Steinberg Nuendo Expansion Kit User Manual

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Polyphonic voicing
Alternative ways of handling voices
Below we suggest further “advanced” ways of putting 
notes into voices. This is based on the relation between 
voices and MIDI channels, so please make sure you un-
derstand how this connection works.
 You can use the Logical Editor (see the chapter “The Logical 
Editor, Transformer and Input Transformer” in the Nuendo Op-
eration Manual) to put notes into voices, based on other more 
complex criteria, like for example their pitch and length. This is 
done by setting up the Logical Editor so that the notes that 
meet the criteria get their MIDI channel changed to that of 
their voice.
 When you enter notes using step input you can change the 
MIDI channel on your input device and directly enter notes into 
separate voices.
 You can play back each voice on a different MIDI channel, 
simply by setting the track to Any. This can be used as a con-
venient way of “proof-hearing” each voice separately.
 You can use the Input Transformer to assign a certain key 
range to a MIDI channel, and thereby automatically put notes 
into voices when recording.
 For brass and vocals, you might record each voice on its own 
track, and use the “Merge All Staves” function to automatically 
copy each recording to a separate voice on a new track (see 
“Automatic polyphonic voicing – Merge All Staves” on page 
103).
 When you have assigned parts to voices, you can use the Ex-
tract Voices function to create one track out of each voice (see 
“Converting voices to tracks – Extract Voices” on page 104).
Handling rests
With polyphonic voices you often get more rest symbols 
than desired.
If a voice doesn’t need any rests at all, you can deacti-
vate rests for each voice individually on the Polyphonic tab 
on the Score Settings–Staff page.
If you only need rests from one voice on a staff, activate 
Rests–Center for that voice (this is done in the same dia-
log). If two or more voices have rests, deactivate Rests–
Center. The program then automatically makes sure the 
rests don’t “collide” in the score, by adjusting their vertical 
position.To avoid having several rests displayed in empty bars, 
you can activate the Rests–Reduce option for all voices 
(that have rests) except one. This option causes the pro-
gram to hide rests in empty bars.
You can use the Hide feature (see “Hiding/showing ob-
jects” on page 174) to totally remove individual superflu-
ous rests from the score.
You can use the Object Selection tool to manually move 
rests up/down or sideways to adjust the “picture”.
If needed you can add “rest symbols” (rests that don’t 
affect the playback data in any way) by using the symbols.
Voices and display quantize
When you insert display quantize changes (see “Inserting 
display quantize changes” on page 78), you can either ap-
ply the settings to all voices (by [Alt]/[Option]-clicking with 
the tool) or to the current voice only.
Making display quantize settings affect one voice only (by 
clicking without pressing [Alt]/[Option]) allows you to do 
two things:
Make each voice have its own display quantize settings 
by inserting a display quantize event for each voice, at the 
beginning of the staff. This will then be valid for the entire 
staff, until another display quantize event is inserted.
Insert display quantize “exceptions” anywhere in the 
score, independently for each voice. Proceed as follows:
1.Make sure the option “Display Quantize tool affects all 
Voices” is deactivated.
2.Select the voice for which you wish to insert a display 
quantize event.
This is done by clicking at the corresponding voice button on the ex-
tended toolbar as described above, or by selecting a note that belongs 
to this voice.
!If “Display Quantize tool affects all Voices” is acti-
vated on the “Notation Style” subpage (Miscellaneous 
category) of the Score Settings–Project page, the 
display quantize settings will always affect all voices 
(even if you don’t press [Alt]/[Option] and click). 
						

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Polyphonic voicing
3.Select the Display Quantize tool.
4.Click at the position you want to insert the event.
The Display Quantize dialog appears.
5.Fill out the dialog as described in the section “Display 
quantize” on page 74. 
6.Click Apply.
Creating crossed voicings
Often, for example in vocal scoring, you will have crossed 
voicings on one system. You can of course move notes 
manually into voices to get the stem direction and other 
note properties right, but there’s a quicker way. Let’s ex-
plain how to do this by example. Without using polyphonic 
voicing, you have entered this:
1.Open the Score Settings–Staff page and select the 
Polyphonic tab.
2.From the Staff Mode pop-up menu, select Polyphonic.
3.Activate voice 1 and 2 only, and make settings for 
them as in the picture below.
4.Click Apply.
The staff is in Polyphonic staff mode, but all notes are still in the same 
voice.
5.Pull down the Scores menu and select “Explode” from 
the Functions submenu.
6.In the dialog that appears, select the “To Polyphonic 
Voices” option and activate “Lines To Tracks”.
Leave the other options off.
7.Click OK.
The notes have now been split in two “lines”, each in a separate voice. 
However, from the middle of the bar, notes that are in voice 1 should be 
in voice 2 and vice versa. 
						

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Polyphonic voicing
8.Select the two notes that should be moved from voice 
1 to voice 2.
Two notes in voice 1 selected.
9.Move the notes to voice 2.
The quickest way to do this is to press [Ctrl]/[Command] and click the 
voice Insert [2] button on the extended toolbar.
Two notes moved to the right voice.
10.Select the two notes that should be moved to voice 1 
and move them too.
All notes in the right voices.
The voicing is now correct, as you can tell from the stem 
directions. However, theres still some work to do on the 
notes graphical positions (see “Graphic moving of notes” 
on page 122) and the display of stems and beams for 
some of the notes (see “Manual adjustment of beams” on 
page 120). When you have made those adjustments, the 
score may look like this:
After graphical adjustments.
Automatic polyphonic voicing – 
Merge All Staves
If you have already created some tracks which look and 
play back as they should, and you want to combine these 
into one track with polyphonic voices, there is a special 
function on the Scores menu for this:
1.Open the tracks (up to four) in the Score Editor.
2.Pull down the Scores menu and select “Merge All 
Staves” from the Functions submenu.
Now a new track is created and shown in the score. The track will have 
polyphonic voices activated, and the four original tracks will be assigned 
to one voice each (voices 1, 2, 5 and 6 will be used).
Furthermore, all non-linked symbols that belong to the staff that will be-
come the first polyphonic voice in the merged staff will be copied. They 
will have the same positions as the original symbols. 
!When you later play back the music, you need to mute 
the four original tracks, or you will get double notes.  
						

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Polyphonic voicing
Converting voices to tracks – 
Extract Voices
This function does the opposite of “Merge All Staves” – it 
extracts polyphonic voices from an existing track and cre-
ates new tracks, one for each voice. Proceed as follows:
1.Open a track containing 2 to 8 polyphonic voices in the 
Score Editor.
2.Pull down the Scores menu and select “Extract 
Voices” from the Functions submenu.
A number of new tracks is created and added to the display of the Score 
Editor. Each track will contain the music from one polyphonic voice. If 
there were non-linked symbols in the original track, each new track will 
get a copy of these symbols. 
!When you later play back the music, you need to 
mute the original track (the one with polyphonic 
voices), or you will get double notes.  
						

							10
Staff settings 
						

							106
Staff settings
About this chapter
In this chapter you will learn:
 How to make staff settings.
 How to work with staff presets.
Staff settings
Below follows a run-through of all staff settings, more de-
tailed information about the ones already described and 
references to other places in the manual for some options.
Making settings
1.Open the Score Settings–Staff page.
2.With the dialog open, make the desired staff active.
Click anywhere in a staff to make it active, or use the up and down arrow 
keys to step from staff to staff.
3.Select the desired tab and make whatever settings 
you need to do.
The settings for regular staves are found on the Main and Options tab, 
the Polyphonic tab contains settings for split systems and polyphonic 
voices while the Tablature tab lets you set up tablature scores.
4.When you have made the desired settings, click Apply.
The settings are applied to the active staff.
ÖIf the option “Apply closes Property Windows” is acti-
vated in the Preferences dialog (Scores-Editing page), 
clicking Apply will also close the dialog.
5.Select another staff, make settings for this and click 
Apply.
Repeat this until all staves have the right settings.
6.If you want to close the dialog, click its close box as 
usual.
Working with staff presets
You will spend some time making staff settings for your 
scores. Staff presets allow you to reuse those settings 
whenever you work with a staff similar to one you have 
worked on before. A staff preset contains all the settings 
on the Score Settings–Staff page, except for the key.
To store the current settings (including the settings on 
the Options tab, see below) click the Store button in the 
Presets section of the Staff page.
Enter a name for the preset in the name dialog that appears, and click 
OK. The preset will now be available on the Presets pop-up menu (in all 
projects).
Use this section to 
set up how the dis-
play should be 
quantized – the dis-
played spacing and 
length of notes.
This section contains ad-
ditional settings for how 
the notes are displayed.Use this 
section to 
select keys 
and clefs.
Use this section to select and apply 
presets, or turn the current settings 
into a preset.This is where you enter the 
name for the staff. Normally, 
the long name is shown at the 
beginning of the score, while 
the short name is shown for 
the remaining systems.
This is where you specify 
the display transpose for 
instruments that are not 
scored in concert key.
The Staff page has four tabs – here, the Main tab is selected.
!Staff settings can be saved in the track presets. For 
more information, see the chapter “Track Presets” in 
the Nuendo Operation Manual. 
						

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Staff settings
To load a preset, select it on the Presets pop-up menu.
Note that this loads the settings in the preset into the dialog – to apply 
these to a staff you must click the Apply button as usual. You can also 
apply staff presets directly in the score – see below.
To remove a preset, select it from the pop-up menu and 
click the Remove button.
Applying a preset directly in the score
If you right-click on the blue rectangle to the left of a staff, 
a context menu will appear, listing all available presets. 
Select one to apply it to the staff.
How staff presets are stored
The staff presets are stored as individual files in the Pre-
sets–Staff Presets folder within the Nuendo program 
folder. The presets are available for selection in any project 
you create or edit.
Staff names
These fields allow you to specify a “long” and a “short” 
name for the staff. The long name is shown for the very first 
system for this staff in the score (at the start of the project), 
while the short name is shown for the remaining systems.
Whether the names should be shown at all is set on the 
Score Settings–Layout page (see “Staff names” on page 
162).
Here, you can also opt to use the names of the edited MIDI tracks instead.
If you only want the “long name” to be shown (i.e. if you 
don’t want a name shown for each system in the score), 
simply delete the short name.
If the option “Show Long Staff Names on new Pages” is 
activated in the “Staff Names” section of the Score Set-
tings–Project page, the long name will be shown at the 
beginning of each new page.You can also specify two separate subnames by dou-
ble-clicking the staff name and entering them in the upper 
and lower text entry fields in the dialog that appears. 
Note that this will only be displayed correctly, if you are in Page Mode and 
if “Show Track Names to Left of staff” is activated on the Notation Style 
subpage (Staff Names category) of the Score Settings–Project page.
The Edit Staff Name dialog
Key and clef
The basic key and clef settings are described in detail in 
the section “Setting key, clef and time signature” on page 
65. There is also a Lower Staff check box which is only 
used in conjunction with split (piano) staves and poly-
phonic voicing (see “In a split system” on page 68). 
						

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Staff settings
Display quantize and interpretation 
options
These two sections of the dialog contain a number of set-
tings used to determine how the notes should be inter-
preted. While these settings are more critical to making 
MIDI recorded music appear as legible as possible it is still 
important to have them set correctly when entering notes 
using the mouse. Below you will find a brief summary of the 
settings – for more details, see “Display quantize” on page 
74.
Notes and Rests display quantize values
 Generally, the Notes display quantize value should be set to a 
value equal to, or smaller than, the “smallest note position” you 
want to be shown in the score.
 The Rests display quantize value should be set to a value 
equal to, or smaller than, the smallest note value (length) you 
want to be displayed for a single note, positioned on a beat.
 If the score contains only triplets, or mostly triplets, select one 
of the Triplet options.
Auto Quantize
 If the project contains no triplets or only triplets, deactivate 
this option.
 If the project contains mixed triplets and straight notes, acti-
vate this option (see “If your music contains mixed straight no-
tes and triplets” on page 74).
Interpretation options
Display transpose
This is used when preparing parts for instruments that are 
not scored at the actual concert key. For example, if you 
want the note C3 to be played by an alto sax, you have to 
score it as an A3 – nine semitones up. Luckily, the display 
transpose setting takes care of this for you:
Use the pop-up menu to select the instrument for which 
you’re scoring.
If the pop-up menu doesn’t list the desired instrument, 
you can set the desired transposition with the Semitones 
value field.
ÖThe display transpose setting doesn’t affect playback 
or the actual pitch of the notes – it only changes how they 
are displayed and printed.
You can also insert display transpose changes anywhere 
in the score, by inserting a key change symbol and using 
the Transpose setting in the Edit Key/Clef dialog (see 
“Display transpose in the Edit Key dialog” on page 70).
On the Score Settings–Project page (“Chord Symbols” 
subpage), deactivate the option “Use Display Transpose” 
if you do not want the chord symbols to be affected by the 
display transpose setting (see “Chord Symbols” on page 
153).
You can disable display transpose by clicking on the 
button “Disable Display Tranpose” in the toolbar of the 
Score Editor. 
Option Description
Syncopation Activate this when the program adds more ties to notes 
crossing beats and bar lines than you prefer. See “Syn-
copation” on page 74.
Consolidate 
RestsActivate this when you want two rests joined to one (for 
example an eighth note and a sixteenth note rest displayed 
as a dotted eighth note rest). See “Consolidate Rests” on 
page 75.
Clean Lengths Activate this when you find the program generally inter-
prets your notes as shorter than you expect. See “Clean 
Lengths” on page 75.
No Overlap Activate this when notes starting at the same position, 
but having different lengths, give you more ties than you 
want. See “No Overlap” on page 75.
Shuffle Activate this when you have played a shuffle beat and 
want it displayed as straight notes (no triplets). For details 
see “Shuffle” on page 76. 
						

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Staff settings
The Options tab
Clicking the Options tab in the dialog brings up another 
page with additional settings (which can be made part of a 
staff preset just like the other settings). Below follows a 
brief description of these, with references to more detailed 
explanations.
Switches
System Sizes
This section allows you to set the number of system lines 
and to control spacing between the lines:See “Creating tablature manually” on page 191 for an ex-
ample of how this can be used with tablature.
Score Drum Map
These settings are all described in the chapter “Scoring 
for drums” on page 185.
Fixed Stems
If you activate this checkbox, the stems of all notes will 
end at the same vertical position. This feature is perhaps 
most often used when scoring for drums (see “Setting up 
a staff for drum scoring” on page 188).
A drum pattern with Fixed Stem length activated.
The Up and Down parameters determine which position 
(relative to the top of the staff) should be used for up and 
down stems, respectively. The graphical display helps you 
get your settings right. 
Note Limits
Use the Low and High fields to specify a note range. In the 
active staff, any notes outside this range will be displayed 
in a different color. When writing a score for a specific in-
strument, this makes it easy to find notes that are outside 
of this instrument’s note range.
ÖIf the option “Hide Notes beyond Limits” is activated in 
the Preferences dialog (Scores-Editing page), any notes 
outside the Note Limits range will be hidden.
The Polyphonic and Tablature tabs
These are described in the chapters “Polyphonic voicing” 
on page 95 and “Creating tablature” on page 189, re-
spectively. For now, just note that the Polyphonic tab con-
tains the Staff Mode pop-up, which determines whether 
the staff should be a single system, a split (piano) staff or 
use polyphonic voices.
Option Description
Flat Beams Activate this when you want the beams over notes to be 
flat (as opposed to slanted). See “Beam appearance and 
slant settings” on page 120.
No Beams Activate this when you don’t want any beaming at all on 
the staff (for example for vocal scoring). See “Turning be-
aming on/off” on page 116.
Beam 
SubgroupsActivate this when you want sixteenth notes displayed 
under a beam to be divided into two groups of eight 
notes. See “Handling beam groups” on page 119.
16th 
SubgroupsUse this when you want even smaller subgroups of six-
teenth notes. This setting has no effect if Beam Sub-
groups is deactivated.
Option Description
System Lines The number of lines in a system. For regular scoring, this 
should be set to 5.
Add Space Allows you to increase or decrease the space between 
the lines in a system.
Size Allows you to set a size for the systems, as a percentage 
(with 100 % being the default value). In effect, this setting 
scales the score vertically. Option Description 
						

							11
Additional note and rest formatting