IWBNI it were possible to attach an expression to a subset of the notes of an entry. Note: Here, the terms note and entry have the same meaning as on the Edit Frame dialog box. That is, an entry is a chord of notes in a layer. As it is now, note-attached expressions are attached to entries.

This would be useful when extracting parts. If it were possible to assign an expression to a note of a chord, and if it were possible to assign a note of a chord to a part, then when a given part is extracted, only those expressions that are associated with the part would appear in the part (for a related suggestion, see: Suggestion 608: Allow a New Object Type Called Part to be Defined). Also, with this feature it would be possible to design an expression that, on playback, would affect a subset of the notes of a chord. For example, one might design a dynamic marking that is to affect only the top and bottom note of any chord below which it is placed.

This could be implemented by adding the following controls to the Note-attached Expression Assignment dialog box:

------------------------------------------------------
Note-attached Expression Assignment Dialog Box

Attach to:
( ) Entry
( ) Highest _____ Notes
( ) Lowest _____ Notes
( ) Note Numbers: _____
( ) Note IDs: |list box of note IDs|
------------------------------------------------------

If the radio button Entry is selected for a given expression, the note-attached expression would be attached to an entry as in the current version of Finale. This would be the default setting.

If the radio button Highest (Lowest) is selected, the expression would be attached to the specified number of notes counted down (up) from the highest (lowest) note of the chord. For example, one could specify that an expression be attached to the two lowest notes of a four-note chord. In this case, if an even lower note were added to the chord, the expression would become attached automatically to the newly added note and the second lowest note.

If the radio button Note Numbers is selected, the expression would be attached to the specified notes as numbered from 1 to n, counting from the highest note of the chord to the lowest. For example, one could specify that an expression be attached to the second and third highest notes of a five-note chord by entering the note numbers 2 3. In this case, if notes are added to or removed from the chord, the set of notes to which the expression is attached would be modified, as needed, so that the expression would be attached to the second and third highest notes of the new chord.

If the radio button Note IDs is selected, the expression would be attached to a subset of the notes of an entry. The subset of notes would be specified by selecting note IDs from a list. Note IDs would be listed in order from the highest note to the lowest note. The note IDs would be the same as those displayed in the Edit Frame dialog box. If notes are added to or removed from an entry, the set of notes to which an expression is attached would not be affected.

Note: Note IDs are automatically assigned to notes as they are added to an entry and IDs are permanent. For example, the ID of the first note that is added to an entry would be 1. That of the second and third note added would be 2 and 3, respectively. Later, if the second note is deleted, the entry would consist of two notes with IDs 1 and 3. The ID of the third note would not change as a result of deleting the second note.

Created: July 1, 2000 (based on comments by Christopher B. J. Smith)
Last Updated: July 1, 2000
Version: Finale 2000b