Contrabass Digest

2000-10-18

Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2000 16:00:43 -0700
From: Grant Green
Subject: [CB] New Music!
 

Just received a large packet from Norway today: my copies of T. "Bb"
Lerstad manuscripts from the Norwegian Music Information Centre.
(Each one literally says "Terje Bb Lerstad" on the cover - is Bb a
nickname?)  Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting them home and
trying them out.  Terje, is it OK with you if I copy out parts for
some of the ensemble works (and some of the bass/contra parts that
switch between treble and bass clef)?

Grant

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Grant Green
ecode:contrabass       http://www.contrabass.com
Professional Fool -> http://www.mp3.com/ProFools
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
---------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 13:35:44 +0000
From: Terje Lerstad
Subject: Re: [CB] New Music!
 

Grant Green wrote:
 

> Just received a large packet from Norway today: my copies of T. "Bb"
> Lerstad manuscripts from the Norwegian Music Information Centre.
> (Each one literally says "Terje Bb Lerstad" on the cover - is Bb a
> nickname?)  Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting them home and
> trying them out.  Terje, is it OK with you if I copy out parts for
> some of the ensemble works (and some of the bass/contra parts that
> switch between treble and bass clef)?
Hallo,

It's OK that you make your own parts, but in a lot og works I have hand
written parts at home

Terje (Bjørn) Lerstad

---------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 15:04:29 -0700
From: Grant Green
Subject: [CB] Software!

I discovered over the weekend that Coda Music (Finale) now has a
*free* version, called "Finale NotePad", available for Windows or
Mac.  It is a stripped down version of Finale 2001, but seems to have
most of the essential features.  Did I mention it is free?  I
downloaded it for my daughters, who immediately realized that they'd
much rather write music than do homework on a Sunday...

http://www.codamusic.com

Enjoy!

Grant

BTW, the NotePad version has a limited number of instruments in the
setup wizard.  However, you can manually edit the file to provide for
all our favorites (contrabass clarinet, sarrusophones, bass sax,
etc.).  NotePad (and Finale 2001, for that matter) has a file named
"instrument.txt" in its root directory: this is a text file
containing the names and parameters for all the instruments NotePad
will "know" about.  It is fairly simple to open the file, copying an
appropriate instrument (e.g., bass clarinet), and edit the copy to
provide contralto and contrabass clarinets just by changing the names
(and changing the transposition).  The transposition on bass clarinet
is "-14" = 14 half steps below written pitch.  For Bb contrabass,
simply add another 12.  Once you have all the instruments entered,
scroll down farther in the instrument.txt file: you'll find a section
where instead of "[INS:trumpet]" you see "[GRP:WW]", etc.  This
section assigns the instruments to one group or another (e.g.,
woodwinds, brass, strings, etc.): simply add a line for each new
instrument with "<name of the instrument> = x" so that the instrument
will be displayed in that group in the setup wizard.  In Finale 2001
(and possibly some of the intermediate grade programs, but not
NotePad), there is an additional section where you specify the order
that the instruments appear in for orchestral, band, etc. scores.
Should be no problem to figure out ;-)  Save the file, restart the
program, and score for your favorite horns.

All of these programs let you assign a MIDI patch number for playback
purposes.  For General MIDI sound cards, you may not have any options
for anything lower than bassoon and bari sax.  For sarrusophones, I
usually use the voice of a saxophone that normally plays an octave
higher, e.g., Eb contra sarrusophone = bari sax, bass sarrusophone =
tenor sax, bari sarrusophone = alto sax: the timbre comes out a
better fit.

GDG

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Grant Green
ecode:contrabass       http://www.contrabass.com
Professional Fool -> http://www.mp3.com/ProFools
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
***End of Contrabass Digest***

 
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