The default paper size is 8.5 X 11 inches. Choosing a different page size is done in the Page Setup command under the File menu. Different sets of page size choices are available depending on which type of printer you have selected in the “Chooser” (which is found under the Apple Menu).
Using Master Page
Once you have selected a page size, you may want to adjust the margins, staff size, the number of parts, and numerous other score layout choices. Most all such issues are handled in Nightingale’s Master Page. You display the Master Page of your score by going to the Score menu and selecting Master Page. The Master Page represents the universal layout format for the entire score. Once you have entered Master Page mode, a Master Page menu is added to the menu bar, plus all music/notes become invisible, and both margins and blank staves are displayed.
The following adjustments to the score setup are all made while in Master Page mode:
Setting Margins
You can adjust margins by simply dragging them, or by going to the Master Page menu and selecting Margins. If you choose to drag a margin to position it, you will notice that a digital “readout” of the margin’s position is shown in the small activity box at the bottom of your screen.
Getting a Single Staff Score
For a score without a grand staff, it is recommended that you first add a new part before deleting the existing grand staff in a newly-opened file. This is done in Master Page as well, by going to the Master Page menu and selecting Add Part at Bottom. The Add Part dialog will then provide you choices for how many parts should be added, and how many staves should be in the newly added parts.
To add a new part above an existing part in the score, simply click once on the existing part to select/highlight it, and the Add Part command automatically changes to become Add Part Above.
Setting the Number of Parts in a Score
You can use the Add Part command repeatedly while in Master Page to place more parts in the score. You are free to place newly-added parts above or below existing parts. Several parts can be added at one time in the Add Part dialog.
If you attempt to add more parts than will fit on the page, Nightingale will alert you and suggest that you choose a larger page size, or a smaller staff size to fit more parts on the page.
Setting Staff Sizes
Changing the staff size is done for the entire score at once by going to the Master Page menu and choosing the Staff Size command (or by typing Cmd-T). Pre-set staff sizes 1-8 all represent traditional engraver staff heights ranging from .33 inches to .13 inches. In addition, staff size “0” can be set by the user to any size up to .38 inches. Engraver point sizes are also displayed for each choice given in the Staff Size dialog.
Grouping/Ungrouping Parts
To group several parts together with a square, left-hand bracket, you can simply select/highlight the parts by either shift-clicking on their staves, or pressing the mouse button and dragging a selection box around the left end of their staves to “grab” them. Once all the desired parts are selected, move to the Master Page menu and choose the Group Parts command (or type Cmd-G).
If you are shift-clicking to select parts to be grouped, each newly-selected part will be highlighted. To use the method of grabbing the left end of the parts, move the mouse into the page margin area outside the region of the staves, press down and hold the mouse button, and then encircle the left ends of all the desired parts at one time. You will see a dotted line drawn around the left end as you drag. Once the dotted line forms a rectangle around the left ends of the parts, release the mouse, and the parts will be selected/highlighted. You can now use the Group Parts command.
To ungroup a set of parts, click on any part in the group, and go to the Master Page menu and choose Ungroup Parts (or type Cmd-U).
Splitting a Grand Staff or other Multi-staff Part
If you wish to split a part that contains two or more staves into a group of individual parts, simply click on the part anywhere in its staff, and then go to the Master Page menu and select Split Part. The part will be split into a set of grouped parts. These can be ungrouped using the same method described above (“Ungrouping Parts”).
Naming Instrument Parts and Choosing MIDI Channels/Patch Settings
Assigning an instrument name to a part is done by double clicking on a part. You can also select a part by clicking on it, and then go to the Master Page menu and choose the Instrument command (which is also called up by typing “Cmd-I”). An instrument list is displayed from which you can choose an instrument’s name. General MIDI Spec patch assignments, range limits, and transposition intervals are automatically calculated for any instrument in the list. You can also, of course, type any instrument/voice name for a part in the dialog, and you can assign any MIDI patch number you choose. You can also alter or reset the transposition values and range limits for any part. Appropriate MIDI channel number assignments must be made by you in this instrument dialog.
This instrument list can be adjusted by you to conform to the specific patch/channel assignments for you own MIDI synthesizer, keyboard or sound module. Using the NightCustomizer utility, you can permanently change the “master” instrument list, which will affect the instrument assignments made in all new files. You can simply make changes to the instrument list in the file you are currently setting up, but these will affect only that specific file, and no other files you open.
Setting a Title Margin
The extra title margin on the first page is set in the Preferences command, which is found under the File menu. However, it is best to make adjustments to the title margin while in Master Page, because changes won’t take effect until you actually make an adjustment to either the top or bottom margin in Master Page. In other words, to change the title margin, you first change the numeric value of the extra margin in Preferences, and then, while in Master Page, change one of the top or bottom margin settings. The easiest way to change one of these margins is to drag it slightly up and then back to its original position (keeping an eye on the numeric readout in the activity box will help you do this).
Changing Layout of Music in the Score
The remaining layout issues are addressed while working in the normal editing/note entry mode, and not in Master Page. To exit from the Master Page mode, move to the Score menu and “un-select” the Master Page command. This will remove the check mark next to its name where it appears in the score menu, and the Master Page menu is then put away.
Add Pages and Add Systems
Under the Score menu you will find commands to add a page after the page where the cursor has been placed, and to add a system after the system where the cursor has been placed. Systems can be added easily by using the key command (Cmd-9).
Move Measures Up/Down
A very convenient way to move measures around in the score is to click in a measure (or select several measures by dragging across them to highlight them), and then simply move them up or down to the next system using the “Move Measures Down” or “Move Measures Up” commands. Key commands make this quite easy (Cmd-U for “move up” and Cmd-Y for “move down”)
Under the Score menu you will also find commands to move entire systems up or down from one page to another.
These four “move up/move down” commands are often used by expert Nightingale users for all their layout adjustments, in lieu of the more powerful “Reformat Systems” command (see below).
Respace-Reformat-Justify
The most effect way to adjust the spacing and formatting of notes in your score is to use the three layout commands under the Score menu—Respace Bars, Reformat Systems, and Justify Systems— in that exact order.
For Reformat to work well, you must have already asked Nightingale to adjust measure spacing, so that a proper space is allowed for each bar in your score.
You can identify a single measure for respacing by simply placing the cursor in it. You can drag across several measures to highlight/select them, and you can use Select All (Cmd-A) to select the entire score.
Respacing to a value of 100% will engage Nightingale’s built-in spacing tables to adjust measure spacing to “engraver’s standards.”
Following this, it is best to Reformat Systems for the selected region so that as many measures as possible will be fit onto each system of the score. This will eliminate empty staves and pages in the score, shifting all measure as far to left as they can fit.
Finally, using the Justify Systems command will spread out the measures in each system, so that they fill out the staff area from left to right, leaving no empty staff lines at the end of a system.
Special Hints to clean up a score
If you select a region (or the entire score) and then Respace Bars to a very small percentage (i.e. 10% of normal spacing), this will squeeze the measures down to a point where they can be compressed onto as few pages and systems as possible. Then, by using Reformat Systems with the choice checked for either “as many measures as fit” or “exactly” 15 measures or so per system, you will see measures moved and compressed toward the front of the score into very tight groups on each staff, eliminating any extra pages or systems in the score. After this has been done, it is very easy to re-work the entire score using “Respace-Reformat-Justify” because all the measures will have a very easy time “de-compressing” to a more normal spacing, and will then fill out the score from front to back without adding any unnecessary pages or systems into your score.
Another such method is to select a region (or the entire score), respace bars to 10%, and then Reformat Systems to an “exact” number that is approximately what you think should be the layout of measures on all systems. Before clicking on [OK] to reformat, select the option for “Justify Afterwards” in the Reformat dialog. This force the measures so they fit an exact number per system, and the they will be stretched to spread out across each system. The result is a fairly satisfying “rough” layout of the score.
