand piano . . .

It was not my composition, and I did not write the music notation . . .

I just transcribed it . . .

However, after listening to it many times and perhaps hours of hearing it played at a tempo of perhaps 10 beats per minute, I decided to make it sound good according to my "by ear" definition of "good". . .

Once I decided to arrange and produce the song, I added a Fender Jazz Bass via SampleTank 3 (IK Multimedia) to emphasize the deep bass; but in the fast part of the song I used a MachFive 3 (MOTU) Jazz Bass; and the fast part was a song I composed for one of my pretend musical groups, so it's completely different from the slow part . . .

[NOTE: The music for the slow part was composed in the mid-19th century, as were the lyrics. I used the complete lyrics in the fast part but sang it monotone with a monotone minor third harmony doing the same thing; and I added a female soprano via Blue (Realivox) and Kontakt 5 (Native Instruments) . . . ]

The SampleTank 3 Jazz Bass is played with fingers rather than a guitar pick, so it's a softer tone . . .

[NOTE: The slow part is a standard church song, and it's probable that I heard it in church sometime, but if I did then it went in one ear and immediately out the other ear. This is the melody that I think fits the original piano (see above); and I specifically have not listened to any other renditions of the song. I probably will listen to some of the other renditions, but for now I don't want to be influenced by the way other folks do the slow part . . . ]

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The primary reason for emphasizing the bass in the slow part was to demonstrate the importance of the bass lines, which are completely separate from the chords and melody . . .

If you get the bass right, then everything works . . .

One of the best examples of the importance of bass is "Heartbreak Hotel" (Elvis Presley) . . .

When you get the bass right, Elvis sounds fantastic . . .

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It's the rule, and it's a good rule . . .

On a related note, some pianos have a separate pedal that does bass sustain (center pedal); so there is a bit of evidence that the left hand needs to be doing something different form the right hand-- at least some of the time--when playing piano . . .

Lots of FUN! :)

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Sinkhorn's Dilemma: Every paradox has at least one non-trivial solution!
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by johnnewberry on Tue Oct 03, 2017 11:20 am
Hello.
The quick solution is to use the staff's voices 1 and 2.
You can then have separate dynamic markings for the upper and lower staves of the Grand staff and other type of staves in Notion.
Two voices on a voyage.JPG

Two voices on a voyage.notion
(51.01 KiB) Downloaded 382 times

,Newberry

:arrow:
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by michaelmyers1 on Tue Oct 03, 2017 8:04 pm
I thought that the original poster was surprised by the fact that in Notion one is forced to enter two identical sets of markings for playback, where one marking would only be required normally in a score to indicate the dynamics for both staves.

But I might have misunderstood.

iMac (Retina 5K 27", 2019) 3.6 ghz I9 8-core 64 gb RAM Fusion Drive
with small AOC monitor for additional display
macOS Ventura 13.4
2 - 500 gb + 2 - 1 tb external SSD for sample libraries
M Audio AirHub audio interface
Nektar Panorama P1 control surface
Nektar Impact 49-key MIDI keyboard
Focal CMS40 near-field monitors
JBL LSR310S subwoofer
Notion 6 + Studio One 5 Pro

http://www.tensivity.com
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by michaelmyers1 on Tue Oct 03, 2017 8:06 pm
johnnewberry wroteHello.
The quick solution is to use the staff's voices 1 and 2.
You can then have separate dynamic markings for the upper and lower staves of the Grand staff and other type of staves in Notion.
Two voices on a voyage.JPG

Two voices on a voyage.notion

,Newberry

:arrow:

One has to be careful with this, as you can have up to 4 voices per staff, or 8 voices total on a grand staff. If you mix them top and bottom, it will confuse Notion. This is an ongoing bug that needs to be addressed.

iMac (Retina 5K 27", 2019) 3.6 ghz I9 8-core 64 gb RAM Fusion Drive
with small AOC monitor for additional display
macOS Ventura 13.4
2 - 500 gb + 2 - 1 tb external SSD for sample libraries
M Audio AirHub audio interface
Nektar Panorama P1 control surface
Nektar Impact 49-key MIDI keyboard
Focal CMS40 near-field monitors
JBL LSR310S subwoofer
Notion 6 + Studio One 5 Pro

http://www.tensivity.com
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by johnnewberry on Tue Oct 03, 2017 9:17 pm
michaelmyers1 wroteAt one time I thought that if the mark was placed between the two staves that it would affect both.

An note/event on the upper staff of a Grand staff is scanned/read before the bottom staff.
If the dynamic markings are placed on the bottom staff the upper can't read what has already past in the time of its scan point.
But placing the dynamic mark on the upper staff will feed the bottom Grand staff dynamic changes as a rule, if the voice number is the same.
Again, separate voices are needed in order to have separate dynamic levels playback on the upper and lower staves of a Grand staff.

,Newberry

:arrow:
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by michaelmyers1 on Tue Oct 03, 2017 9:42 pm
John, so if I understand correctly, then dynamic markings placed below the upper staff will affect notes on both staves?

If that's correct, I think it addresses the OP issues.

iMac (Retina 5K 27", 2019) 3.6 ghz I9 8-core 64 gb RAM Fusion Drive
with small AOC monitor for additional display
macOS Ventura 13.4
2 - 500 gb + 2 - 1 tb external SSD for sample libraries
M Audio AirHub audio interface
Nektar Panorama P1 control surface
Nektar Impact 49-key MIDI keyboard
Focal CMS40 near-field monitors
JBL LSR310S subwoofer
Notion 6 + Studio One 5 Pro

http://www.tensivity.com
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by thomasbaxter on Wed Oct 04, 2017 8:52 pm
Michael Myers is correct. I thought only would marking would be necessary.

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