The NoteAbilityPro for iPad preferences are displayed when the Preferences item in the Operations Menu is selected. There are 11 different panes for NAPro preferences, each of which is displayed when the item on the left side of the panel is selected.

Sound/Midi Preferences

The Sound/Midi pane includes settings for controlling the playback cursor as well as the default instrument used in new custom scores.

The Play Messages on Max setting will send embedded Network messages to MaxMSP or PD

The User Tempo Transport setting changes the Playback toolbar from a counter and VU Meters to a Tempo Control Slider. The Tempo Contorl slider is useful if you need to make quick and accurate changes to the tempo, for example, in interactive MaxMSP performances.

Standard Playback Toolbar:

Tempo Transport Toolbar:

The Use Edit Popups menus enables or disables the popup menus that appear when performing editing operations using the Select or Select Score tools.

Velocities Preferences

The Velocities pane allows you to set the strengths and relative durations of different articulations. As well, you can indicate whether you want dynamic markings in the score to be played back as MIDI volume messages.

Text/Fonts Preferences

The Text/Fonts pane allows you to set the default fonts used for on-screen text, lyrics, page numbers, measure numbers, staff labels and guitar tablature. As well, you can choose which of the available music fonts you want to use for your score. Finally, you can set the staff label justification to be right or left.

Formatting Preferences

The Formatting pane allows you to set the compression factor for system justification. This setting controls the way in which note spacing is adjusted when a system or page is formatted. The Compression Factor is adjusted using a slider - it has a range between 0.0 and 1.0. The larger the Compression Factor, the more equal the beat spacing will be regardless of how many notes are in each of the beats. The smaller the Compression Factor, the more groups or notes are spread out to take up the empty spaces in other places within the system. Below are a few of examples of how this value affects the format of the system.

Compression Factor 0.0:

Compression Factor 0.4 (default setting):

Compression Factor 1.0:

The Avoid Collisions check boxes affect how system and page formatting is performed:

• Between Notes - During formatting, this setting causes note positions to be adjusted to avoid overlapping other notes or accidentals.
• Between Graphic Notes - During formatting, this setting causes graphic notes positions and grace note positions to be adjusted to avoid overlapping other notes or accidentals. Graphic notes are grace notes and notes entered from the graphic notes palette.
• Between Lyrics - During formatting, this setting causes lyric positions to be adjusted to avoid overlapping other lyrics.

The First Beat Inset allows you to adjust the position between the barline and the first beat of the measure.

There are a number of checkboxes that affect formatting and score display:

• Auto Beam On - Causes notes to be automatically beamed as they are entered.
• Auto Format On - Causes the system to be formatted whenever the last note on a line is entered.
• Draw Conductor Staff - will cause the score to have a line above the top staff where conductor cues and/or time signatures can be added. This is useful for large orchestral scores but unnecessary in scores for smaller ensembles.
• Print Patch Changes - Causes the patch changes, bank changes, and controller messages to be printed with your score. Since these are primarily inserted as playback controls, they aren't normally printed.
• Print Pedal Changes - Causes the pedal change markers (normally inserted as playback controls) to be printed with your score. Standar piano pedal marks, added with lines and pedal change markers are always printed.

Measure Number Preferences

The Measure Number pane allows you to control the default appearance of Measure Numbers. In this pane, you can set which measures will have measure numbers on them, whether the measure numbers have a circle or a rectangle around them, whether they appear above the system, below the system or above every staff in the system, whether they appear at the barline, or in the middle of the measure, the distance they appear above or below the staff, and a horizontal offset from their normal drawing position. The Measure Number view shows the appearance of the measure numbers.

Graphics Preferences

The Graphics pane allows you to set default behaviour for graphics such as crescendo lines, barline types, staff thickness and dashed lines. The Change button allows you to change the spread of crescendo and decrescendo marking in the current document.

The Duration Bar Thickness is the thickness of the duration bar that can be added to notes to show their duration in graphical scores.

The Default Barline Type allows you to set the default barline type to be used in new custom scores.

The Default Line Width sets the default width of lines added using the Line tool.

Ties/Slurs Preferences

The Ties/Slurs pane allows you to customize the appearance of ties and slurs in your documents. Most of these setting will apply to new documents, not to existing documents.

Beams/Stems/Rests Preferences

The Beams/Stems/Rests pane allows you to customize the appearance of beams (beam thickness and distance between beams), set the default stem height, and set whether stems should be added to rests.

Notes/Lyrics Preferences

The Notes/Lyrics pane allows you to customize the appearance of notes, accidentals and lyrics. The default dot position, double whole note appearance, and quarter-tone accidentals can all be set. As well you can indicate whether ficta accidentals (common in early music) should be used. The characteristics of the lyric dash and underscore can also be set.

Display Preferences

The Display pane includes preferences to enable an Overview Window to be added to your display and to set the locations of score duration indications in the score. The Overview Window is a small window which appears in the top-left corner of your score and allows you to quickly scroll around a large document by touching and dragging in the window.

Paper and Units Preferences

The Paper pane includes preferences for the default paper size you want to use for scores (normally either US Paper or A4).

The Measurement Unit selector allows you to set whether you want all dimensions in NAPro displayed in Inches (the default), Centimeters, Points or Picas.

Dynamics and Ornaments Preferences

Playback volumes are controlled by two elements, the velocity or volume of each note and a volume control that can be adjusted on each playback channel. If the Interpret Dynamics as MIDI Volume check box is checked, then dynamics and crescendo and decrescendo markings in the score will adjust the playback channel according to the volume levels set in this panel for each dynamic marking. So, for example, with these settings, ppp markings in the score will be set to volume level 50 while fff markings in the score will be set to volume level 125.

The other check boxes in the panel control whether:

1. trills (along with ornaments such as turns and mordents) are played
2. glissandi between notes are played
3. single tremolos are played
4. tremolo beams between notes played

When these check boxes are not checked, the notes will be played as single notes.

Other Preferences

The Other pane includes preferences for the appearance of the piano braces, the rules applied to ties, and whether cautionary time signatures and key signatures should appear at the end of systems.

Touch the Done button to dismiss this panel and save the changes to your preferences or the Cancel Button to dismiss the panel without saving changes.

See also

• Main Toolbar
• Tools Palette

© Keith A. Hamel 2013-2020 - All Rights Reserved