Holds – PreSonus Notion 6 - Notation Software (Boxed) User Manual

Page 173

10.24

The hold marks

fermata

and

tenuto

– and

break marks

caesura

and

breath mark

(next topic) – are similar: they all

specify places in the score where you want to temporarily suspend the ongoing meter count during playback .

The hold marks (fermata and tenuto) cause a current note or chord (or, in the case of a fermata: perhaps a rest) to

continue beyond its specified time duration .

The break marks (caesura and breath mark) cause a complete break .

Play a Hold Mark

Since the durations for these symbols are strictly determined by interpretation, the default duration

setting for these marks is zero (no change) . That means you specify exactly how long you want the

durations to be at each fermata and tenuto if you want to hear them whenever you

play

the score .

Perform a Hold Mark

With a fermata or tenuto you tap the beat containing the symbol and simply hesitate

before tapping again to determine the duration of the hold . The one requirement is there

must be a note value in the NTempo staff corresponding to each mark .

Fermata

You place the fermata sign at locations in your score where you want to dramatically

extend the current count of a note, chord, or rest . If you complete steps 5 through 7, below,

Notion playback will read and hold the fermata to your time specification .

1 . Ensure you are in Edit mode .
2 . To place this mark on your Music Cursor either:

Press the 9 key once, or

In the Entry Palette, hover over the third pane from the right

and click the fermata

symbol in the pop-up menu .

» The

symbol appears on your Music Cursor .

3 . Position the Music Cursor over the affected note, chord, or rest . This must be on at least one instrument staff to be

read while playing (unlike breaks, holds will not be read in the NTempo staff alone during play) .

4 . Click your mouse or press Enter .

» Notion adds the mark to your score above the staff . If you only need the marking for musicians to read on your

score (and not be interpreted during playback) then you are finished with this procedure .

5 . To have Notion play your fermata, you need to inform the software how long you want the hold to last . Double-click

the fermata sign you added to the score .

» A temporary text box appears, with the default setting of zero quarter note beats

(zero equals no change to written note values) .

6 . Clarify how long you want the fermata to last in playback . Either replace the zero with the

number of quarter note beats to hold, or replace the zero plus replace the “quarter notes “

with a longer (such as “half notes”) or shorter (such as “eighth notes”) value as the basis for

the count .

7 . Either click anywhere in the score area away from the text box or press Enter .

Holds