Editing Instrument (Track) Names

Composer optionally displays instrument names in the left margin of the window or printed page. Each track has a "long name" and an "abbreviation". Many MIDI files have track names that are so long that too much of the printed page or viewing area of the screen would be wasted. Therefore, you might want to abbreviate the track names. In addition, you can specify a long track name for the beginning of the score, and an abbreviation for subsequent pages of the score. This is a common practice in orchestral scores.

Composer allows you to specify whether a long name or short name is displayed after the first page of a given part. Or, you can omit the display of track names altogether. Look further down this topic for details.

To change a track name:

1.      Enter Window View by choosing the Window View command in the View menu.

     -- OR --

     Type "qwv" for Quick Window View.

2.      Make sure that the track controls are visible at the start of the track, by choosing the Show Track Controls option from the View menu. The track controls look like this:

3.      Click the instrument sound button for one of the tracks.

      Composer will display a Track Setup dialog box such as the following:

4.      Type in a new long name and an abbreviation.

5.      Click OK to save the change(s).

Alternatively, if you need to change the names of several tracks at once, you can use the multiple Track Setup window.

To change several track names at once:

1.      Choose the Track Setup command from the Track menu.

     Composer will display the Track Setup dialog box, such as below:

2.      Change the track name and/or abbreviation in the first and second columns of the upper panel.

3.      Click OK to complete any track name change(s).

To specify whether the track name and/or abbreviation (or neither) are to be displayed on pages and staff systems throughout the current part:

     Follow instructions in the topic Showing and Hiding Instrument Names.

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