Creating an effective crescendo with Pizzicato Light and Beginner...

When you use the crescendo symbol with Pizzicato Professional, the effect is automatically heared when the score plays through the sound card or the external MIDI synthetizer. Pizzicato performs the musical sentence covered by the symbol, playing the notes increasingly stronger.

With the Beginner and Light versions, the symbol is only graphic and the performance is not affected by the symbol. Nevertheless, it is possible to create the equivalent of this effect, but another function should be used.

For the Beginner version :

Place your crescendo

Select the measures covered by this symbol

In the "Edit" menu, select the "Data modification..." item

On the left, select "Velocity (1-127)"

On the right, select and fill in "Progression from 64 to 127" (the first, without %). Levels can vary from 1 (hardly audible) to 127 (maximum force).

You can thus moderate the values of beginning and end to adjust the desired effect of your crescendo.

Click "OK". The effect can be heard by listening to the score.

For the Beginner and Light versions :

Place your crescendo

For each note forming the covered musical sentence, click with the right button of the mouse (option-click on Mac) on the note and select the "Edit note..." item.

In the dialog box that appears, you can modify the value of the MIDI velocity (playing force) of this note between 1 and 127.

Once modified, click "OK" and the effect can be heard by playing the score.

Repeat the operation for each note, by adjusting yourself the progressive effect of crescendo. For example if you have 5 notes in your crescendo, respectively place the velocity of the 5 notes at 50,65,80,95 and 110, or any other desired progression.

The disadvantage of the first method is that the crescendo (or the descrescendo, the principle stays the same) must coincide with full measures. The second method is more precise, because you can modify each note separately, but it is also longer to use, because if you want to perform a progressive crescendo on 4 measures of 16th notes, it will be necessary to calculate your curve of evolution and to modify 4x16 notes...

Nothing is better of course than the facility with which the Pro version lets you execute this: you place your symbol, you stretch it, you adjust the intensity of crescendo if you want... and you listen !

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