Jerry Gerber

It works on my system as expected. When I click on any note already on the staff the duration changes to that note's duration when I enter a new note. Maybe try a reinstall? But wait! I am still using the very last version of Sonar. I hope they didn't mess that one up, it's extremely useful...

Well, that is really good news, and God knows we can use some good news these days. I look forward to installing the new release when it becomes available! Thanks, Jerry

Hi msmcleod, Any idea when the next update with the staff view snap function repair will be released? Thanks, Jerry

Yes. In the staff view, if you lasso and select a group of notes to edit, say you want to increase their velocity. Sonar always worked by right-clicking to bring up the context menu from which you can choose velocity and perform the edit. But now, if you do that, the selection disappears, so you have to press CTRL AND right-click in order to keep that from happening. It's a shorter step to not have to press CTRL and have it work the way it did in Sonar. Adding time or having to move your other hand to press CTRL might seem like no big deal, but over time, these extra steps really add up. I hope you change it back. I don't understand how anybody could object to making an operation quicker to perform by removing one additional keystroke... Thanks! Jerry

I have no idea what genre this is in. I write what I want to hear and others can classify it any way they want to. I've had companies online selling my albums calling them "dance music" 😜 I actually believe that all the music in the universe comes from the same source and each and every musician is trying to interpret it and feel it based on their own experience, inspiration, training, culture, etc. Thanks again for listening! Jerry

Pressing CTRL and right--click requires 2 hands. Right-clicking alone requires only one hand. When you're doing a lot of editing moving both hands to call up a menu takes more time. The workaround is to keybind the context menu operations you use and then just press one key to call them up.

I agree. When the snap function is fixed, the staff view will be on par with every other DAW that I've used or tried. The newest DAW to notation, Studio One looks promising due to the dynamic symbols being linked to MIDI cc data, but the dealbreaker is that Studio One doesn't seem to have an Event List. Every DAW has an event list, it's one of the most useful tools for working with cc data, and copying and pasting notes, program changes and cc data all at the same time. Even without the snap function working, I still have gotten pretty fast at entering notes. Enlarging the staff helps. I've been using Cakewalk since 1992 and have never even once used the piano-roll view. As you pointed out, for polyphonic music with a lot of counterpoint, nothing beats notation. Jerry

I downloaded Reaper a few years ago and tried it for a week and found it counter-intuitive. Powerful and comprehensive, yes, but in my 32 years of using software, music and otherwise, I have found the best software is designed so well that even without reading the manual (which I always do) you can start to work in it right away. A software program's power and capabilities must be matched by an elegant simplicity in terms of actually using it (reminds me of a comment a musician one said about Mozart's music: So simple a child can enjoy it and so sophisticated it will appeal to most learned musician). I didn't find this with Reaper. But, once again, to each his own, everyone is going to have a different reaction to an app in regard to whether it fits their requirements or not. I also looked at Studio One recently. No event list? Every DAW has an event list, an absolute must for keeping track of program changes, cc changes and other types of MIDI events.

I'm drafting legislation now to make eating it punishable by no more than 60 days in jail and/or a $500 fine. That'll take care of it!

Just because you haven't learned to use it is no reason to project and say it's unusable. It's unusable FOR YOU. I don't like spinach, that's a subjective truth. But I cannot say that spinach is objectively bad, I can only say I don't like it. I used Digital Performer's QuickScribe for 18 months, every day. It's not any better than Cakewalk; it has a few features that are better, but Cakewalk has features that are better for composition for me. How could a classically-trained composer who has produced 14 albums and over 750 soundtrack cues work in the staff view if it's "unusable"? Maybe I know something you don't? Try to recognize the difference between a subjective evaluation, which you're certainly entitled to, and a overgeneralized sweeping statement that doesn't take into account the experience of others.

From the CD Number 11: The Path Scored for VSL Cube and various software synthesizers PLAY Reply

I forgot to tell you all about the workaround I discovered in the staff view when the snap function gets stuck on 1/32 notes. Here it is: Revert the screen set you're using to its saved version. This will, at least temporarily, fix the snap so that it can be used with larger note values... Jerry

Hi Noyekker, Thanks for taking the time to listen, much appreciated.. I listen to works I've written over the years and always find things I like and don't like about what I did. That's how I learn, by reacting and analyzing what I did and finding ways to do it better. It's a never ending journey I suppose. I like the motivic development in this movement and I think from the standpoint of composition it's an improvement over some of my earlier movements which don't have the degree of structural cohesion that this movement has. Then again, I might have a listen in several years from now and change my mind. Jerry

Thanks Ed!

Of the forty symphonic movements I've written thus far, this is one of my favorites. From the CD Time Shadows PLAY

I've produced 10 symphonies, many short works, songs and 14 albums using the CW staff view. It works for composition if you are composing in and for the electronic medium. I've used Sibelius for my scores for 15 years or so and will continue to. The staff view is for MIDI input and editing, and of course, composition. It's not for publishing, preparing final scores or parts or for presenting written music to players for rehearsal, recording or performance. Once you understand the difference, it's not hard to exploit the staff view for composing. You can hear numerous recordings I've made in the "Songs" section of this forum and I think you'll agree that for complex arrangements and orchestration the staff view works quite well. It just needs a few tweaks and bug fixes as we discussed above. Jerry

You're welcome!

Scored for: VSL trumpet Kontakt bongos Softsynths FM8, Rapture, Tera and Massive VSL violin From the album Cosmic Consciousness PLAY

Thanks noynekker. When I was working on my college degree in music composition and theory I heard my works played often by ensembles. But it's very difficult to get a top orchestra to play long pieces, only about 15% of music programmed in the U.S. by orchestras is by living composers. If an orchestra wanted to play one of my pieces and offered me both sufficient rehearsal time and a recording of course I would say yes. But the politics of getting an unknown piece played and recorded are formidable. I actually am quite content to realize my work electronically as I love working in the digital medium. I am more interested in music as a recording art than a performance art..

I posted this interview a few months ago but I am getting questions about how I sequence music using the staff view so I am re-posting it I hope it is helpful. Here's the link: https://soundbytesmag.net/interview-jerry-gerber-on-masterful-virtual-orchestration/

Thanks InstrEd! I am able to work in the staff view the way I do because I was composing and playing music decades before I even knew what a DAW was. I think the better of a player one is, the more likely it is to transfer that knowledge of phrasing, articulation, gesture, intention and musicality in general to music that is sequenced within a DAW.

Thanks bitflippper. If your brass samples don't have built-in dynamics (the samples are of actual instruments going from p to f, or pfp, or f to p, etc. then you have to do it with cc7 or cc11. That's how I did it before I had the VSL library. If you write for 3 trumpets, and they're all playing the same line, make sure you de-tune them from each other a little bit, maybe 5 or 10 cents, and also make sure you stagger them so that one starts on the beat, one starts maybe 10 ticks early and one starts 10 ticks late. This will open up and give a much fuller sound and create more distinction between 1 trumpet and 3, or 1 trombone and 3, etc. Also, since brass sit in the back of the orchestra, if you give them a little longer reverb and very slightly more reverb, that can make a difference. Experiment, there's no right way or wrong way to sequence music... Jerry

Dear msmcleod, Any chance you know when this new version with the snap function fixed will be available? Thanks, Jerry