NoteWorthy Composer Frequently
Asked Questions (FAQ) Answers to the following
questions are based on the latest version of NoteWorthy Composer. In addition to
this page, you may find the User Tips & Tricks page and the
Forum helpful. The NoteWorthy
Composer Help file also includes a list of "Answers to Common Questions."
List of FAQ Titles

I suspect that the MIDI driver is causing a crash. My first advice would
be to remove all MIDI setup information from NWC. This is achieved by deleting the NWC.INI
from the C:\Windows folder. Now start NWC32. If it runs OK, then we have identified the
driver configuration as the culprit for the crash. You will then need to Reset the MIDI
configuration and/or fix any computer MIDI setup problems. Top
Most likely, the computer is using a soft synth with a very high note
latency (in other words, the notes are not being played by the computer when NWC asks them
to be played). Switching to a synth built into a sound card will usually solve this, as
"real synths" generally have a very small play latency compared to soft synths.
For more discussion regarding soft synths, see NoteWorthy
Composer Forum messages: 957,
321, 706, 350. For tips on changing the MIDI
device used by the MIDI Mapper, see messages 1049 and 1045. Top
The play back sound and instruments available are a function of your
sound card.
You will get better sound if you have a Wave Table sound card versus an
FM Synth card. A wave table card uses samples from actual instruments for play whereas the
FM card uses a series of mathematical sin functions, etc. to make an instrument sound. So
the wave table card is going to sound more like the real thing. Some cards will support
both. Perhaps your sound card is now set on FM and you could change it to Wave Table.
One last thing to remember, if your speakers are very inexpensive, you
may not be able to hear how good your sound card is. Top
Most sound cards have a percussion channel on channel 10 or 16. The
staff that is playing back percussion sounds is set to this channel. You need to change
the channel for this staff by going to Staff: Staff Properties, Midi tab, Channel. Top
If you would like NoteWorthy Player to open when you double
click on midi files in the explorer window:
-Open an Explorer Window
-Select View: Options
-Click File Types tab
-Select Midi Sequence (under Registered File types)
-Click Edit
-Select NoteWorthy Player
-Click Set Default
Top
If a lap top does not come equipped with a sound card, there are two
options:
1 - Some synthesizers and other MIDI devices will connect to the serial
or parallel ports on a computer. If the lap top has a free serial or parallel port, one
option is to buy a synth that will connect to this port and includes the necessary MIDI
driver to support it.
2 - If the PC has a PCMCIA slot, there are sound cards available in this
format. Top
You can use NWC simultaneously with a digital audio capture utility.
While NWC is playing back, you should record the material (using some other program) into
a 16-bit stereo WAV file captured at CD audio frequency (which is 44.1 KHz). Then, if your
CD-R drive supports writing the CD-Audio format, you can build a CD audio track list from
one or more WAV files stored on your computer. You need:
- A sound card that will support digital audio capture while playing
back MIDI data (from NWC or wherever); "full duplex"
- A digital audio capture program (sometimes bundled with your soundcard or CD recorder)
- A large, fast hard drive
- A CD-R drive with software support for the CD-Audio format Top
With File: Page Setup, Contents, you can select one staff or several
staves of a song to print. This also controls the staves shown in the editor. Top
Re-install NoteWorthy Composer by Running the setup *.exe file.
You can install from your diskette or download the latest Version 1 release from our web
site. This file is lost by moving your NoteWorthy Composer program files after
installing it or by copying the program files onto your computer instead of Running the
setup *.exe file. Top
The File: Info command (quick key Ctrl+i) will allow you to change the
title, author and copyright information for a song. Top
Have a question about a feature in NWC and need several views? Want to
do something above the basic with NWC? Wondering how to get it everything connected and
talking? Check our the NWC Offline Forum as an easy topic search tool.
-Download the NWC
Offline Forum
-Run the *.exe file to install the NWC Offline Forum
-Open the Forum
-Go to the Find tab
-Search on your topic
-Read all the threads
Read on to become more knowledgeable about NWC, MIDI and Music and Computers. Top
If you system is not seeing the fonts and giving you the warning message
about full fonts, what is probably full is the Windows/Fonts directory. Windows does not
supported an unlimited number of fonts, even though you can put a bunch in the directory.
You need to remove some of the fonts you do not use (or move them to another folder until
you do need them).
Once you have moved or removed the fonts, restart your computer and
re-install NoteWorthy Composer. Top
In general, your song files are safe when using the uninstall utility.
If you do an "Automatic" uninstall, only the files originally installed by the
setup will be removed. However, there are two scenarios where your song files are at risk:
Scenario #1:
- You store your files in the NoteWorthy Composer program
sub-folder "Samples"
- You use the same filenames as the existing samples installed by the
program
Scenario #2:
- You store your files in the NoteWorthy Composer program folder
- When uninstalling, you perform a "Custom" uninstall
- During the custom uninstall, you tell the removal utility to remove the NoteWorthy
Composer program directory
If you fit into one of these two scenarios, then you should immediately
rearrange your filing system on your computer. You should never store
your own files in the same directory as program files. We recommend that you keep your
song files in a separate folder. You can configure NWC to use this folder from Tools |
Options | Folders. If you are using Windows 95 or better, a good place to keep your own
files is the "My Documents" folder on your C: partition. It is then an easy
process to backup your files, as they are all filed within a single folder hierarchy.
If you have not implemented a backup strategy, this should be your next
planned action. Nothing is more important than protecting your work product. You can
always reinstall your programs, but you can never recover your hard work unless you keep
good and frequent backups.
Also see, What if I already uninstalled NWC and I
cannot find my song files? below.
Top
Well, for starters, we should point out that you should always keep a
backup of your work. Hard drives do fail, and when they do, you will sing a sigh of relief
when you have a current, working backup of your work.
Backups aside, after uninstalling and then installing a new version,
some people confuse the absence of their NWC file history as having lost their song files
(they no longer show up in the File | History command). If this is the case, then you will
find your song files on your computer in the location where they are still stored. One way
to track them down is to use the Windows "Find" command. From an Explorer
window, simply type Ctrl+F and the find utility will open. From there, you can search for
your files by name. Use the "Look in" box to specify all of your drives, select
"Include subfolders", then specify the name of one of the files that you are
trying to find.
If this does not work, see the previous question
for possible scenarios where you may have inadvertently deleted your files. If you ever
mistakenly delete your files, there are utilities on the market that might help you to
recover them, including Norton Utilities. A discussion of this topic is beyond the scope
of this answer, but some users have given advice in our forum. Some threads touching on
this subject can be found at:
http://www.ntworthy.com/nwcforum/1/1034.htm
http://www.ntworthy.com/nwcforum/1/1239.htm
Also see, What happens to my song files when I
uninstall NoteWorthy Composer? above.
Top
If you do not have file extensions showing in your Windows Explorer
Windows, you need to change that. Following is one way to show File Extensions in Windows
98. We do not offer Windows support, so you may want to review your Windows help for other
methods. In an Explorer Window, go to View: Folder Options. Under the View tab, un-check
Hide file extensions for known file types. Click Apply.
Once you have file extensions showing, you will see the *.bak extension.
Click the file name in the Explorer Window and press F2 to have access to the file name.
Change the extension from "bak" to "nwc".
Now you can open the *.nwc file in NoteWorthy Composer. Top
Although this feature is not currently available in NoteWorthy
Player, you can setup play lists using a Windows 95 batch file.
You create a batch file (*.bat) that executes your play list.
The file playlist.zip (2K) provides an example. Save the
ZIP contents to your hard disk, in a new folder. You can then run the batch file (double
click the PlayList.BAT file) to play both songs. The batch file assumes that NoteWorthy
Player is installed in the default location.
Batch files are a historical artifact from the days of DOS, but as in
this case, they are occasionally useful. An old DOS manual, perhaps from the library,
would probably be a good reference.
Commands used in the *.bat file:
start /wait c:\path\nwplayer c:\path\music1.nwc /play /close
start /wait c:\path\nwplayer c:\path\music2.nwc /play /close
While in a DOS session, you can get help on the "Start"
command by running "Start /?" on the command line. Top
You can read about using pitch bends from this thread and the links out
of the thread: http://www.ntworthy.com/nwcforum/1/1289.htm
Detune.nwc (1K) is a sample of a
pitch bend that detunes over the span of two measures, then is restored to normal tuning.
Try it out, then select the MPC instructions in the second staff to see how it was done. Top |