Staff Rules
Standard drum staves
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A standard drum staff follows the usual notation for
drummers.
It is a staff whose clef is composed of two vertical
lines:
To change a regular staff into a standard drum
staff, select "Staff>Change type".
A default rule set, matching the most commonly used
notation, is automatically
added to the staff.
A standard drum staff is defined by a rule
set. When the staff is created, a default rule set is chosen. This rule
set depends on the drum set you select.
Generally speaking, all instruments used by this kind of
staff are drum
instruments. It is thus possible to use pitch as a criterion.
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Important: A default effect
processor can be related to each instrument. In case
of drum staves, the whole staff uses the effect processor defined in
the
default instrument (which can be edited by clicking the
icon in the staff margin). |
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To avoid any confusion, drum staves as they existed in previous
versions of Harmony-Melody will
be called grid drum staves in this version.
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Question:
What does a grid drum staff look like? |
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Here is an example of three grid staves:
Only one instrument is related to each staff: High Bongo, Cabasa and
Triangle.
These three staves can be written in a single
standard drum staff:
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Question:
How do I transfer grid drum
staves to a standard drum staff? |
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Select the whole set of grid staves and copy them.
Select the standard
drum staff and paste.
Notes will be displayed differently on the standard
staff according to the rule they are following (the instrument they are
played on).
If rules already exist for the target standard
drum staff, they will be given priority.
If no rule matches the instrument of the pasted
note, a new rule is created.
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Note:
Drum instruments with the same name but belonging
to different drum sets are considered to be different.
Thus the 'Snare-Drum' instrument from a 'Jazz'
set is not the same as the 'Snare-Drum' instrument from an 'Orchestra'
set. |
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Question:
How do I transfer a standard drum staff to grid drum staves? |
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Open the staff pop-up menu by clicking on the black
triangle on the left, and select "Split staff according
to rules". The staff is split into as many grid staves as there are
rules
in the rule set.
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Tip:
A grid staff is generated for each rule, even
if the rule does not include any notes. Some empty grid staves may
therefore
appear. To avoid this, edit the rule set and "Purge" it before
splitting. |
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Question:
How do I change the symbol for all the notes following a rule? |
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As was described above, it is automatic. Edit the
rule, change its criteria and click OK.
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Question:
How do I change the instrument corresponding to a given note? |
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This is a matter of changing the note's symbol so
that it matches a new rule.
If the rule is based on note pitch, click on
the note, keep the mouse button depressed and move the note up or down.
If the rule is based on note head shape, deselect
the note length in the note palette, then select the required shape in
the note display palette. The mouse pointer is now a syringe
indicating
that current settings will be injected into the note. Click on
the
notes you want to change.
If the rule is based on color, follow the same
procedure, but select a color instead of a shape in the note display
palette.
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Tip:
It is possible to select up to 256 different
colors. Some of these colors are very similar, and can be confused
with each other. To make a note follow a color-dependent rule, however,
the exact color is needed. Thus, rules use a reduced color set,
in which colors can be easily differentiated. To activate this reduced
color set, select the color selection icon with the shift key
depressed,
or right-click on it. |
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