Go to Table of Contents

## Staff options

The info button at the left of each staff will display options for that staff. Many of these are not displayed in exercises or in student versions. Some will appear for all users in the Free Counterpoint activity.

#### Sound on/off and volume.

The info button displays some small radiating curves at its left to help you know that sound is "on" for a staff. That way you don't need to open this window to check it. The sound button has an extra purpose in Counterpointer: In Free Counterpoint Counterpointer will ignore staves whose sound is off. You aren't allowed this option in exercises, but it can be useful in Free Counterpoint.

#### Default for this clef.

If checked, the selected instrument will be used as the default sound if you create other staves with the same clef sign. Maybe there's a particular sound you like to use for bass clef staves, for instance.

#### Instrument sounds.

Each staff can use any of the 127 instruments of the general MIDI set. By default these are set to "vocal" sounds.

#### Staff lines.

You will rarely have a reason to use anything other than 5 lines.

#### Connect bar lines.

This has its use really only in Free Counterpoint, where certain scores might not have measure lines connecting every staff in a system. When lyrics are involved it is often handy to connect bar lines only at the end of the line, to avoid running a bar line through a text item.

#### Hide text controls.

In exercises there is no good reason to show controls for lyric text, but there could be in Free Counterpoint.

#### Cantus firmus (locked).

This identifies the staff carrying the cantus firmus. It will not be marked for errors and is not editable. In Free Counterpoint and Palestrina style, though, you can use an editable cantus.

#### Show measure numbers in this staff.

IF the score options are set to Show Measure Numbers, then this option can be used to choose which staves will display measure numbers. Usually they are shown only on the top staff of a group, but you might want them on the lowest staff - who knows.

#### Transposition.

If this staff is being used for a transposing instrument like a Bb Clarient or an F horn, use this setting to ensure that the staff sounds as intended. For example, in a part for a Bb Clarinet a written C will sound the pitch Bb.

#### Transpose or transform.

Transpose or transform music in this staff. This brings up a tool that will let you easily transpose a single staff to another key, or transform it with a tonal transposition, a retrograde, inversion, etc. Transforms apply to either the entire staff or to whatever notes are currently selected.

#### Merge with another staff.

This is a great tool for creating a keyboard reduction of several staves of polyphony. You'll be asked to click in the staff you want to merge with this one, and the melody of that staff will then be added to this staff as an additional track. This is how we formed all the keyboard reductions in the Bach Chorale harmonizations found in the online music library. It will be useful to either set the stem directions in advance, or use the Edit Menu commands to select all notes of a particular track and thenn set their stem directions as desired (the convention in a two-part staff is for one voice to be stemup and other to be stemdown).

#### Duplicate this staff.

Duplicates it into a new staff below the existing one. Remember you can drag staves whereever you want them, using the "staff handle" at the left of each staff.

#### Delete this staff.

Does just that.

#### Reinterpret accidentals.

Especially useful if you have imported a MIDI file. Since MIDI files don't distinguish, for example, Eb from D#, this command examines the melody and attempts to correct any obviously mistaken accidentals, according to customary practice. For example, if the key is A minor and you see an Ab followed by A, it's probably meant to be a G# followed by A. G# would be part of the dominant harmony; Ab would not.

#### Add or edit staff label.

You can label each staff with an instrument abbreviation if desired, or perhaps a vocal part indication like S, A, T, or B. These appear at the left of the staff at the beginning.

#### Autobeam this staff.

Beams beamable notes in such a way as to help in making the beat structure more readable.

#### Autobar this staff.

Puts in bar lines, breaking notes into tied pairs if they cross a bar line. This assumes the first note to be the start of a full measure - if your first note is a 'pickup,' just put that first bar line in manually so that the software knows your intention to begin with an incomplete bar - it will take it from there.

#### Autostem this staff.

Flips stem directions as needed for a conventional appearance (high notes with stem down, lower notes stem up.) But if you have two voices in the staff and want to keep them notated as independent voices, you will want instead to select all notes of a particular voice (Edit menu) and then use the stem direction tool to specifically choose the stem direction for the selected notes.

Go to Table of Contents