Arranging Big Band Charts with Score Editor

Ahhh, the score editor is so untuitive. The way it's programmed, so that you have to space the note just right to get the desired result. And sometimes ya gotta switch the notes and try again and then retry... Ayayayaya. Well, anyways, my question is: Is there a way I can prefrerize the score editor so that the notes/rests I select are put in, and that I can make my own ties (the ties are reallly frusturating). I'm arranging a chart for my big band, so.... go Logic!
Cheers!
-Tad-

Have partially answered my own question- have worked out how to change note sizes to the smaller cue-type display, not quite sure how to designate them non-playing though still appearing in the score though.

Similar Messages

Printing out in the score editor

When I try to print a chart in the score editor, I just don't get the same picture that is on my screen. I wrote a big band chart (15 single staves), and I'm having a ton of trouble trying to get the printout of the whole score so that on each page there's 15 staves. Also, how could I make it so that I can put a title and author text without the text at a large size, but not overlapping into the staves. ANy help would be greatly appreciated!

Rohan Stevenson1 wrote:
make sure that your score markings are entered in their correct midi position. otherwise when you >format your score, the markings won't be in their correct places in relation to the notes.if you need >to move them after you have entered them, you can just click-hold and then hold control as you >move it. this turns the pointer into the layout tool and it won't change the markings midi position.
..Rohan - I am really glad you wrote the above because it reminded me of something crucial you said when I was round at your place ( but which I hadnt until now registered) ... you emphasized checking up on the Midi position of graphic elements in the score. And the difference between the Layout Tool and the Pointer is paramount: Click hold/drag with the Pointer and you can see in the Help Tag the Midi position altering. Click hold/drag with the Layout Tool and the Midi position remains the same but the graphic position alters.
I would be very curious to get your take and that of iS on the following from a workflow point of view:
- what your default mouse button settings are and what kind of mouse you use ( As a result of this discussion I just re-read the very first pages of the Logic 7 Manual which deal with use of the mouse. Is it worth getting a mouse with a scroll wheel? I am very attached to my Trackball Logitech which has no scroll wheel).
- do you keep an Event Float window open.. or do you just set the display preference to show a Help Tag when you click on a graphic object in the score?

Logic 8 with Garritan Jazz & Big Band

Hello
Anyone using the Garritan Jazz & Big Band Kontakt Plugins inside of Logic 8? If so have you run into any problems...especially memory problems. And how much ram are you running Logic 8 with in this situation? Your minimum ram requirements?
Thanks for answering...John
PS And how does your JAAB score work out in the Logic 8 Score Editor?

I'm working just fine with both the GPO and JABB and Logic 8.01. I use the multi-instruments option which seems to help save RAM usage. This is in contrast to loading up each instrument individually with single instances of either the Kontakt 2 or the Kontakt 2 Player (which "powers" JABB and GPO). It seems like when I (and others) load up individual instances of Kontakt, RAM usage is significally increased.
There's been a number of discussions here (and on other Apple support bulletin boards) regarding this issue. The discussions are all worth the read if you have the time. However, utilizing the Multi-Instrument function seems to significantly keep down RAM usage (for me, anyway).
Ted

Big band scoring in Logic

Has anyone had any success writing for a big band in logic and then printing out the parts with a satisfactory result?
I know that Logic can do it, but just wondering if it works well enough for a professional level project
Thanks

I've done full orchestra scores in Logic. I doesn't have the look of good Sibelius or Finale, but if all the parts are already in, sometimes it is faster. The notation is fine and readable - much better than a lot of the handwritten charts I have seen over the years. If you need falls, shakes, scoops, graphic wah wahs and other stuff, you might need a real notation program (it might be there, I never looked for that stuff).
Goodluck.
Paul

Score editor / sibelius

Hi,
I know there are many sibelius users here (due to the sometimes limited score editor in logic) so that is why i am asking the following:
Is there a way to "paste at original position" in sibelius?
Thnks in advance,
K

It should work OK.. A couple of years ago, I exported some Logic midi files into Finale without a problem.
I would check Sibelius's preferences for importing midi files. Does it expect to see a bass on midi channel 2, drum on midi channel 10, melody on midi channel 1, etc. There is a GM standard, so that different applications and platforms can play midi files.
Go back to the Logic file, and set up your channels accordingly. Often if you use Logics virtual instruments, you have everything on channel 1. Once you've set up your Logic midi tracks.. (Each instrument has to be on different midi channel) - Merge them into one region, and select the "export selection as midi file". If you don't Sibelius will see it as one big instrument, all parts, bass drums, guitar, melody, etc like being played on a piano. It will look and sound like chaos.
When you've merged and exported your midi file, click on it's preview button from your finder. It will play it with quicktime on your desktop.. That should sound OK.. You should hear the different parts in appropriate voices. If this is all messed up, SIbelius won't know how to deal with it either.
You may have to go back to the original Logic midi files, and put program numbers into each track (IE assign bass track to a GM bass patch, a piano part to a GM piano sound etc. ). Once you do this your merged exported midi file should be able to play in quicktime.
Google online, and find a free midi sight, and download a file.. Play it from the desktop. Then drag it into Logic, It will divide itself into channels, and sometimes even assign instruments if it has proper PG's. Then look at the event list for each channel, and you will understand what it is doing..
This may seem like a bit of work, but once you get used to it, it's easy. I sometimes move midi tracks between different programs to work on them. (ie. Logic and Band-in-a-box, Finale). It's pretty painless, once you get over the initial set-up issues

Printing in Score Editor

Hello everyone, new here.
I am a new Logic Pro 8 user, and recently I arranged and mixed a composition in Logic Pro. The thing is that when I "Select all" the tracks and go to Score Editor, it only shows one track (and only a part of it, if the track's music is divided in multiple parts). I really don't know what to do, as I have a deadline for next week. If someone could please show me a quick tutorial on preparing and printing the scores, I would be very grateful. (The Getting Started tutorial didn't help me that much) So basically, all I need is to insert the title and the instrumentation on the score and then select it all and print it.
Thank you for your time guys, have a nice day.

a quick crash course:
the score editor is the easiest part of logic to master provided, 1) you are musically literate, and 2) you understand some very simple core concepts.
but before that just to get you going (look up any terms i use):
1. you need to make sure that content catch (the link button) is grey. if you still don't see your full score then click the arrow next to it.
2. as matter of simplicity, it is easier if you name your audio object (now called control strip) the name of the instrument you want to have appear as the name in your score.
3. you need to look in view/page display options/ and select show margins. then you can see where you have to drag your title to.
the core concepts:
*instrument sets and staff styles.*
the instrument set displays your score, section and parts. set a KC (key command) for 'create instrument set from selection.' now, when you have the staves highlighted in the All Instruments view, it will make a score out of your selected instruments. imagine you had a string quartet and some midi instruments. you only want to display the string quartet as a score, so you select those staves and hit the KC. now you will have a score only of the strong quartet.
this goes further...you can then edit sections of a full orchestra...and finally you should make an instrument set for each part you want to print. ie if you were printing the clarinet part it would be a set with just the clarinet in it.
the reason for this is that instrument sets can be formatted independently of one another. and this is why you couldn't edit the the All Instruments set. you have to make an instrument set first.
staff styles: you can have as many different staff styles as you want for each instrument and they will print out correctly. that means you can have staff style just for a bit where you want to show different voices, or just for a bit with an ossia (a double stave style). when you are using a mutlivoice staff style, you can do things like hide notes you don't to see, for example in a glissando, because those styles will only display the notes with the midi channel you have set for them.
each midi region in arrange can have its own staff style setting. so you can chop up your violin 1 part as much as you want and assign it different score styles throughout depending on what you need.
final core concept - MIDI.
don't trust your eyes!!!! only trust midi information when placing things in your score. always ensure that when you insert something in the score that it is in the right midi position. here i am talking about text and various score markings you drag from the partbox.
here are the KC's you absolutely need to have for work in the score editor:
1. create instrument set from selection. you should use this a lot!
2. open staff style editor.
3. open instrument set editor. edit your instrument set so that it looks right is scaled properly etc. when using the logic default score styles, i recommend setting your parts for printing to no more than 85%. any more and the writing is unnecessarily big.
honestly, if you work those KC's, and stick to those concepts, everything just falls together after that. of all the notation editors i have used, logic's is by far the most intuitive and flexible - but i stress - you have to grock those concepts.

Score editor: command z, bug?

hi,
I have a score with different time signatures: 3/8, 4/4, 7/7, 5/16, etc.
Every time I press command+Z logic erases nearly all of my time signatures (and the last action I wanted to "undo" it isn't of course the addition of the time signatures logic erases )
Is it a bug?
thanks

Hi Ko be
I just tried opening in L8 an L7 song which has several key signature changes 4/4 to 7/4 to 4/3 and Command + Z doesnt erase them...
I would be pretty sure that your problem is one of those bugs which occurs from a corruption within a Logic 8 document.. but is not a 'generic' L8 defect.
L8 score editor - although improved in some ways - has driven me nuts with really simple weird bugs which L7 never used to do .. eg:
• clicking on a chord symbol ( to bring up the box for editing different elements root/bass note etc) sometimes takes ages to activate - or when it does then the whole part disappears and you are left with a grey page which says " there is nothing in the score editor"
• another intermittent bug is rubber banding a group of chord symbols to cut and paste simple, or drag alter alignment - just does not not work and the chords dont let themselves be selected and go into flashing mode. This is unbelievably irritating especially when you are expecting something so simple to work as before
• the other method of selecting - holding shift and clicking on chord symbols to select a group doesnt work
All this kind of stuff intermittent... ie you never know which Logic Song it is going to start behaving badly in
all best
M S

Worth learning Score Editor for printout or 3rd party software bettereasie?

Hi,
I can either start seriously checking out the Score Editor for lead sheets and more involved printing of music... or get Sibelius or Finale and use those. I am not familiar with any of these - as I haven't started printing out music - but feel it's time.
I'd prefer just to stay in my all in one Logic Studio - but not sure if it's worth it in the big picture. (as in - if 3rd party software is easier/better by far - and most Logic people use those - why waste the time learning Score Editor in Logic?).
Any of you use the Score Editor for printing out scores, lead sheets? Whatdya think?
Thanks in advance.

It depends on the music genre you want to score for....
But, it's not a waste of time because it's another way for editing...but it really depends. I use sibelius but I still use the score editor in Logic, not for printing but I use it, a lot.

Score Editor: Best chord symbol font?

What is the best combination of 1) font and 2) size for Chord Root and Chord Extension? ...for jazz and pop parts
PS Anybody notice if the Chord Symbol fonts/implementation has improved or changed in L8? I still have difficulty getting the chords looking really well sized and "professional" looking. Would appreciate a word from someone who really has nailed this aspect... ie font and actual size setting

Thanks for your reply Mark .. but I am looking for some specific info here. I want to know what EXACT font and size is optimum - from someone who uses Logic's Score Editor to turn out parts for pro sessions/band parts etc.
I have spent ages experimenting like you describe - but cannot find a combination of font and size that is really professional looking. Usually the accidental is too small or too large or too far away from the Root of the Chord. I am familiar with all the usual parameters in the Score preferences etc ... but the chord symbols still dont look that great to me. Usable yes .. but not great.
If there is anyone out there with a specific favourite combination, I would much appreciate a word from you .. here -
m s
PS went through this same issue with L7 and wondered if there was something new in L8 that you had discovered

Score Editor- Create Multi-Bar Repeat

I'm transcribing pop songs with a lot of 8 bar repeats. How can I insert a multiple bar repeat symbol into my score? I only see the 1 and 2 bar repeat symbols and I can't even really get those to work for me either.

Indeed - this is something I have really missed in the Logic Score editor for basic arrangements of pop/jazz etc
It is very common to have a multi bar repeat which is not just 1 or 2 bars - 4 bar & 8 would be especially useful in many situations where there is a groove going and you just need a drummer or bass player to keep a chord progression or riff that is obvious.
It would enable one to reduce the number of pages for the part
PS Just to add - notwithstanding Ski's helpful input - that what is need is the capacity to do fill in an actually number above the bars where the two bar repeat is. This very common convention of arrangers is just not available in Logic - and it should be.
If you take Guy's example above, it would mean you could condense the part and not have loads and loads of repeated 2 bar segments. And also ...
.. you would not want to add extra repeat signs etc because you would want the other instrument parts ( ie with more complicated content melody lines perhaps) to be longer - and have the same repeat signs on each part.
In other words, the rhythm section is playing a groove which repeats and the soloist or other instruments are doing other stuff on top of it.
It is in rhythm section parts that I really miss the capacity to add numbers above the repeated two bar sign
Hope this makes sense
Message was edited by: musicspirit

Score Editor: Orange Padlocks

In the last day I have re-read the entire chapter on the Score Editor manual but there is no reference to the ORANGE PADLOCKS which seem to appear at random .. tantalisingly offering hope of *remembering the individual part layout* .. which is my biggest time wasting bugbear.
They appear at random when you open the Score Set of a Part - I make Score Sets out of each individual part in the hope of layout security
But they dont appear when you just open an individual part from the Arrange window
If someone could explain exactly how they work I would be seriously grateful
M S

Okay, gleaning one hint each time--this time your use of the word "layout tool"--I've finally managed to create a padlock on the page. See manual pg. 805. I moved a bar from one line to the next, in theory because I need more space on the "from" line for a handful of appoggiaturas. Once done, I have a padlock appearing on the "from" line. This is the same as the display example indicated, though not explained in the text. Since I forced a format change "locking" that activity to that staff, I assume this is the intended significance of the padlock.
So to your original post: You now have a visual reference to the orange padlock and and an assumed indication of it's intent: It reminds you that this line is "locked" to special indication of bars requested.
On to your implied questions then: Remembering the individual part layout. Can you walk me through a simple scenario by which you configure a part layout, or point me to one in the manual, and then indicate how it doesn't stick? I might well discover it on my own, but it would take less time to assume I've encountered your exact dilemma.
As a caveat, I notice in the forum at www.logic-users-group, in response to my question about one aspect of score display, another user cited notable list of "broken" stuff in the scoring process of Logic. Everything about his screed indicated it is the source of some pretty long-term angst. I don't intend to bum you out, but it might be one of the "bugs" he's referred to. You might confer with that crew.
Good luck!
-- Gerry

Is it possible to change the length of a note in the score editor?

I thought I saw somewhere that it was now possible to adjust the length of a note in the score editor graphically, i.e. by clicking on the note and somehow adjust its length directly to change it from 1/4 note to 1/8 (for example).
I don't want to do this by going over to the "Length" dialog on the left because I hate having to switch from thinking in terms of music notation and then having to think (temporarily) in MIDI ticks per beat, etc.
I must admit that I'm finding it extremely frustrating to simply enter music into Logic in a score....I thought this was supposed to be one of its strengths but it seems to be providing amazing capabilities at the expense of ease of use for beginners.

dhjdhj wrote:
I thought I saw somewhere that it was now possible to adjust the length of a note in the score editor graphically, i.e. by clicking on the note and somehow adjust its length directly to change it from 1/4 note to 1/8 (for example).
greetings dh... are you into Key Commands? There are two which will help you do the above in a trice:
• Nudge Region/Event Length Right by SMPTE Frame
• Nudge Region/Event Length Left by SMPTE Frame
I set mine to the simple letter o and n
- I click on a note and press o repeatedly.. it grows and grows longer and longer
– I click on a note and press n repeatedly.. it shrinks and shrinks shorter and shorter
All by little increments
If you keep a Piano Roll window open while you do this, you can see the length do this exactly
man, it is VERY quick and handy for changing the length of notes
It really helps to have a view of the midi Piano Roll to cross check the exact length and position of the notes.
Check out the Key Commands:
• Set Next Higher division
• Set Next lower division
These change the note value in the transport bar near the time signature. Your time signature may be 4/4 but the "grid" on which the notes are appear in the Piano Roll could be displayed in quarter, 8th or 16th notes. If you experiment with these commands, then you can match the note lengths easily to the grid display visually (with the above nudge length commands)
Also - you may like to experiment with the following 3 KEY Key Commands:
1 • Nudge Region/Event Position Right by Nudge Value
2 • Nudge Region/Event Position Left by Nudge Value
This will move your selected notes forward in time or back in time according to the
value that is set in the Transport bar - say it is 16ths .. then each press of the key will move the notes a 16th
or if the value is 8th notes, then each press of the key forward or backwards will move the selected notes forward or back by this amount
... amazingly useful when you are taking a whole phrase and pasting it somewhere else, or if say you started to write a phrase in the Score Editor and you started on the wrong beat.. then you just Nudge back and forth
3 • Set Nudge Value to Division
.. this will in a trice change change the Nudge Value to whatever Note division value is set in the Transport bar
HTH and forgive me if I have given you too much information
..problem is I spent too much time in the Transport Bar in Los Angeles last year drinking with the iSchwartz and other Logic reprobrates... you should join us some time

Can you create a BAND chart in Webi?

Can a Band chart be constructed in Webi 4 and if so, how?
I've attached a screen shot of an example.

Hi Steve,
To create layers in the charts we can set measure properties as per our requirements.
1. Create chart with multiple Measure objects
2. Right click on chart and select format chart option
3. In Global Tab go to Measure Properties section
4. Select required chart format against each measure object.
5. Final output
Regards,
Veer S.

Some Drum notes not displaying in Score editor

I have a problem with a project in getting a correct display of the drum notes in the Score editor despite the playback being OK. I have a mapped drum instrument set up with an identcal structure to that on another project which is working properly. This includes the staff type, the establishment of the drum groups, the relative note positions etc. The difference I have found when comparing the event editor contents between the project which does dispaly correctly and the one the doesn't is that on the one that does, each note is the event list shows the drum type e.g. ride cym, snare, kick etc. whereas as in the project with the display problems, the event display for each note simply shows the word 'Note' even for the parts of the track which do display correctly.
Can anyone advise where the problem could be. I've spent the best part of the day trying to sort this out and now am at a loss as to what to try next !
thanks for any advice.
Swingtones

Hi
Do you have the track correctly assigned to the Mapped Instrument Environment object?
One way is to drag the Mapped Instrument from the Environment window onto the Track Header
CCT

Score Editor bug: syncopating a note disturbs line layout

In the example below, the instrumental part with max 2 bars per line has been created with the Layout Tool, and then the selection saved as a Score Set ( which i hope locks all the page details in place).
[img] http://i364.photobucket.com/albums/oo82/dogliege/Picture3.png [/img]
I then noticed that the red circled note is not displayed correctly - it should be a dotted eighth note and duly click on it with my Syncopate note command.
This then produces the following effect: it crunches up the bars and disturbs the line layout which was already set, cramming 3 bars onto the line above as in the example below.
[img]http://i364.photobucket.com/albums/oo82/dogliege/Picture4.png[/img]
Any solutions appreciated/workflow suggestions.. or is this just "..another L8 Score Editor bug.. wasting more of 2009"
PS Any suggestions as how to get the images to display in the post - as opposed to appear a link? cheers
Message was edited by: musicspirit

i should be enjoying my holiday but i couldn't help myself...
there are a couple of fixes for this.
first, try cutting the regions somewhere to force a redraw.
second, if no form of cutting or reformatting works, try copy and pasting the midi into a fresh autoload on the intel.
particularly if the file was created pre 7.2. there can be compatibility issues between ppc and intel.

Arranging Big Band Charts with Score Editor

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