Start Pizzicato and open the Test
Palette. Double-click on our original symbol. We will
transform this symbol into a curve. In the Type menu,
select the Curve item. Click in the Create/Modify button.
The curve editor appears:
The curve contains 3 points marked by 3 small black squares.
Click and drag for example the middle one. The two extreme points
remain motionless and the curve follows your movement:
Release it and the curve is stabilized.
- Bring the right side point a little closer and move the
middle point to get:
The shape of this curve will be visible on the score when you
add the symbol. Then you will be able to adapt it in the score.
The modifications will remain local and will not influence the
original symbol.
The intersection of the two red lines indicates the origin of
the curve. It simulates the location where you click in the score
to place the symbol. In the above example, the location clicked
in the score will correspond to the left point of the curve.
Close this window with its closing box or the Enter (Return)
key (on Mac, this window has no closing box, use the
return key to close it).
Pizzicato displays the symbol definition dialog box :
The central part is separated in two areas. The left part
treats the horizontal positioning of the symbol and the right
part the vertical positioning. Let us start with the horizontal
part.
- The Mode menu selects the horizontal positioning
mode of the symbol.
The default choice is Proportional to measure.
When you click on the score to add the symbol, it sticks to
the measure. By widening the measure, the symbol will move
proportionally.
If you take the Relative to measure choice, the
symbol will be fixed in relation to the top left corner of
the measure. By widening the measure, the symbol will not
move in relation to this corner.
Finally the third choice is Relative to a note.
In this case, by clicking on a note or a rest, the horizontal
position of the symbol is fixed in relation to this note or
rest and it will move with it. If this option is selected and
if you add the symbol in the measure without clicking on a
note, it will be associated to the measure.
- The following text box is entitled Position and
has a value of "0" by default. By
placing a value different than zero, you can shift the
horizontal position of the symbol when you add it on the
score. By placing for example "10", when you
click on the score, the symbol will be placed 10 pixels
to the right of the location where you clicked. A
negative number would correspond to a shift to the left.
- If you want the symbol to be horizontally moveable on the
score, the Moveable box located just to the
right must be checked. An accent placed on a note for
example may be fixed horizontally, in relation to the
note, by unchecking this option.
- The next text box is used to place an horizontal oblique
shift, in percentage. The effect of this shift moves the
lower border of its frame of X % distance in relation to
its horizontal size. Here is for example the effect of 25
% horizontal oblique shift on a rectangle drawn with the
polygon tool:
Only lines and polygons are really distorted by an oblique
shift. The other objects are simply resized to hold within
the new frame.
- If you check the Variable box, the user will be
able to modify this shift as explained in the lesson on
the positioning of symbols.
- The last text box is entitled Scale. By default,
it is fixed at 100 %, which adds the symbol on the score
with horizontal dimension exactly as the original
drawing. By placing a different value, you can increase
or decrease the horizontal scale of the symbol. For
example, you can draw a symbol twice larger in the
vectorial editor (so that the drawing is easier and more
precise) and decrease it on a 50 % scale for the score.
- The menu located right besides is fixed by default.
The user will not be able to modify the scale. If you
select the Proportional item, he will be able to
widen or narrow this symbol horizontally. The Multiple
choice is used to multiply the symbol in the
horizontal direction. If you place for example a symbol
as this one in the vectorial editor or bitmap:
and if you activate the Multiple choice, the user
will be able to stretch this symbol horizontally and will get
the following symbol:
- The right side of the dialog box contains the same
options for the vertical position of the symbol. Only the
positioning mode is different.
The default vertical mode is Relative to measure.
The position is based on the measure and moves with it. By
selecting Relative to a note, the symbol will move
vertically with the note. The last choice is Relative to
a stem. This associates the symbol position with the end
of the note stem on which you clicked to add the symbol. If
you lengthen the stem, the symbol will move to keep the same
position in relation to the stem.
- Three check boxes are located in the upper left part of
the dialog.
The first is entitled Outside measure. By
checking this box, it becomes impossible to superimpose the
symbol inside the 5 lines of the staff. By clicking to add
the symbol, it is automatically shifted upwards or downwards
so that the symbol frame remains outside of the measure.
The following box is called Only between lines.
By checking it, Pizzicato shifts the vertical position of the
symbol so that its origin always corresponds with the middle
of a space between lines of the measure. This is useful for
example for the dot is placed above or below a note. If this
box was not checked for this symbol, the dot could appear on
the line of a staff, which would make it much less visible.
The third box is called Dependent of stems direction.
Normally, when you reverse the direction of the note stem
with which a symbol is associated, the symbol does not move
and thus remains fixed in relation to the head of the note.
By checking this box, the symbol will automatically follow
and swap up/down with the inversion of the stem.
- Next to the identifier of the symbol, a menu displays Unique.
It means that this symbol is not related to the
definition of another symbol. This menu contains two
other choices, Stem up and Stem down.
If the first is activated, this symbol is only valid when
the stem of the associated note is directed upwards. The
symbol must be associated with a second symbol which is
only valid when the stem is directed downwards. The text
box just below specifies the identifier of the associated
symbol.
This system is used to create symbols that are different
according to the stem direction, for example the dot placed
above or below a note. The second symbol should not
necessarily be placed in a palette. To create this second
symbol, you need to set an identifier not yet in use in the Associated
Symbol text box. If you just created the symbol, simply
add "1" to the identifier of the symbol.
In our example, select Stem up and place the
identifier +1 (here thus 4512) in the text box right below.
Click OK. To reach the definition of the associated
symbol, double-click on the original symbol (in the palette)
by holding down the control key. A copy of the symbol is
created and you get the definition dialog box of the
symmetrical symbol. Notice that the menu shows Stem down,
the symbol carries identifier 4512 and is associated to the
identifier 4511. These two symbols are now independent on the
definition level. Modifying the drawing of one will not
modify the other.
When you add one of these symbols on a note, Pizzicato
automatically selects the one which corresponds to the stem
direction and when you reverse this direction, the symbols
are swapped.
- A check box entitled MIDI Play activates a sound
effect via the Midi system. We will study it in the next
lesson.
- Just below there is a menu labeled Chord. The
default choice is Upper note. The other possible
choice is Lower note. When you add the symbol on
an chord, this menu shows to which note of the chord the
symbol will be associated.
- In the lower part of the dialog, a box labeled Invisible
Symbol makes the symbol invisible on the score. This
is for example useful when you simply want to create a
sound effect or to fix a volume, without displaying this
symbol on the printed score.
- Another check box specifies if the symbol must influence
the measure justification of notes and rests. If it is
checked, Pizzicato will reserve an horizontal space for
this symbol when placed in front of or behind a note.
- The check box labeled Include in extracted parts
determines if the symbol must be copied on all extracted
parts when you extract parts from the orchestra score. It
is for example the case of the tempo symbols that are
placed on the first staff of the orchestra score, but
which will be found in each separate part also.
In order to illustrate the theory, we will
now examine some symbols of the Pizzicato library. By closing
the dialog boxes, take care to click on Cancel, in
order not to modify one of the original symbols.
- If not done yet, close the symbol
definition dialog box. Open the Main Symbols
palette and double-click on the symbol:
It is formed by a vectorial drawing. If you
edit the drawing, you will see that it consists of 2 text
areas containing an "m" and a "f"
in the Pizzicato font. The option Outside of measure
is checked, because this symbol is always placed outside of a
measure. Horizontally, it can be attached to a note. A
position of -15 places it on the left of the clicked note and
it is moveable, i.e. the user can move it with the mouse.
Vertically, it is fixed compared to measure. If you move a
note vertically, the symbol will not move. Click Cancel.
Its vectorial drawing is formed by two
oblique lines. Here, the vertical oblique shift is variable,
letting the user to incline the symbol to get the following
examples:
The horizontal and vertical scales are
proportional, so as to increase or decrease this symbol in
both directions, to get the following examples:
- Click Cancel and open the
following symbol:
The horizontal and vertical positions of
this symbol are fixed in relation to a note. The symbol is
not moveable, Pizzicato places it automatically at the
specified location, in relation to the note.
The symbol is placed only between the lines
of the staff (or between the imaginary additional lines) in
such a way that it is not hidden by a line. The stem
direction influences its positioning. A symbol is associated
to it for the opposite direction of the stem.
- Click Cancel and open the
following symbol:
Its vertical scale is multiplicative and
has a default value of 300 %. The user can thus stretch or
narrow the height of this symbol.
- Click Cancel. Open the Graphic
symbols palette and double click on the
following symbol:
Its vectorial drawing consists of three
lines and a text area with number "1" and a dot.
Its position is fixed in relation to the measure. Its
horizontal scale is proportional. Pizzicato always places it
outside the measure.
This terminates the review of the graphic
side of symbols. Have fun to create some original symbols and
to add them in the score. Also consult the other symbols of
the Pizzicato library. Some of them will give you ideas on
the possible uses of symbols creation.
