Modifications

Shifting notes and rests

You can shift notes and rests vertically and horizontally. Be sure NtEd is in edit mode (see The 3 modes). Again: You can achieve this mode temporarily by pressing the Ctrl key. Click a note or rest with left button. The note or rest is selected. A selected chord or rest appeares in red color. Shift and hold the left button. The selected note or rest moves accordingly. If you shift a note vertically the note changes the line. If you shift the note or rest horizontally before or after another note or rest the note or rest changes its position.

Furthermore: If there is a selected note you can move the note by Up/Down cursor key. The Left/Right key changes the selection.

The horizontal move is especially useful in cases where you want to achieve this:

shift example 1

but the situation is:

shift example 2

By moving the note before the rest or the rest behind the note the symbols exchange their positions.

Hiding rests

You can hide some rests if desireable. There are 2 ways to do this. If you want to hide the rests of a whole voice, select that voice on voice selector () and choose:

Toolshide rests

Or simply press Ctrl + R.

To unhide already hidden rests choose:

Toolsunhide rests

Or simply press Ctrl + U.

To limit this operation to a certain staff simply select one arbitratry note or rest of this staff before this operation.

The 2nd way is to hide a group of rests of a selection rectangle: Draw a selection rectangle as described in Select a block. Then choose hide rests or unhide rests as described above. Note: This operation is also limited to the selected voice.

To (un)hide all rests in all voices choose:

Toolshide rests (all v.)

or:

Toolsunhide rests (all v.)

Hiding rests is also useful in case of an upbeat.

To make hidden rests visible choose:

Viewshow hidden elements

Positioning rests vertically

NtEd tries to position rests in such a way that they do not obscure other elements. This works in most cases. But sometimes the user wishes a customized vertical placement.

To place a rest vertically select it, and then use the cursor up-/down keys to change the rest's vertical position.

Note

From this moment on you are responsible to place this rest. NtEd will do nothing to solve any conflicts. The only way to get a rest managed by NtEd is to insert a new rest.

This way you can effectively have 2 voices sharing "one" rest:

selected a tie

Note

You have to move both rests at least one step! Otherwise NtEd moves the other rest to avoid collision.

Inserting ties

There are 2 ways for inserting ties:

  1. This approach assumes you want to insert ties after you have inserted a series of notes. So, never press the tie during note insertion:

    the tie button

    Press it after you have inserted a series of notes. Then select all note pairs to be tied with left mouse button.

    Note

    Do not forget to turn off the tie button:

    the tie button

    Because this button has high priority and blocks other functions.

  2. Insert a note or chord followed by a note or chord with the same pitch(es):

    before tie method 1

    Then press ',' (comma). Notes with equal pitch are tied:

    before tie method 2

Customized ties

NtEd places the ties automatically depending on the note's stem direction. This works in most cases. But sometimes the user wishes costumized ties. To costumize a tie make sure NtEd is in edit mode (see The 3 modes). Select a tie with left mouse button:

selected a tie

The selected tie appears in red color. Use the cursor up/down keys to change the curve:

change the tie's curve

Modifying length, accidentals dots and ties

Be sure NtEd is in edit mode (see The 3 modes). Again: You can achieve this mode temporarily by pressing the Ctrl key. Click a note or rest with left button. The note or rest is selected. A selected chord or rest appeares in red color. The buttons reflect the state of the note or rest. You can change the state of the note or rest by toggeling the appropriate buttons. This includes:

  • changing the length

  • changing the note head type

  • insert/remove accidentals/dots

  • removing ties

Undo/Redo and View

NtEd has an unlimited undo history. You can always undo a previous command by pressing the undo button () or pressing Ctrl+Z. To redo an undo press the redo button () or press Ctrl+Y. To increase the view press the zoom in button () or press Ctrl++. To decrease the view press the zoom in button () or press Ctrl+-.