Organ Accompaniment Notation Practices
  • Adam Bartlett
    Posts: 533
    Can anyone here offer their experience in typesetting (i.e. in Sibelius, Finale, etc.) chant accompaniments efficiently? I have done this effectively but it has been far far far from being efficient.

    I just seek to have stemless white notes for the harmony and stemless black notes for the melody. This seems to be the common practice and is found in many editions. When I do this in Sibelius it involves counting our "beats" in a measure, times signatures like 17/8 and so on, and lots and lots of deleting of rests in between the whole notes. The best way I have found to do this in Sibelius at least takes a half hour for just one setting. It is about 50 times more efficient writing these out by hand in my experience, but there are clear downfalls in this method. There must be a better way.

    Any thoughts?
  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,611
    In Finale you can tell it to remove the restriction that limits you to a certain number of notes in a measure.

    I find it simpler to count the melodic notes as 1/8 notes and set the measures that way...and telling it to hide the rests automatically.

    Go to STAFF and edit staff and group attributes to hide the stems and time signature, save it as a template.
  • Adam Bartlett
    Posts: 533
    Noel-- This is very helpful, thank you. I've been using Sibelius for close to a decade though... has anyone had similar success with Sibelius?
  • incantuincantu
    Posts: 989
    It's a pain, isn't it! Although, Noel's suggestions should help. You also have the option of laying the whole notes down as symbols, but then they will not actually play as part of the score. They will be anchored like expression marks or texts TO the staff, and not move with anything you input or change afterward.

    I'm trying to figure out a way to set words under psalm tone formulas without a similar hassle. I had serious thoughts today of giving my choir nothing but texts with my own handwritten neumes written above and telling them they were lucky I wasn't making them memorize everything.
  • Adam Bartlett
    Posts: 533
    @incantu-- Thank you for the thought. I'll have to do some experimenting... will definitely give this a shot.

    I'm trying to figure out a way to set words under psalm tone formulas without a similar hassle.


    Do you use Gregorio? This task would be a snap with it. Copy and paste in the text, drop your note names in the code, copy and paste reciting pitches, compile and 'zap'. Done. If you're auto-spacing words and neumes I definitely sympathize with your frustration!
  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,611
    In Finale I have gotten used to using the option + space bar to insert space between words so that the cursor does not jump to the next note. There must be a similar command in Sib?
  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,611
    Actually, I have been pointing the entire set of NAB Psalms, more than half done, for Anglican Chant. I don't see any reason why you could not point texts for gregorian tones in that manner...

    I did the Reproaches last night for a friend in Singapore and the pointing took 10 minutes...

    [yes, I know that we are leaving NAB behind, but I felt it would be good training for myself. Seems a better use of my time than arguing about the Roman Rite with people who don't like it, follow it, believe in it....but feel that they have to enlighten us poor believers.

    I spent part of the evening with a Baptist preacher friend tonight who told of helping a family in the backwoods...stopped to meet them and they told him that their daughter Sarah had been sick and bedridden, but they got her a cure...went out, got a live minnow ahd had her swallow it and it made her right as rain....some people are just set in their ways.]
  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,611
    If you hide all rests then you can drop in whole notes for accompaniment wherever you need them, drop in rests to space them right (they will not show) and people will just hold the whole notes out until they change.
  • Adam Bartlett
    Posts: 533
    Has anyone here attempted organ accompaniments in Lilypond? Anyone with Lilypond experience to share?
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