Notation Composer and Musician 233 maintenance release

[Mark Walsen (markwa)]

Hello Notation Composer and Musician Users,

If you are using Notation Composer or Musician version 2.0 through 2.3.2, you are encouraged to update to version 2.3.3. You can review the version number of Composer or Musician by using the About command in the Help menu.

Visit the following web page for a description of the feature enhancements and bug fixes in the various releases 2.0 up to 2.3.3, and for instructions for updating to the latest version 2.3.3:

http://notation.com/ComposerWebUpdate.php

or

http://notation.com/MusicianWebUpdate.php

<blockquote>IMPORANT: If you are using Windows Vista and are using Notation Composer or Musician version 2.3, 2.3.1 or 2.3.2 , then the Help / Software Updates / Install command will not work. Instead, run the following program that was installed with Composer or Musician on your system: <font face="courier new">\ProgramFiles\Notation\Composer\wupdate.exe or \ProgramFiles Notation\Musician\wupdate.exe</font></blockquote>

Cheers
-- Mark

[M G Jacobs (mgj32)]

Hi Mark,

Is there any way to install 2.3.3 to a directory other than Program Files\Notation? 2.3.2 was not opening some files created in other versions, and looking at the release notes, I didn't notice that the bug causing program termination at address 0X000000000000 had been found. So I thought I'd install 2.3.3 to its own directory to try it out. But with the option of installing to another directory than \Notation missing, I'm not sure how to go about this, as it would surely involve registry editing.

Thanks,
mgj

[Mark Walsen (markwa)]

Hello MG,

If you'd like to install 2.3.3 in a separate directly, then you'll need to download a complete version of 2.3.3, following the instructions at www.notation.com/Redownload.php (http://www.notation.com/Redownload.php)

That should work easily.

Cheers
-- Mark

[M G Jacobs (mgj32)]

Hi again,

quote: you'll need to download a complete version of 2.3.3

This is what I did, but the screen that allows selection of an alternate directory never came up.

all best,
mgj

[Mark Walsen (markwa)]

Hello MG,

<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>quote:</font>

This is what I did, but the screen that allows selection of an alternate directory never came up. <!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>The setup file you have downloaded should be named NotationComposer233Setup.exe. When you run the setup, the third panel/step will be named "Select Destination Folder." Did you follow these steps?

Good luck!

Cheers
-- Mark

[M G Jacobs (mgj32)]

Hi Mark,

Everything seems in order, except that the install program goes from the agreement screen, to the wizard-ready one that gives space requirement and the directory, which is Program Files\Notation.

It may be moot now, since I clicked "next" to see if the folder choice screen just might come next, and 233 installed.

all best,
mgj

[M G Jacobs (mgj32)]

Hi Mark,

The last version I have that offers the directory selection, with the browse button, is 2.05. 2.12 detects 2.3.3, as do those beyond, of which I have full versions. I recall that neither 2.2 nor 2.3.2 offered the directory choice.

all best,
mgj

[M G Jacobs (mgj32)]

Hi Mark,

After a number of sessions using 2.3.3, I'm happy to report that I have done everything that was causing frequent crashes in 2.3.2 (and a lot more) with no problems, other than the curious one where my settings seemed to drop one of the screens in the install program.

all best,
mgj

[Mark Walsen (markwa)]

Hello MG,

Thanks for your report that 2.3.3 has cured the serious crashing problems that were introduced recently in version 2.3.2. This is very good news for all of us!

Cheers
-- Mark

[M G Jacobs (mgj32)]

Hi Mark,

When a staff in 2.33 has two voices, I find that the two voices sound as an instrument not designated--strings rather than voices, for example--or do not sound. This is true when replaying a .not file, but not when the same files is played as a .mid file.

I am enclosing a .mid file, rather than the .not file because of size; however, you should be able to hear the changes if you will:

1 Save the file as a .not file and open it.
2.Play the Banjo from measure 49, where there is an upper and a lower voice, as well as Voices measure 228. The banjo will not sound and the voices in 228 become strings.
3. Save the file as a .mid file and open it.
4. Play the same measures. The designated instruments will be restored.

<center><table border=1><tr><td>http://www.notation.com/discus/icons/attachment_icon.gifexample .mid file
no more auction block annotate 4.mid (http://www.notation.com/discus/messages/36062/no_more_auction_block_annotate_4-35250.mid) (40.2 k)</td></tr></table></center>

all best,
mgj

[Sherry Crann (sherry)]

Howdy MG,

Hmmm.... I followed your steps listed above, and I'm not hearing the problem on my setup. I even closed Composer after saving the .mid as a .not, and then opened just the .not in the new session, and the banjo played fine at 49 and following, as well as the voices in measure 228 and following. (You should call Bela Fleck with this, btw!)

There's a little test we can do here. Let's see if the problem on your system happens with a smaller file. To do this,

1. Please use Region/select, and select just the banjo staff, measures 48 - 49. This gives us the measure before you hear the problem (ie single voice) and then the two-voice measure for comparison.

2. Then "Edit/Copy" to copy those two measures to the clipboard.

3. Now, "File/New from clipboard" to create a new song file with just those two measures.

4. Try playing this new file, and see if the problem persists.

If you're still hearing the problem with just those two measures, then it will help us immensely in figuring it out, as there will be much less clutter in the way of finding the problem.

Do let us know what transpires!

ttfn,
Sherry

[M G Jacobs (mgj32)]

Hi Sherry,

I did as you asked, and there were no problems with the banjo. I also added a clarinet and wrote in some harmony. Still no problem.

I tried the whole .not file again, soloed the banjo, and where the upper and lower voices begin, the banjo part, both voices, became strings. (There are no notes on the two staves between the banjo and the strings, below.)

This is what I referred to as "bleeding staves" before, and the problem is, I think, exactly the same.

The bleeding does not occur in 2.22 when played as a .mid file. Making the measures in question into a not very good looking single voice, also solves the playback problem.

This file was not done in 2.33. I had to uninstall that and install 2.2, then open and save it in 2.2 in order to get it into a format that 2.33 would open. It is possible that the bleeding staves problem was imported from the 2.2 save.

I don't have anything of any length made in 2.33, unfortunately, to test.

I do not know the name Bela Fleck, I'm afraid, though it may come to me when I'm not trying to place it.

all best,
mgj

[Sherry Crann (sherry)]

Howdy MG,

Bela Fleck is a banjo player supreme, who has played all sorts of styles of music on his banjo from bluegrass to Bach, and would probably love to do something like your piece here. You can check him out at http://www.belafleck.com/

Re. the problem, with the file having such a winding history, we probably wouldn't be able to pin down where the problem was picked up. If you find that this type of thing happens when you're creating a new file with 2.3.3., though, please let me know.

ttfn,
Sherry

[David Jacklin (dj)]

Hi, all:

Contrary to MG's experience with V2.3.3, I'm getting all kinds of CTD's with V2.3.3.

So, many, in fact, that I really can't pinpoint the problem. They appear to be randomly related to mode changes and can appear after changing of pitch, changing velocities, changing lyrics, changing piano roll lengths, changing voice assignments and so on.

The common denominator here is change. I cannot duplicate any of these because they happen in the midst of events at random times. The same set of events can fail to cause the crash the next time.

Now, I am running with a very full hard drive and that may have something to do with it.

Or not.

I am trying to find one that can be duplicated to post.

David

[Sherry Crann (sherry)]

Howdy David and MG,

Please do let us know if you find a reproducible ("repro") case. I have not been able to get this bug to show it's face here, and it's difficult for us to find and fix a bug we can't see (and hear).

How full is your hard drive? And MG, does this sound like a feasible hypothesis for your situation?

Thanks guys!
Sherry

[M G Jacobs (mgj32)]

Hi Sherry, David,

I am duplicating, measure by measure, by hand, the two already almost identical files, in one of which strings bleed into measures with upper and lower voices for banjo, and in one of which all sounds as it should.
Surely, there will come a point at which one duplicative action will make the banjo cut out and the strings in, in the file that now works. That should produce a repro.

My HD has better than 2/3 of its 250 GB free, and I defrag it fairly regularly.

David, what you are getting sounds a lot like what I was getting with 2.3.2. The actions that seemed to provoke a crash were varied, and the only common action had been changing pitches, usually by an octave, either seconds or several minutes before.

all best,
mgj

[David Jacklin (dj)]

Hi, MG, Sherry:

I'm trying to find a repro.

My hard drives are 'way full! I'm trying to take off what I don't need, but I need it all.

MG. Your description of your 2.3.2 problem is what I'm experiencing with 2.3.3, but it happens with quite a few different actions, not only with pitch changes. However, octave changes have been one case.

I'll put some stuff down and try to organise it.

David

[Mark Walsen (markwa)]

Hello David,

That you hard drives are way full might underlie the crashes you've seen in Composer would be an explanation probably only if no virtual memory is left. If exhaustion of virtual memory is the explanation of the crashes in Composer, then you probably would also be seeing your whole system slowing down prior to the crash. You would not only see Composer slowing down, but any other running app. And you probably would not be able to launch new apps. Have you seen these symptoms of slowdown that would be associated with exhaustion of virtual memory?

Also, when you find that Composer is crashing a lot, then it would be a good idea to bang on some other apps in the same Windows session, with or without Composer also running. Do other Windows apps also misbehave? If so, then the search for the problem probably needs to go beyond Composer; and exhaustion of virtual memory is a fairly likely explanation.

Cheers
-- Mark

[Herbert WENDE (herbert)]

Hi Sherry, Mark,

1. Open a .not file. The meter is 4/4. Write eight times a note. Each note is followed by a rest. Notes and rests are 1/16 in value.

2. Save as .mid file.

3. Open the new mid file

The rests have disappeared and the notes are now 1/8 in value. If shorter notes are used, the rests vanish similarly.

There are two problems:

1. .mid files can not be used in many instances, though often necessary for further processing.

2. “Save as” is usually used for renaming a file, by not having the original file overwritten, when saving the file under a new name. “Save as” .mid or any other format in Composer is a file conversion. It should be done separately from “Save as”, to prevent accidental changes of the .not file. Alternatively, the newly converted file could be opened, with the original file closed.

It would be helpful to always have the file extension displayed.

Best wishes,

Herbert

[Mark Walsen (markwa)]

Hello Herbert,

Regarding #2, it is definitely in the plan to change File / Save As / Type = MIDI to File / Export MIDI. (It's our internal task #1394, with a very high benefit/cost ratio = 300).

Regarding #1, when you use the File / Save As / Type = MIDI command, set a check mark for "Quantize the note locations and durations as notated." You're probably already doing that. The problem happens when Composer reads back the MIDI file. What you probably want here is an option to "notate literally".

I would be reluctant to add a "notate the MIDI literally" option, because it could easily blow up. If the user opens an un-quantized MIDI file with that option, the resulting notation would be an absolute disaster of "over-notating", and Notation Composer would look like it had the worse MIDI-to-notation transcription in the market rather than the best.

If you want to understand why Notation Composer's transcription rounds up the note value, then try the following experiment: Instead of following the steps in your above example in which you manually add the notes with the mouse, record them from a keyboard. Do your absolute best to play the notes as 16th notes on the quarter note beat. Save the recording as a MIDI file. Then reopen the MIDI file in Composer. See how it has notated your performance. Then reopen that MIDI file in another notation program, and see how it notated your performance. Which notation is cleaner? Or, would you prefer the notation that shows the first 16th note as a double-dotted 32nd note, and the second 16th note as a 16-note note tied to a 64th, to perfectly transcribe your inevitably imperfect performance? ;-) That's what Notation Composer's transcription is about. That's what 99.9% of Notation Composer want. Perhaps I could add the literal transcription option, but I think it would only result many customer support requests about confusion over the messy transcription the resulted from misuse of the option.

If this is really important to you, I'd appreciate your explaining the musical scenario where this option would be important.

Cheers
-- Mark

[Herbert WENDE (herbert)]

Hi Mark,

Thank you for your quick response.

As requested, here is the musical scenario in reference to the .not to .mid conversion:

I am finalizing an arrangement for a 15 min Andrew Lloyd Webber show, to be performed in two weeks. The 1/16 notes and rests mentioned in my bug report are a closed timpani roll. The rests are important for producing a closed roll.

It sounds great when played back from composer. However I need to add further instruments and polish off the musical arrangement in Cubase. For this, a midi file is required. The timpani roll does not sound acceptable in Cubase due to the conversion error by Composer.

A midi file exported by Composer must exactly reflect Composer’s .not file, to be of use.


Best wishes,

Herbert

[David Jacklin (dj)]

Hi, Mark:

I have had one pop-up saying that virtual memory was low -- although I wasn't running Composer at the time.

I've taken several gigs of stuff off my C drive and my computer is running faster now, so that probably tells us something.

However, I continue to have some random CTD's with Composer. One yesterday that I was nearly able to repro, but no luck. I'll keep trying to break it!

David

[Mark Walsen (markwa)]

Hi David,

Even if you don't yet have a consistent repro, if you have some suspicions about the the conditions are, please let me know.

Cheers
-- Mark

[Mark Walsen (markwa)]

Hello Herbert,

Thanks for your description of the musical scenario in which the MIDI performance of the timpani roll is compromised during your editing with Composer.

I believe that you can avoid this problem with the tools already available in Composer. The important option named "Quantize the note locations and durations as notated" in the File / Save As command. To see that option, you must select MIDI File as the File Type in the File / Save As dialog box.

Perhaps you have already been using that option but are still having problems. Here's how I suspect the problem is happening: Initially, you manually add the 16th notes on the quarter note beats. These notes sound right: they sound short relative to the beat, as they are held for one quarter of each beat. You then save the MIDI file using the "Quantize the note locations and durations as notated" option. When you play the MIDI file in Cubase, it sounds right. So far, so good. You reopen the MIDI file in Composer. The 16th notes now appear as 8th notes on the quarter beat. If you play the song in Composer now, it still sounds correct. Although the notes are displayed as 8th notes according to Composer's transcription, the notes are still correctly played as 16th notes. Composer has not changed the underlying MIDI timing of the notes. So far, half good. The part that is half good is that the notes are still played correctly. The part that is half bad is that the notes are displayed as 8th notes rather than 16th notes: Composer does not literally write out exact timing of notes, because usually this is undesirable. (See my post above on that subject.) Now, if you save the song a second time as a MIDI file, using the "Quantize the note locations and durations as notated" option, there is a problem! The 8th notes are saved as MIDI 8th notes rather than 16th notes. If you then play the saved MIDI file in Cubase, the crispness of the original 16th notes is lost: you'll hear 8th notes instead.
That's the problem. So, what can we do to deal with the problem?

In the long run, maybe there is some option I could add in Composer to literally transcribe MIDI rhythms upon opening a MIDI file. But I'm reluctant to do for the reasons described in my previous post in this thread.

Another possible solution in the long run is to use MusicXML as the file exchange format between Composer and your preferred external MIDI sequencer (e.g., Cubase). The MusicXML file format preserves both the MIDI timing of notes and the notated rhythms. MusicXML won't help you now because Composer does not yet support importing of MusicXML; and Cubase doesn't support either importing or exporting of MusicXML.

Another possible solution in the short-run would be for you to use Composer's MIDI sequencing tools: piano roll, note velocity, and MIDI graphs. However, you almost certainly have a good reason for going to Cubase for its MIDI sequencing tools instead. What tools are missing in Composer that you use in Cubase?

Note, I've already implemented advanced MIDI sequencing features for a Pro verison of Composer, including MIDI event lists and support for SysEx. Right now, however, I'm focusing 3.0 efforts on more basic usability and software quality issues.

Cheers
-- Mark

[Herbert WENDE (herbert)]

Hi Mark,

No file that has been created in Composer should ever be reinterpreted and changed by Composer. Equally, no file created in other software and successfully loaded into Composer, should ever be changed subsequently by Composer. Composer’s behavior to the contrary is a very serious shortcoming, whether by design or by mistake. The user needs to have full control over the creation of the music. The user needs to have full confidence in the integrity of Composer’s music files.

I do not accept, that there is a need for Composer to change a Composer’s midi file, while the .not file does not need a similar change according to Composer’ protocol, or for any reason. Disaster will not strike the unsuspecting Composer user, when the composition remains unaltered by Composer, no matter how odd the music might be.

A good number of Composer users, if not most, might want to put their music to some proper use, requiring the communication of music files to other devices. Midi files are the most commonly used files for this purpose.

In this case, Composer does away with rests between notes for the presumed better of the music. This is not acceptable.

I need closed timpani rolls. Normally percussion instruments only use the attack of the note. A closed drum roll is a roll where the sticks bounce of the head, producing extra hits. In GPO, The beginning of a note produces a hit and the end of the note produces a bounce. If the rest between the notes is removed by composer, the result is unacceptable.

I recommend urgent attention to this problem.


Best wishes,

Herbert

[Sherry Crann (sherry)]

Howdy Herbert,

If your initial file in Composer sounds right, then you probably should save the .mid file and _not_ select the "quantize" option on saving it as a .mid. Saving the file this way preserves the exact .mid performance of the file, and should give you the performance you want for GPO.

Have you tried this method and still found it unacceptable?

ttfn,
Sherry

[Herbert WENDE (herbert)]

Hi Sherry,

Thank you, for your good advice. You have saved my ALW show, or at least the timpani part.

Not selecting the “quantize” option in the “Save as” dialog has produced a .mid file in compliance with the original .not file.


Best wishes,

Herbert

[Sherry Crann (sherry)]

Howdy Herbert,

Great! I'm glad that worked for you.

Wish I were there to hear the final results!

ttfn,
Sherry

[Djim Tio (djimtio)]

Hi Sherry
I recently have a problem with a window popping up saying : " a sharing violation with accessing....." in Composer 2.3.3.
I opened a simple mid file in Composer, changed all actual pitches to another key , saved as MIDI and when re-opened in Composer,the above mentioned window pops up and the ( altered )file will not play.
Moreover, the same happens in all other Notation programs, and in my default synths( " no file detected " ) as well.
What am I doing wrong ?
Regards
Djim

[Mark Walsen (markwa)]

Hello Djim,

It sounds like the sharing violation is with the MIDI file. Sometimes Windows gets confused about whether an application has exclusive access to a file, especially if the application abnormally terminates. Such a sharing violation can almost always be solved by simply rebooting Windows.

If rebooting Windows doesn't help, please let us know.

Cheers
-- Mark

[Djim Tio (djimtio)]

Hi Mark
Thanks for the response.After rebooting etc. Composer still refuses to save the altered not. files as playable mid files, due to "errors in transcribing midi files due to bad data " ( as mentioned below left in Composers window).
No problems altering pitches and saving as mid files in Notation MUSICIAN
to record to wav´s.So my problems are solved.I had to prepare some simple songs for a coming small gig at a birthday party and had to change pitches to be able to " sing " along with some of them.
But I am still puzzled with Composer´s behaviour.Any suggestions ?
Regards
Djim