Songwrite 2 version 0.3 – user guide
Contents
1. Songbook QO 4 Configuration 8 Copyright c 2002 2011 Lamy Jean Baptiste This program is free software you can redistribute it and or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation either version 3 of the License or at your option any later version This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE See the GNU General Public License for more details You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program if not write to the Free Software Foundation Inc 59 Temple Place Suite 330 Boston MA 02111 1307 USA 1 Introduction Songwrite 2 is a music score and songbook editor This software is especially designed for musicians who do not master solfege like me and to Linuxian musicians Songwrite 2 can edit staffs but also tablatures for guitar bass banjo and flute fingerings for tin whistle recorder it also manages lyrics Songwrite 2 can play and print the partitions Songwrite 2 is a free software libre software written in Python It is available under GNU GPL including this docu mentation Make pleasure to the author do not confound Free Software and Freeware In addition to being Freeware a Free Software is available as source code it is allowed to modify and redistribute fr2. Songwrite 2 version 0 3 user guide JEAN BAPTISTE JIBA LAMY JIBALAMY FREE FR February 19 2011 Contents 1 Introduction 1 1 Requirements for Songwrite 2 1 a L Malae SE ow wy oe ek we wee ea DEER R Se Oe RPE eee eee REED eee EGE HO jor JEISUOR nwa s aoe hee aed eee eee hee eee eee hee wee Re ee ee eee eee eee mm ww Ww 2 Editing a song Oi SONS 2224 ee eewuake see see are eee eee e ees eee ee eee ee eee eee eee eB ee 22 AMSURUMICMVSs sa o 56 54458 eG bee Eee eee eee LEER E SE BOSE ee eee eee wee Zo UMS strme INSWUMCIIS s s srr ses datere drakrag EEE ESO BEE EHR DE 222 Vii whistle tOngty ona 4s 046 4 oe owe oe eee ERA RR ee Oe Behe 2 Vainio Wate oka ee ae ee a eee RE OOM eee eh eee SE SS 24 Poterie NOOS c e soss oe ye bb oe eee ee EG ES Oe ww Pee eee eee eS LSS Ee SS 2 4 1 Copy and paste 24 44bbeeag hb Hed meee ee RS eeEES SA EHREE EE kasii da 24 2 Special effects owes baci eee adao daag da uoi d dna eee HESS REE EE SOY do DOG serenas sinnn piaren nban earra 244A Keyboard shortcuts s ss ss sass smes ae ee ER ee ee ee eee Oa ea we ee a Dae e i ye oeteacehesnetaare ears Gaches eee e eve uu be aeee ba eae bo dm 4 8 2 Zo Ves oa eee e ede dtoere ae ees ee ee eae eee eeneeaeee se Se eee eee eese ean as 2 7 Playing printing exporting and importing 2 464444 645588 be ew ae wee ewe eG dees 2 COMmmandNe osu k eae aee eee ee de eee ee eee ee eee he eee ee INI NOD OF OF OT OT OTR BB KBR HD NW 3
3. b space plays from the current position 2 5 Repeats File Edit Play Instrument Note Duration Effect Help 50 Aer Aled de mK kena Id IC IM XTYVOGCPALANV IA Au renouvel du temps M di val Chant py a H A ge E s a a o O le eo 2 eee l lel ee eee es ol oe oo oe Ta L oloa G a SY O Oo S O S G e e 8 Couplet n 1 AU re ms vel dU we de la nme ret te Nat par leS pr s OU weu ette OU tan Chet te ro vai sur U ne cou dret te cueil iant vi _ O let te Da me qui res sem blat f e et Sa com _ pa gnet te A vec Qui L un est pau Repeats M Repeats bar 1 gt 2 s Repeats kj bar 1 gt 2 kH bar 3 gt 5 bar 6 gt 6 bar 3 gt 5 kH bar 7 gt 7 Close Repeats are entered in the dialog box of the Edition gt Repeats and playlist menu To add new groups of bars in the playlist select the desired bars and click the button on the left of the dialog box To repeat several time given bars add them several times Warning Only playlist which can be translated into musical symbols with symbol 1 2 are correctly shown and printed Hint Songwrite 2 s title bar display the number of the currently selected bar 2 6 Lyrics Songerite Prenezy garde Gar 1 D 3 File Edit Flay instrament Mote Gurnatinn Efect Help 75 Tab a dE o a a ee ee ee T _ separate 2 syllables Prenez y garde Med
4. eely these sources 1 1 Requirements for Songwrite 2 Python Gtk Cairo PyGtk and PyCairo are required for running Songwrite 2 as well as the dialog box generator EditObj 2 IATRX and GhostScript are required for printing Evince is required for viewing PDF files before printing any other PDF viewer can be used too Timidity is required for playing partitions any other midi player can be used too e g playmidi All these pieces of software should normally included in any good Linux distribution but EditObj 2 See section 4 for using other programs than the default ones 1 2 Mailing list To subscribe to the Songwrite mailing send a mail at Songwrite subscribe oomadness tuxfamily org To unsuscribe send a mail to Songwrite unsubscribe oomadness tuxfamily org 1 3 History Long ago Songwrite 2 was called Songwrite 1 and even GTablature Here are the various versions in a chronological order 1 GTablature was the first version of a tablature editor written with Python and Gtk 2 Songwrite 1 was a rewrite of GTablature using Tk instead of Gtk In fact switching from Gtk to Gtk 2 was a pain and thePython Gtk API was instable This version also introduced the use of EditObj 1 for generating dialog boxes 3 Songwrite 2 is a full rewrite of Songwrite 1 still in Python but with a new interface based on Gtk 2 and Cairo It seems that Python Gtk2 API has improved in the while Songwrite 2 uses now EditObj 2 my new dia
5. en fret number for tablatures To obtain additional lines above or below a stafs simply move a note enough high or low with the or key Directional keys can be used for moving around in the partition in Songwrite 2 the horizontal distance is proportional to time The current note duration is used by Songwrite 2 for determining the horizontal cusor speed you may need to change the current duration for moving faster or slower Notes duration can be modified with the toolbar s buttons the Duration menu or the inscrease duration and reduce duration keys however Songwrite 2 automatically adjust the note duration when you enter the next note NB for some instruments that play several voice simultaneously it can be problematic in this case it is possible to desactivate this behavious in the preferences 2 4 1 Copy and paste Songwrite 2 uses a Linux like copy paste system to copy a group of notes select them To move the selection perform a drag drop on one of the selected notes Press Escape to cancel the drag drop To paste the notes selected previously click the mouse middle button usually the mouse roll It is possible to adjust the exact pasting location by moving the mouse while keeping the middle button pressed Here again Songwrite 2 uses the selected duration for aligning horizontally the pasted notes 2 4 2 Special effects Songwrite supports the following special effects accentuation hammer pull lega
6. ieval a Tonalil Oe mode R Dash separate 2 syllables of a same word _ End of verse ie apn me m gar bas dons ce bo a ger 7 wiry for i ph da e a ao Plai sari Bri mrtte F z m trnip ih Underline _ s o sing syllable over 2 notes 4 lyrics lines on the same melody In Songwrite 2 lyrics are managed as instruments and they are added using the Instrument gt Add dialog box Lyrics blocs must be placed just below the corresponding vocals instrument however it is possible to have several lyrics blocs below the same vocals when these lyrics share the same vocal melody Typically one uses a lyrics blocs for each strophe and one for the chorus Then click in the lyrics rectangle and type the text Songwrite 2 automatically aligns the syllables on the vocals and reduce the font size if needed The following keys have a special meaning space tab next syllable next syllable in the same word _ sing the previous syllable over two notes warning it works ONLY if the two notes are linked with a hammer pull legato special effect two backslashes end of the verse breakline when printing entr e new lyrics on the same vocals Finally as the final print out is done with Lilypond and BTFX you can use TRX code in the lyrics 2 7 Playing printing exporting and importing When your song is ready you can play it with the Songe Play menu and its friends The File gt Preview print men
7. log box automatic generator and it also has a new plugin systems 2 Editing a song Songwrite 2 is designed to edit songs sorry for musicians that play without singing When it starts a new song is created and edited By default a single guitar instrument is present pr pw m Songwrite2 jiba s song Bar 1 E 5 x File Edit Play Instrument Note Duration Effect Help 100 ae eaddit td d 2 YXTYVUEPFAV EMA Jiba s song Jiba Guitar 4 2 1 Song The Edition gt Song and instruments displays the following dialog box which allows to modify the song s properties you can also double click on the song s title Jiba s song Guitar zi Jiba s song title Jiba s song authors Jiba copyright Copyright 2011 by Jiba comments language Fran ais number of bars per line 4 when printing print font size It is possible to define the title the authors the copyright and to add comments The song s language is used when exporting lyrics to ATX Finally the print font size and number of bars per line options define the partition s size when printing 2 2 Instruments The Instrument menu allows to add or to remove instruments in the song In Songwrite 2 the various instruments partitions are organized vertically and the lyrics are treated in the same way Here is the Instrument gt Add menu s dialog box Available partition views Available partition
8. nd buttons on the left It also allows to switch rapidly from a song to another by clicking them on the list Warning Songwrite 2 does not save the songs inside the songbook but only their relative filename so you must keep your song files When a songbook is opened the File gt Save menu saves both the current song and the songbook The File gt Save as menu saves only the current song while the File gt Save songbook as menu saves only the songbook Finally use the File gt Preview print songbook menu for printing the songbook 4 Configuration Preferences Preferences Songwrite 2 use an external program to play MIDI files Timidity by default Another possible command is playmidi s The postcript command is the one used for viewing files before printing In both command s is replaced by the name of the file to play or to display Midi player command timidity idt Wd PDF viewer command evince s default directory home jiba audio tablatures cours_tristan level of cancel 20 ask filename on export Page format A4 edition pane position play as typing v display notes currently playing number of previous files 12 Automatic note duration v Screen font size 0 auto 0 Cancel 0K To change the Songwrite 2 configuration click the Edit gt Preferences menu The default configuration should fit for almost all Linux distributions
9. splayed on a staff G or F key the tuning of a guitar etc Finally the view as property allows to change the instrument s view using it you can transform automatically a tablature to a staff or vice versa 2 2 1 Tuning string instruments i Tuning x Move the string __ a v ra wuning eL B4 String upward a E 5 String Add a strin m l a stri g EL G 14 String oT nD i String _ Open note Remove the string GER A 3 String a pe GESS E 3 String base note ortavod 3B Move the string downward W Close Instrument strings The tuning dialog box allows to modify the tuning of an instrument It is possible to add remove or reorder the strings and to modify the strings open note For drum instruments the tuning is similar each string corresponding to a drum patch If your favorite instrument is missing in the add instrument dialog box do not hesitate to mail me its tuning so as I can add it in the next release It is also possible to implement special tuning such as the first string of the Banjo 5G with a little Python code see the additional_instruments plugin in file songwrite2 plugins additional_instruments _ init__ py 2 2 2 Tin whistle tonality In the instrument mode the instrument tonality property can be used to choose the tin whistle tonality it defaults to D It is different from the partition s tonality for example a tin whistle in D can play a tune in G 2 3 Rh
10. to slide dead notes bend tremolo roll harmonic fermata appoggiatura and strumming directions Special effects can be added using the toolbar the keyboard shortcuts or the dialog box of the Note gt Edit menu For effects that link two notes hammers pull legato and slides the effect must be set on the first note For rolls the effect should be set on the lower note of a chord although it is still allowed to apply it to all the note of the chord as needed in Songwrite 1 Notes can gain new properties depending on their special effect e g the bend pitch property for bends Restriction It is not possible to put more than one special effect of the same category on the same note 2 4 3 Rests Rests are added automatically by Songwrite 2 when printing or exporting to PDF 2 4 4 Keyboard shortcuts up down left right move the current position origin end go to the beginning or the end of the song 0 to 9 add note tablatures fret number tin whistle fingering number of covered holes staffs use only 0 increase or decrease the note pitch increase or decrease the note duration toggle doted duration return toggle accentuation del delete all selected notes n normal remove special effect S slide to the following note l hammer pull or legato b bend tremolo d dead note r roll h harmonic p fermata a appoggiatura strumming direction up strumming direction down strumming direction down with thum
11. u exports the song to PDF and display the result by default with Evince For printing use the print command in Evince Finally the File gt Import and File gt Export menus allow import and export with the following formats Songwrite format XML format Songwrite 1 and 2 sw xml files X mi XX Tich Midi Tablature X X Midi with meta event for string mambe Asci tablature Q X Import works with Songwrite 2 Ascci tab but may not work with other Tym PostScript XP smr o XP Used for traditionnal music e g http thesession org 2 7 1 Command line In command line import and export options are used to import and export files For example the following command line imports a file in ABC format changes the view type to tin whistle fingering and exports it in PDF songwrite2 import abc fichier abc script from songwrite2 plugins fingering import TinWhistleView song partitions 0 set_view_type TinWhistleView export pdf fichier pdf 3 Songbook Tristan i Tristan Lamento de Tristan ee G z Lai du voir disant Vienne i G a Lai mortel d lseut Filename tristan_reve sw xml A songbook allows to regroup several songs together To display the songbook dialog box either use the File gt New songbook menu or open an already saved songbook with File gt Open The dialog box allows to modify the songbook s properties and to add song in the book or to remove them using the a
12. views fingering Select the partition and partition s view you want to add N Tin whistle R Recorder Drums Tablature Guitar Guitar DADGAD Bass Banjo 5G Ukulele Mandolin Koyabu board 6 string lyre s of of A i For the same instrument several views are sometimes available for example a guitar partition can be represented as a tablature or as a staff In the Songwrite 2 main window simply click on the corresponding tablature or staff to select an instrument The Instrument gt Edit menu allows to edit the instrument properties you can also double click on the instrument icon or the staff s key Vocals Guitar Guitar Vocals header header Nylon String Guitar Oboe Choir Aahs instrument Ocarina I Church Organ Orchestra Hit instrument Clarinet Overdriven Guitar gt Clavinet tonality G v Contrabass view as Tablature guitar tonality C capo 0 view as Staff piano octavied key g8 v G key print tab staff F key volume 255 octavied key g8 ome m muted volume chorus 0 muted 0 pape 0 chorus oe a5 0 let ring reverb ai tuning ol a tuning 3e Close 3e Close The properties available depend on the instrument and the view for example the capo capodastre property is available for guitare but not for vocals This dialog box allows to choose the MIDI sound bank used for playing instrument the partition tonality tonality sometimes called armor the key s di
13. ythm and bars To select on or more bars you need to select at least one note in the desired bar The Edition gt Rhythm and bars menu edits the select bars or all bars if none are selected with the following dialog box Bar 1 beats perbar 4 4 beat s duration 4 4 tempo 90 syncope picking 3 Close The two first figures correspond to the rhythm here 4 4 It is also possible to activate syncope picking for 6 8 rhythm it corresponds to a jig rhythm Restriction Only x 4 whatever x is and y 8 where y 3 6 9 12 rhythms are currently supported Finally the Edit gt Insert remove beats and Edit gt Insert remove bars allow to insert or remove a given number of beats or bars at the current location use negative number for removal 2 4 Entering notes To write a melody click on the partition at the location of the first note Then add a note by pressing keys 0 to 9 for tablatures it correspond to the fret number for staffs only 0 is used and for tin whistles the figure correspond to the number of closed holes on the flute press a second time on the same key to obtain the octavo It is possible to select several notes by dragging the mouse The and keys modify the selected notes pitch with staffs it allows for sharps and flats b and for tin whistles half holes The Note menu proposes several submenus for transposition or for rearranging the selected notes at a giv
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