Overture and the Fermata

[LFO]

I'm new to Overture/GPO, but am picking some things up along the way that are issues to me and maybe to some of you. (Forgive me if this is old hat for you more experienced users.) I figure if I bring this up under the right heading, it might benefit others with the same questions.

1) Usually after a fermata, a break is desired before continuing on with the music. Is there a way to define the length of a break just after a fermata?

2) Since fermatas are usually going to appear in each track at the same place, is there a way to edit the value of the fermata in one instance and have all the other related fermatas changed? (I tried CTRL clicking each fermata I wanted to edit, but it did not work.)

3) I have found that once I have added a fermata, if I want to hear it, I cannot click on the measure before and then use the play button to hear the new fermata/new fermata length. I am forced to use the button to go to the beginning of the piece and play to get the updated fermata (and sometimes this does not work either). Am I doing something wrong? I have all the playback boxes checked. (There is question 3a. Why the playback box? When would you not want the fermata to play? Is this for editing convenience?

Sorry for all the questions. I am hoping that posting them will answer questions for others also.

-Kevin

[Joseph Burrell]

If I wanted to adjust each fermata in each stave I would adjust the first one, then delete the others and copy and paste the 'adjusted' fermata into those tracks. The only thing I can think of with your playback problem is that the fermata must be directly over the note. Location is important in the score view. To make sure the fermata is directly over the note, you need to CNTRL click when adding the dynamic. Place note, select fermata tool, CNTRL click on note to which the fermata is to be added, and the dynamic is forced directly over the note. I don't know of anyway to define the length of the break after a fermata other than in the graphic window (maybe?) Jim/Snorlax may know. As far as the playback box, who knows. Maybe this is for those people that want to manually define the fermatas length by using the modify notes options (which you can do also BTW since you can define note duration in there and manually add length to a note in ticks.)

[LFO]

Joseph, I have no intention of turning you into my personal technical support, I promise.

I tried what you recommended (CTRL click to line up a fermata properly with a note) however it did not work for me. The fermata appeared, however I could not edit it to change the duration of it. I am going to put together a lengthy document regarding fermatas and pauses for Don that I hope he will find helpful.

I did find a way to create a pause after a fermata. At least, it is a feature, though I have not been able to get it to work. There are expression icons for both common and grand breaks which can be used (in theory) to cause a pause. However, I was not able to get this to work either. (*sigh* I'm beginning to wonder if it is just me?) I could get the common break to appear, however I could not move it left and right (only up and down) I could not edit the duration (which might not be a feature) and it caused no pause in the music. Other than that, its perfect! It may be because the note I was selecting to get a pause after had a fermata on it, I will test it on a `regular' note tonight.

Sorry to be such a pain. Like I said, I am going to put together an email for Geniesoft with observations and feature requests that they may find helpful. Overture is a *terrific* program. I'd love to see it progress to the level that it is clearly the leader in notation software.

-Kevin

[Joseph Burrell]

Well, if that doesn't work, when you click and drag the fermata you will notice a little line that tails it and will attach itself to a note. This needs to be directly attached to the note with the fermata. Also, just double click on the fermata to adjust the pause and I know that's there because I just looked last night to verify myself (right above the playback button you mentioned.) Just so you know (and this may or may not apply to the grand or common break) that some expression and markings are just written and do not affect playback at all and in those cases work arounds in the graphic window (sequencer) can be found. The CNTRL click may be a full version feature only, I'm not sure, I'll look into that as well.

[Joseph Burrell]

As I said above:

The fermata needs to be applied to the note just like any articulation. Drag the fermata so that it is attached to the note that it applies to. Double click on the fermata to open the Edit Fermata menu. Make sure playback is enabled. Edit the 'pause' as the situation warrents and exit the menu when you are finished. The fermata's playback occurs before the actual note is 'written' and this is why you need to either click the 'play all' button to hear the change or you need to click on the measure before the fermata not the measure the fermata resides in. To add a break before the next measure in the score, you can open the graphic window and edit the actual notes duration so that there is a break between the notes end and when the next measure begins. Adding pauses and grand breaks into the score only changes the look of the passage as those articulations do not actually 'play' back. I can send you an actual file if you are interested showing what I mean. Just remember that the actual pause that Overture will add to the note will occur before the note is written and that if you need to insert a break between the fermata and the next measure, just open the graphic window and manually adjust the note duration.

[snorlax]

As I said above: The fermata needs to be applied to the note just like any articulation. Drag the fermata so that it is attached to the note that it applies to.

One thing I've discovered is that the use of a drawn-in tempo map in the graphic window wreaks havoc with fermatas. If you have drawn in a tempo map, the behavior of the fermatas will be unpredictable.
Jim