GB2558297A - A transposable music notation system - Google Patents

Abstract

An opaque sheet with musical notes and indicia may be overlaid by a transparent sheet depicting a musical staff. The transparent layer may be moved relative to the opaque sheet in order to transpose a musical score into any key. The opaque layer may depict the staff and the opaque layer the notes and indicia. More than one transparent sheets may be used, each depicting a portion of the staff configuration. The sheet or layer depicting the musical notes and indicia may scroll horizontally on a display device, with the second layer being either a transparent layer disposed on the display device, or a virtual layer. The scrolling layer may scroll with synchronised musical accompaniment. The transparent and opaque sheets may have means to duplicate, such as carbon paper or copy paper disposed between them.

Description

(54) Title of the Invention: A transposable music notation system Abstract Title: Transposable sheet music (57) An opaque sheet with musical notes and indicia may be overlaid by a transparent sheet depicting a musical staff. The transparent layer may be moved relative to the opaque sheet in order to transpose a musical score into any key. The opaque layer may depict the staff and the opaque layer the notes and indicia. More than one transparent sheets may be used, each depicting a portion of the staff configuration. The sheet or layer depicting the musical notes and indicia may scroll horizontally on a display device, with the second layer being either a transparent layer disposed on the display device, or a virtual layer. The scrolling layer may scroll with synchronised musical accompaniment. The transparent and opaque sheets may have means to duplicate, such as carbon paper or copy paper disposed between them.

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Title

A transposable music notation system:

Background

Transposing instruments music is notated at a different pitch than concert pitch. This requires music to be notated differently depending on the instrument.

There are numerous reasons musician's require musical notation transposed. This is a particular requirement for transposing instruments, as mentioned above, where the music is notated at a different pitch from the actual sound in concert pitch.

Up until now musician's using transposing instruments have usually either relied on commercial producers selling sheet music transposed to the key of their instrument, learned how to sight transpose, a very difficult art to master, or copied the sheet music into the key of their instrument, which is time consuming and can often infringe copyright.

Musicians composing using handwritten sheet music need to transpose manually for other instruments in different keys or for transposing for their own instrument. Again very time consuming.

Online sheet music vendors do now offer the facility to download their music directly to a printer, however this requires an internet connection, a computer and a printer. It should be noted only a single copy is usually allowed, so multi-instrumentalists and those requiring further transposition would usually violate copyright if they copy the piece into another key, without a further purchase.

While some commercial producers do transpose sheet music, there are often wide gaps in the choices available, and in particular for instruments keyed outside the most popular keys.

Taken as a whole, transposing instruments, or what I describe as monophonic melody instruments, are a huge section of the market, yet unlike other sections of the instrument market there is no specific music system for them, for example, like Guitar Tabs, which specifically takes into account the needs of many different stringed instruments.

There are numerous ways to transpose but up until now most of these methods, as stated previously, have required a lot of effort or expense to copy or purchase a piece in every desired key.

Standard music, because of the format requires more than merely moving the notation to a higher or lower position on the staff for numerous reasons.

Chromatic music, although capable of allowing the mere vertical position of notation on a staff to transpose has previously suffered from confusion caused by the amount of lines required to make this possible.

There are computer programs for transposing but these can often infringe copyright in both loading of the music into the program, saving the transposed file or downloading the transposed sheet music to a printer, these programs can also be expensive to purchase and limit the user to transposing on a particular computer. It should be noted that such programs don't merely change the position between the staff and the notation, but change the arrangement of the notation while also adding subtracting ledger lines and reformatting the accidentals.

Another problem with computer programs is, although some permit transposition for music with scrolling notation, they invariably use midi for the audio, as the notation is extracted from the Midi stream. Midi is not considered suitable for professional use by many musicians.

A further problem is the footprint of the notation. Transposition can often lead to excessive ledger lines, which not only makes the score difficult to read, but can make the system unsuitable for smaller tablets/phones and video displays, even if these smaller devices had the power to run such software.

A major problem for transposing was the need for ledger lines to extend the range of the staff, as these can change depending on the pitch of the notes before and after transposition.

Although a larger staff could alleviate this problem it would create staffs that would be difficult to read and take up too much space. The present method of symbols such as 8va etc. above and below the staff are not suitable for individual notes as they take the readers eye away from the notes and as such are generally used for raising or lowering a whole group of notes in octave increments.

Prior art

US4434698 Transposable sheet music: the notation layer is reliant on a specifically configured staff layer and the staff layer is only suitable for a specifically configured notation layer.

WO 2004/059594 Set of templates for the A-440 music notation system: does not actually transpose music as such, but adapts the standard staff into a three line configuration so a pitch class, is on the same line or space regardless of the octave.

Neither of the systems above can transpose a single instance of their own particular notation system into all keys or for any transposing instrument with a single staff layer that is not specific to a particular notation configuration or piece of music.

US005254008A a device for teaching music: JP2010113321 (A) Musical note transposition sheet: However there is very little information available for this application.

There are other applications that transpose with and without transparent media, however there are actually no other transposing systems that can transpose a single copy of notation into all possible keys with a single staff and without the need for a computer or other such digital device.

Statement of invention

To overcome these and various other disadvantages the preferred embodiment of the present invention proposes a musical staff layer and a notation layer one or both of which is transparent. The layout of the staff allows for all keys and octaves to be written from and read on a single staff configuration when using a unique notation format.

With the addition of carbon paper or the substitution for carbon-less copy paper the notation can be hand written onto a staff layer to create a notation layer without a staff ready for transposition.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention also allows for an optional smaller or instrument specific staffs to be used by musicians alongside the full transposing staff. The smaller staff can be used for general playing and the full staff for transposing. The full staff and smaller instrument staffs are interchangeable.

A musician need only learn the octave range or staff relevant to their instrument(s) or group of instruments if they don't normally require further transposition.

Music can be handwritten on paper, transparent film, recorded on computer or other similar media, using the composers preferred instrument octave range and read in any key or by any transposing instrument.

Backing music with and without a melody line can be recorded on a video file or similar software or any device that can scroll or transition the notation, to be read in any key or by any keyed instrument. This being achieved by adding a virtual staff layer, a staff on a transparent film or other transparent overlay to the display screen.

Introduction to the drawings

Examples of the invention will now be described by referring to the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 shows an expanded staff, that covers all the instrument staffs or possible keys.

Fig. 2 shows the full A staff.

Fig. 3 shows the full A staff of Fig 2. flipped vertically, known as the full E staff.

Fig. 4 shows an optional instrument or small staff, there can be up to twelve of these covering all instrument octave ranges.

Fig. 5 shows how the full staff is constructed.

Fig. 6 shows the range marker that indicates an instruments octave range.

Fig. 7 shows a transparent staff laid over a range marker.

Fig. 8 shows a standard music staff with a C4 for a concert pitched instrument.

Fig. 9 shows the upper and lower octave of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 10 shows stems added to semi-breves and Breves.

Fig. 11 shows extra stems added to standard notation.

Fig. 12 shows extra stems added to variation of standard notation.

Fig. 13 shows a variation on the minim and semibreve rest for the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 14 shows variations on the beam for the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 15 shows the optional key signature indicator.

Fig. 16 shows the optional accidental indicator.

Fig. 17 shows the optional chord indicator.

Fig. 18 shows the Octave modifier.

Fig. 19 shows carbon paper used with the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 20 shows a transparent folder for transposing.

Fig. 21 shows how to use the folder from Fig. 20.

fig. 22 shows a blank notation page with a range marker added, 040.

Fig. 23 shows the full A staff of an an alternative embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 24 shows the full E staff of an an alternative embodiment of the present invention.

Preferred embodiment

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention seven lines represent the full staff. The lines represent sharps or their enharmonic flats, while the spaces between, above and below the lines represent natural notes.

The lines could be coloured or have various breaks to differentiate them. They could also be unbroken.

Although natural notes can be placed on the lines and sharps/flats in the spaces this would increase the overall size of the full and small staffs, however see the alternative embodiment.

Staffs

The staff is usually arranged on a separate layer from the notation, at least one layer being transparent. This allows for transposition by merely changing the staffs vertical alignment and/or orientation against the notation.

The staff and notation can also be recorded on the same layer if desired, however transposition will not be possible, unless using carbon paper with at least a blank layer underneath for copying the notation added to the top layer.

Players need only learn the octave range of the transposing instrument they play.

The staff can be used for switching between different keyed transposing instruments or for transposing on one particular instrument into an alternative key. The instrument octave ranges are formatted to make this simple.

As shown in Fig. 1 the expanded staff covers all possible octave ranges for transposing instruments or key signatures starting from the root of A, 001 up to the root of Ab, 012. It should be noted that the expanded staff is made up of the full A staff, 013 and the full A staff 013 flipped vertically to become the full E staff, 014. See Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 to see them separately.

Although there are considered to be fifteen key signatures within standard music, this includes three enharmonic equivalents that only differ from their equivalent by name not pitch.

The octave ranges are shown by two names for example the A/Eb octave range consists of A which shows the root and Eb the instrument key.

Fig. 1 001 is the A/Eb octave range. The first letter A is the root and the Eb is the transposing instrument key. The range of 001 is from and including the root A up to and including the 7^th Ab, a single octave.

Fig. 1 002 is the Bb/D octave range. The first letter Bb is the root and the D is the transposing instrument key. The range of 002 is from and including the root Bb up to and including the 7^th A, a single octave.

Fig. 1 003 is the B/Db octave range. The first letter B is the root and the Db is the transposing instrument key. The range of 003 is from and including the root B up to and including the 7th Bb, a single octave.

Fig. 1 004 is the C/C octave range. The first letter C is the root and the C is the transposing instrument key. The range of 004 is from and including the root C up to and including the 7th B, a single octave.

Fig. 1 005 is the Db/B octave range. The first letter Db is the root and the B is the transposing instrument key. The range of 005 is from and including the root B up to and including the 7th C, a single octave.

Fig. 1 006 is the D/Bb octave range. The first letter D is the root and the Bb is the transposing instrument key. The range of 006 is from and including the root D up to and including the 7th Db, a single octave.

Fig. 1 007 is the Eb/A octave range. The first letter Eb is the root and the A is the transposing instrument key. The range of 007 is from and including the root Eb up to and including the 7th D, a single octave.

Fig. 1 008 is the E/Ab octave range. The first letter E is the root and the Ab is the transposing instrument key. The range of 008 is from and including the root E up to and including the 7th Eb, a single octave.

Fig. 1 009 is the F/G octave range. The first letter F is the root and the G is the transposing instrument key. The range of 009 is from and including the root F up to and including the 7th E, a single octave.

Fig. 1 010 is the Gb/Gb octave range. The first letter Gb is the root and the Gb is the transposing instrument key. The range of 010 is from and including the root Gb up to and including the 7th F, a single octave.

Fig. 1 011 is the G/F octave range. The first letter G is the root and the F is the transposing instrument key. The range of Oil is from and including the root G up to and including the 7th Gb, a single octave.

Fig. 1 012 is the Ab/E octave range. The first letter Ab is the root and the E is the transposing instrument key. The range of 012 is from and including the root Ab up to and including the 7th G, a single octave.

Note the expanded staff is only used for context purposes and is not generally used in practice.

Fig. 2 is the full A staff, this is the expanded staff, 013 from Fig. 1 with the octave ranges from 001, A/Eb up to 007, Eb/A.

Fig. 3 shows the full E staff which is the full A staff from Fig. 2 flipped vertically to cover the remaining instrument octave ranges, from 008, E/Ab up to 012, Ab/E as shown in Fig. 1, 014.

Fig. 4 shows an optional instrument or small staff. All twelve instrument ranges from Fig. 1 2, 3 can be used as a small staff by using the five sharp/flat lines of their octave range. 021 up to 022 shows the five sharps/flats of the Db/B octave range.

Fig. 4, 005, In certain circumstances an extra line may be added in grey, where a note would otherwise be away from any line, this line is for ease of use and is not notated, 023.

Fig. 5 shows how the full staff is constructed. The spaces between the lines are the same except for 031, 032 and 033 which are increased by half the space again.

Fig. 5 various means can be used to distinguish the lines such as different breaks, dots and colours. However 034 and 035 are generally distinguished the same as each other and although distinguished differently from 036 and 037, 036 and 037 are also distinguished the same as each other to facilitate note consistency when flipping the staff.

Fig 6, 040, is a range marker that indicates an instruments octave range when added to a staff, it can also be used to show the transposed notes when transposing on the same instrument. 040 can be added in various ways to a staff or can be added to a blank notation layer and a transparent staff layer overlaid to distinguish the desired instrument or key. The root of the octave range is marked by the lower asterisk, 040 and the last semitone of the octave by the higher asterisk, 040.

Fig 7 shows a transparent staff laid over a range marker, 040. In this example the range marker 040 shows the C/C octave range, root of C for C instruments. The final semitone or 7^th is B.

Notation

Fig. 8 shows a standard music staff for a concert pitched instrument. 051 Shows C4 in concert pitch and 051, C5 an octave higher.

Fig 9 shows the C4, also in concert pitch, on the full A staff of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, 051. On the preferred embodiment of the present invention that is also C4, but it and the proceeding semitones up to and including B4 are known as the lower octave. 052, C5 up to and including B5 are known as the upper octave. There is no middle octave.

The lower octave, 051, is defined by the stem of the note pointing down, from and including the root up to and including the 7^th and the upper octave, 052, by the stem of the note pointing up, from and including the root up to and including the 7^th.

All transposing instruments, regardless of their octave pitch should consider the note they play when a piano plays C4, as the root of their lower octave 4 up to and including the 7^th of that octave and the other octave numbers should be adjusted accordingly.

Because a notes stem depicts the octave number by the amount and vertical orientation of their stem or stems, all notes have a stem or stems.

Fig. 10, 053 and 054 show stems added to semi-breves and Breves. Although stems are already added to Longa and Maxima, with the preferred embodiment of the present invention they can be flipped vertically to indicate lower and upper octaves.

Further octaves are depicted by extra stems added to a note.

Fig. 11 shows extra stems added to standard notation. 061, a single stem added is lower octave “4”. Adding a further stem to 061 lowers the note an octave, 062, which makes the note lower octave “3”. Adding a further stem, 063, lowers the octave to the lower octave “2”. If using notation in the standard format any flags can be added to the lowest value stem, in this example 063.

064, is a single stem pointing up, which is the upper octave, octave “5”. 065 is adds a stem which raises the note to octave “6” and 066 adds a further stem raising the note to octave “7”. There is no limit to how many octaves a note can be raised or lowered.

Fig. 12 shows the extra stems added to my own designed format for notation not relative to this invention. But the same principles apply when adding stems as for Fig 11.

Although I also use a different format for rests this doesn't stop standard notation being used for the preferred embodiment of the present invention, however, because minim and semibreve rests rely upon being positioned on a line these require adaption.

Fig. 13, 067 shows a minim rest and 068 a semibreve rest. They are angled so that they do not rely upon a static line.

Fig. 14 shows how beams are handled. 061 shows a lower octave 4 note in a beam that is attached to a note in an upper octave, in this instance 5. 064 shows an upper octave note 5 in a beam attached to lower octave notes. 065 shows an upper octave note 6 also in a beam attached to lower octave notes. 062 shows how extra stems are shown in a beam, in this instance lowering the note to octave

It should be noted that in a beam a note takes its octave from the amount and vertical orientation of the stem/s and its value (duration) from the beam.

Fig. 15 shows an optional key signature indicator, a K symbol, 080, which can be added to the staff/s. A K symbol is placed on the notation layer on the line or space that indicates the key signature, in this instance Bb. When the notation layer is transposed the K symbol will also change its position on the staff showing the new Key signature from the name of the new line or space it occupies.

Fig 16 shows an optional accidental indicator, an A symbol, 081, which can be added preceding a note/pitch that isn't part of the scale of the key signature. To add an A symbol when transcribing from standard music, the note is added to the staff in the preferred embodiment of the present invention at its exact pitch. The A symbol, 081, is added at the pitch of the note from the standard staff at the exact pitch of the note ignoring any accidental symbol or sharp/flat from the key signature.

To transcribe back to standard music the note is added to the standard staff at the exact pitch of the A symbol on the staff from the preferred embodiment of the present invention, 081, then taking note of the key signature, an accidental symbol is added to the note on the standard staff to raise or lower the pitch to that of the note from the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The A symbol of Fig. 16 can also be used to indicate that prior accidentals have been cancelled or to indicate sharps or flats from the scale of the key signature have been cancelled.

Fig. 17, 082, shows the optional chord indicator. The indicator is made up of four chord spots which start a semitone above the octave range, 040. From the bottom up they are numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4. A semitone below every chord spot is that chord spot number with a minus symbol proceeding the number. A semitone above every chord spot is that chord spot number with a plus symbol proceeding the number. These numbers replace chord note names.

Standard music chord names are a chord note name sometimes followed by other information, 083.

Fig. 17, 084, 085 and 086 shows the chord note names changed into chord note numbers. 084a is in the G space indicated by the chord spot 3, which makes 084 G maj6. 085a is in the C space indicated by the chord spot -1 which makes 085 C min and 086a is on the Ab line indicated by the chord spot +3 which makes 086 Ab /7.

When transposing the chord note name remains the same, however the chord spots move with the notation layer transposing the chord note names.

Fig. 18, 090 shows the Octave modifier or octave number, O/N, this can be added to the notation layer or staff layer if the player needs to raise or lower the octave of the entire piece. 091 is where the number of octaves the piece should be raised or lowered is added.

Transposing

Transposing can be achieved by changing the height and or the vertical orientation between a transparent staff layer laid over a pre-recorded opaque notation layer or a transparent notation layer with an opaque material beneath it to make it opaque, the notation layer should contain all information that changes when transposing.

Transposing can also be achieved by changing the height and or the vertical orientation between a transparent notation layer laid over an opaque staff layer or a transparent staff layer with an opaque material beneath it to make it opaque.

A transparent, blank notation layer laid over an opaque staff layer or a transparent staff layer with an opaque material beneath it to make it opaque, can be notated with various materials and in particular an overhead projector pen. Using a non-permanent pen allows for re-use. Transposing can be achieved by changing the height and or the vertical orientation between the staff and notation layer.

When transposing between transposing instruments it is just a matter of changing the instrument key from the octave range of one instrument to the new instrument, the octave ranges are shown in Fig. 1,2 and 3.

To transpose on the same instrument is just a matter of counting up or down from the root of the octave range of the original music by the amount of semitones required. If transposition goes above the highest root Ab, counting up continues from A, the lowest root and an Octave modifier of+1 is added. If transposition goes below the lowest root A, counting down continues from Ab and an Octave modifier of -1 is added. The octave ranges are shown in Fig. 1,2 and 3.

Fig. 19, 094 shows carbon paper sandwiched between a blank paper notation or staff layer, 093 and a paper staff layer, 092. Musicians can write on 092 creating a hard copy for their music while creating a notation layer or a further transposed hard copy, 093, a notation layer can be used for transposing with a transparent staff layer after notation has been recorded, if required.

More layers can be used with further carbon paper and staff or notation layers.

Duplicate paper can also be used for the same effect as above.

Transposing scrolling notation

Notation can be added to a video or other horizontal scrolling or transitioning media and a virtual transparent layer can be overlaid. Transposing can be facilitated by changing the staff for a staff set at a different height and or vertical orientation or by adjusting the height of the notation or staff layer. Certain mobile devices allow for changing vertical orientation by flipping the mobile device vertically.

A transparent film with the staff from the present embodiment printed on it can be laid over electronic devices such as, PC, mobile phone, TV, MP4 player etc. if it can scroll or transition notation. The user can manually adjust the height or vertical orientation of the staff layer by adjusting the transparent film for transposing or the scrolling/transitioning notations height and or vertical orientation can be adjusted for transposition so the transparent film can remain static.

The notation could scroll or transition in time to music with or without a lead or other such instrument so a musician could play a long while reading the scrolling or transitioning music.

Attaching staff to notation layer

There are many ways to attach the staff layer to the notation layer, such as paper clips, slide binders, re-usable adhesive tape. Also the notation layer can be dropped into a folder or poly-pocket with the staff printed on them, however I will just show my preferred method.

Fig. 20 shows a transparent folder closed on one side, 101 and partially closed on the other side, 102. The gap between the closed and semi-closed sides, 101 and 102 creates a tight fit for any media, usually an A4 sheet of paper, disposed in between. 102, the semi closed side could be a flap for easy access when inserting media.

Fig. 20, 103 and 104, can have nothing printed on them so an opaque staff or staff layers can be disposed between. This allows for notation and indicia to be written onto the folder, this could be a non permanent overhead projector pen for re-usable use or permanent markers for permanent use.

Fig 20, 103 and 104, could have a staff printed on one or both sides of the folder.

Fig. 21,105 shows media, most usually a sheet of A4 paper disposed between the folder, 103 and 104. 106 shows how the media can be moved up and down with the hands for transposing.

Fig. 21, 105 could be a staff sheet which can be set for writing music and adjusted for transposing or a notation sheet which may require transposing. Transposing being facilitated by moving the sheet left or right, 106 and or flipping the paper horizontally.

fig. 22 shows a blank notation page with a range marker added, 040.

An alternative embodiment

Fig. 23 shows the full A staff of this embodiment of the present invention. With this staff natural notes are added to the lines and the sharps and flats are added in the spaces.

Fig. 23, 001, is the A/Eb octave range, 002 is the Bb/D octave range, 003 is the B/Db octave range, 004 is the C/C octave range, 005 is the Db/B octave range, 006 is the D/Bb octave range.

Fig. 24 shows the full staff of Fig. 23 flipped vertically to show the full E staff. The remaining octave ranges are, 007 which is the Eb/A octave range, 008 is the E/Ab octave range, 009 is the F/G octave range, 010 is the Gb/Gb octave range, Oil is the G/F octave range, 012 is the Ab/E octave range.

Addendum

As I am not a patent attorney I have added the tutorial where I will explain the preferred embodiment of the present invention. I have done this in case my attempt at a description above leaves anything out.

Tutorial:

MELADEUS an overview

MELADEUS is a staff and notation system that requires no key signature or accidental symbols and can be transposed instantly.

The MELADEUS staff is usually arranged on a separate layer from the notation, at least one layer being transparent. This allows for transposition by merely changing the vertical position and or the vertical orientation of the staff against the notation.

Notation is octave specific, only spanning a single octave range. To clarify, in this context, an octave range includes the root of the octave up to the 7th but not the root of the next octave above. Thus there is never more than a twelve semitone range included on the staff.

The unique stem system allows MELADEUS, regardless of the amount of octaves in a piece, to be read on single staff without the need for ledger lines.

The above means no more confusion with the notation changing from being on the line to between the line or vice versa every time a note is raised or lowered an octave Flats/sharps are always on the lines and naturals always in the spaces.

With that being said jump right in, I hope you enjoy the ride.

No key signature: there is the option to add a key signature indicator, see the “Key signature indicator (optional) ” section.

Accidental symbols: there is the option to add an accidental indicator, see the, “Accidental indicators (optional) ” section.

Octave range: the octave range is the range of an instrument from its root up to and including its 7th as defined under the “Expanded staff” section of this book.

Root: in this book means the first semitone of the octave range, for any keyed instrument as defined under the “Expanded staff” section of this book.

7th in this book means the final semitone prior to the start of the next octave.

The staff and notation can also be recorded on the same layer if desired, however the MELADEUS system of transposition will not be possible then. That being said it is worthwhile having a hard copy (combined staff and notation on a single layer) as well as a notation layer without a staff. You then have the advantage of the hard copy for normal use and the notation layer without a staff, should you require transposition.

Expanded staff (for context)

Please note that the expanded staff is not used in practice and is only included here for context.

You can see your instruments octave range and how its is positioned by referring to the example below. Use this section alongside the next section “The full transposing staff’.

The example above shows the octave range for all instruments, the lowest note is the root of the octave range and the highest the 7th.

Below lists all the octave ranges and their position on the expanded staff above.

Note, you only need to learn the octave range for your instrument if you don’t intend transposing.

From left to right:

1:- is the A/Eb octave range. Root of A and 7th of Ab for Eb instruments.

2:- is the Bb/D octave range. Root of Bb and 7th of A for D instruments.

3:- is the B/Db octave range. Root of B and 7th of Bb for Db instruments.

4:- is the C/C octave range. Root of C and 7th of B for C instruments.

5:- is the Db/B octave range. Root of Db and 7th of C for B instruments.

6:- is the D/Bb octave range. Root of D and 7th of Db for Bb instruments. 7:- is the Eb/A octave range. Root of Eb and 7th of D for A instruments.

8:- is the E/Ab octave range. Root of E and 7th of Eb for Ab instruments.

9:- is the F/G octave range. Root of F and 7th of E for G instruments.

10:- is the Gb/Gb octave range. Root of Gb and 7th of F for Gb instruments.

11:- is the G/F octave range. Root of G and 7th of Gb for F instruments.

12:- is the Ab/E octave range. Root of Ab and 7 th of G for E instruments.

Above shows how the staffs from the extended staff could relate to the standard music staff (as regards concert pitch). Above are just a selection from the lowest A/Eb octave range and the highest Ab/E octave range from the MELADEUS full staff.

Standard music staff as regards concert pitch: note, this is a loose explanation, see the “Octave numbers for your instrument” section for a fuller explanation.

The full transposing staff

The full staff is the expanded staff made more compact (seven lines). This is achieved by the staff being arranged so that some of the instrument octave ranges are on the “Full A staff’ which is for all instruments keyed from Eb to A. By flipping the Full A staff vertically you then have the “Full E staff’ with the rest of the instrument octave ranges for instruments keyed in Ab up to E.

Above shows the Full A staff with relevant octave ranges included.

Above shows the Full E staff with the remaining relevant instrument octave ranges included, this is the Full A staff flipped vertically.

Again, as stated under the last section, the lowest note of a pair is the root of the octave range and the highest the 7th. See under the expanded staff for the transposing instrument classes.

Seven lines: staffs can be made smaller, see the section “Small/instrument staffs

Full staff and octave ranges

There are twelve octave ranges, but only one is required for your main instrument.

The octave ranges have two names, for example A/Eb, C/C, Db/B. The first name is the first (root) note of the octave range, the second name is the key of the instrument So A/Eb is for Eb instruments and the root note of its octave range is A. C/C is for C instruments and the root note of its octave range is C. Db/B is for B instruments and the root note of its octave range is Db and so forth.

Above shows the A/Eb octave range for Eb instruments.

Above shows the Bb/D octave range for D instruments.

Above shows the B/Db octave range for Db instruments.

Above shows the C/C octave range for C instruments.

Above shows the Db/B octave range for B instruments.

Above shows the D/Bb octave range for Bb instruments.

Above shows the Eb/A octave range for A instruments.

Above shows the E/Ab octave range for Ab instruments.

Above shows the F/G octave range for G instruments.

Above shows the Gb/Gb octave range for Gb instruments.

Above shows the G/F octave range for F instruments.

Above shows the Ab/E octave range for E instruments.

Twelve octave ranges: Although there are fifteen common key signatures three are enharmonic equivalents. Although these enharmonic equivalents are named differently they have the same sharps or flats when considered enharmonically. See the next section.

Enharmonic equivalents (notes)

Although I have listed only flats on the full staff shown in the last section, the flats also have enharmonic equivalents. The Flat is flattened from the natural above, but you can also have the note sharpened from the natural below.

Both the note sharpened from the natural below and the note flattened from the natural above are the same pitch and thus will be played the same on your instrument and occupy the same space on the staff.

Above shows C/C octave range with the sharps not included on the full staff from the last section.

The enharmonic equivalents above are the same for all instruments, just in a different vertical order, depending on the staff being used.

You can check against the above example and the flats listed for your instrument to find its enharmonic equivalent if you need to, but its very easy to work out.

Range markers

Range markers are added to the notation layer. They will appear at the end of the middle staff when the staff layer has been laid over the notation layer.

The lowest range marker should be lined up with the root of the octave range for the key of your instrument.

These markers are very helpful as they not only remind you of where the root up to 7th of your instrument lie, but also allow you to quickly align the notation with the staff. At least one of the 3 lines of the range marker should line up with a line on the staff.

Above shows the range markers on a notation layer followed by the staff layer laid over or under the A/Eb range for Eb instruments. Notice that the lowest range marker lines up with the root for an Eb instrument which is A.

Notation layer: these can be downloaded from hay. mUadeiis.com these include range markers. Using these is optional.

lines: if you look at the range markers there are 3 lines. Although these are not necessary to find the position on the staff they help align the notation layer more accurately with the lines on the staff layer. This will become more apparent in practice.

Instrument staffs (optional)

Note, the Instrument staffs (small staffs) and the Full staff are interchangeable. This means you can use the small staff for your instrument and only use the full staff for transposing.

These small staffs are also included in the PDF files at http:Z/meladeus.com/ in case you wish to try them out.

There are twelve small staffs, but only one is required for your main instrument.

Transposing can be done exclusively using the small staffs but that requires having more staffs rather than a single full staff.

Although technically there are five lines for the five sharps/flats, with seven spaces for the seven natural notes in each small staff, because there are no sharps/flats between B and C or E and F some small staffs mentioned below have an extra line in grey, so a note is not suspended away from the staff. This will become apparent when you view the examples.

The extra grey lines are added to resolve the issue referred to above. It should be noted however that there are virtually no instruments other than a few obsolete or very rare instruments in the keys affected by the extra grey line, which are the B/Db, Db/B, Gb/Gb and E/Ab staffs.

Above shows the A/Eb staff for Eb instruments.

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Above shows the Bb/D staff for D instruments.

Above shows the B/Db staff for Db instruments. Note the extra grey line below the B, which is not used other than to highlight the lowest note. The extra grey line is the same as the top line Bb.

Above shows the C/C staff for C instruments.

Above shows the Db/B staff for B instruments. Note the extra grey line above the C, which is not used other than to highlight the highest note. The extra grey line is the same as the lowest line Db.

Above shows the D/Bb staff for Bb instruments.

Above shows the Eb/A staff for A instruments.

Above shows the E/Ab staff for Ab instruments. Note the extra grey line below the E, which is not used other than to highlight the lowest note. The extra grey line is the same as the highest line Eb.

Above shows the F/G staff for G instruments.

Above shows the Gb/Gb staff for Gb instruments. Note the extra grey line above the F, which is not used other than to highlight the highest note. The extra grey line is the same as the lowest line Gb.

Above shows the G/F staff for F instruments.

Above shows the Ab/E staff for E instruments.

Selecting the correct octave range

Important, an octave range is considered specific to a group of instruments of the same key regardless of the differences in their octave pitch. Thus an instrument that transposes “at the octave” would use the same staff as all other transposing instruments in the same pitch class.

To clarify, a Bb Soprano saxophone, clarinet, trumpet and a Cornet would use the same Bb octave range as a Tenor saxophone, Trombone and Bass clarinet.

Root: the root is the note that a transposing instrument should play when a piano plays C. The amount and orientation of the notes stem/s will indicate the correct octave.

Pitch class: Pitch classes are all the pitches that are a whole number of octaves apart, for example the pitch class of C are all the Csfrom Cl up to C8, the pitch class of Gb are all the Gbs and so forth.

MELADEUS notation, an overview

Middle C on the piano is lower C on the MELADEUS staff, the starting point for all transposing instrument octave numbers.

The MELADEUS lower octave, C4-B4 is depicted by a notes stem pointing down, the upper octave, C5-B5 by the stem pointing up. MELADEUS has no middle octave.

All transposing instruments should find the octave pitch that their instrument should play when a piano plays a middle C. That octave pitch would indicate that instruments lower octave root (4) on the MELADEUS staff/s. You can work from there.

To clarify, a Bb Soprano saxophone, clarinet, trumpet and a Cornet would use the same root of D4 as a Tenor saxophone, Trombone and Bass clarinet on the MELADEUS staff/s, regardless of how that octave pitch is considered in standard music. All instruments should consider a single stem pointing down as (4) or the lower octave and all instruments should consider a single stem pointing up as (5) or the upper octave and so forth.

Above shows the Bb/D octave range of the A staff for Bb instruments. I repeat all note stems pointing down, for all instruments, are always the lower octave or (4) and stems pointing up the upper octave or (5), unless an octave modifier has been used, see “Octave modifier”.

MELADEUS notation

Notes

Because MELADEUS notes depict the octave by the amount and vertical orientation of the stems, a stem is important even semi-breves and breves have stems.

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Above from left to right, maxima (8 whole notes), longa (4 whole notes), breve (2 whole notes), semibreve (whole note), minim (half note), crotchet (quarter note).

Single stem pointing down is the lower octave (4) and a single stem pointing up is the upper octave (5).

The bottom row are the equivalent rests.

Above from left to right, quaver (eighth note), semiquaver (sixteenth note), demisemiquaver (thirty-second note), hemidemisemiquaver (sixty-fourth note), hundred twenty-eighth note, two hundred fifty-sixth note,

Single stem pointing down is the lower octave (4) and a single stem pointing up is the upper octave (5).

The bottom row are the equivalent rests.

Lower octave (4): the lower octave is decided by the C4 or middle C concert pitch (or at least the note your particular instrument should play for a C4 if the music is written for a concert pitched instrument).

Regardless of the key of the transposing instrument, a single stem pointing down is the lower octave (4) from the root up to the 7th. As an example a Bb instruments lower octave would be from its root D4 up to its 7th Db4. See the next section.

Upper octave (5) The same principle applies for the upper octave, just an octave higher.

Octave stems

The MasterMelody lower octave C4 - B4 is shown by a single stem pointing down, each extra stem added lowers the note an octave.

The MasterMelody upper octave C5 - B5 is shown by a single stem pointing up, each extra stem added raises the note an octave.

Above shows some examples of the root of the C/C range of the full A staff. From left to right, C4... C3... C3... C2... C2... Cl...

Above shows some examples of the root on the D/Bb range of the full A staff. From left to right, D5...D6... D6... D7... D7... D8...

Note, although 1 have shown some extremes, most transposing instruments will never use eight octaves, in reality you will rarely require an upward or a downward facing stem with more than one extra stem (three to four octaves).

Beam

MELADEUS beams basically follow the same conventions as standard music, other than that both downward and upward pointing stems can appear in the same beam group.

Important point, a note takes its value (duration) from the beam whatever its direction in relation to the beam.

To clarify. A note in the opposite vertical orientation to the beam will not have any flags attached regardless of its value (duration). Take a look at the example below.

Note in the example above that the beam is indicating that the second note is a semiquaver but the stem of the note it refers to has no flags. This is because the value (duration) is decided by the beam, only the octave value is decided by the stem/s of the note in these circumstances.

The above examples are on the F/G octave range of the E staff. From left to right, first group, C5 ... A4 ... second group, D3 ... A5 ... B6 ... third group, D5 ... A5 .. C4 ... A3 ...

As discussed at the beginning of the section, note that the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 9th, notes in the example above, all have values of sixteenth notes even though there are no flags connected to the stems of those notes, as their value/duration is taken from the beam.

octave modifier/number

It may be necessary and sometimes advantageous to use alternative octave numbers.

It is necessary sometimes to adjust the octave number when transposing for your instrument. This may happen when you transpose up or down from the original key or you may just consider the piece sounds better in a higher or a lower octave.

Transposing for instruments will be dealt with in more detail in “Transposing”, but for now see below.

Above shows the top right hand comer of the staff.

If you wish to raise or lower the octave permanently add an Octave modifier to the top right hand comer of the notation sheet

To raise an entire piece of music an octave or more add a + and the amount. To lower the range add a - sign and the amount. Add these after the O/N modifier text as above.

Alternatively if the change is only temporary you can add the Octave modifier to the staff template with a non-permanent OHP pen, which can be wiped clean when you are finished.

Note, this may not always be possible depending on the range of the music and/or the range of your instrument. It is no good raising or lowering the octave numbers if it takes the music outside the range of your instrument. Adjust accordingly.

Key signature indicator (optional)

Although Key signatures are not required, there are times when the information is preferable and many musicians may find the information useful especially if using the MELADEUS system just for transposing standard music.

To indicate the key signature a “K” should be added to the MELADEUS notation layer on or in between the lines that correspond with the key signature name. If the key is Gb/F# The “K” should be added to the Gb/F# line. If the key is G the “K” should be added in the G space and so forth.

When the staff layer is changed for transposing into a new key the “K” will also change position along with the notation and indicate the new key.

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This example shows the C/C range with the key signature of Gb/F#.

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This example shows the C/C range with the key signature of G.

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This example shows the C/C range, shown above this example, transposed to the Eb/A range and now the key signature of G has changed to Bb.

Accidental indicators (optional)

Although accidentals are not required to read MELADEUS music some musicians may wish to know which notes are not part of the scale. This is also handy if you wish to use MELADEUS to transpose for Standard Music, as transposing accidentals can be confusing with the Standard Music system.

Regardless of whether or not an accidental indicator is used the note is placed on the actual pitch that should be played as the accidental indicator is for reference only.

Accidentals are indicated by an “A” on the MELADEUS staff. Any repetition of that pitch in the measure can rely upon the initial indicator, as will notes tied to that accidental indicator in following measures.

The positioning of the “A” mark for the accidental indicator is important as it tells you whether the pitch of the note has been sharpened or flattened and by how many semitones, as regards standard music.

The “A” sign is placed before the note on the MELADEUS staff at the position of the actual pitch of the note had it not been sharpened or flattened by the accidental and/or key signature on a standard staff.

.............

Take a look at above with some examples of accidentals on a C/C staff.

An A symbol below a note indicates that the note has been sharpened by the amount of semitones the A is below the note. An A symbol above a note indicates that the note has been flattened by the amount of semitones the A is above the note. An A symbol at the same height as a note indicates that previous sharps or flats have been cancelled or a sharp or flat in the key signature has been cancelled.

To transcribe back to standard music, place the note on the standard staff at the pitch of the A symbol from the MELADEUS staff and taking consideration of the key signature from the standard staff add an accidental symbol to raise or lower its pitch to that of the note shown on the MELADEUS staff.

Chords (optional)

Although MELADEUS is intended for monophonic instruments it may be advantageous to be able to tell other players the chords of the piece of music you are using, especially for backing purposes.

In standard music chords can be made up of a letter name “G” or “Ab” for example, then they are often followed by other information such as min, major, etc.

With MELADEUS the letter name is replaced by a number which may have a “+” or a sign preceding the number, these will refer to one of four chord spots on the bar line. This is then followed by the other information that doesn't change when transposing, such as min, major, etc.

The chord spots are four spots that reside on a bar line. The spots start a semitone above the root of the instrument octave range, the lowest spot being 1. There is then a two semitone space between the following chord spots, 2, 3 and 4.

A semitone below each chord spot is considered as a minus, for example a semitone below 1 is -1, a semitone below 3 is -3. A semitone above each chord spot is considered a plus, for example a semitone above 4 is +4 and a semitone above 2 is +2. This will cover all twelve semitones of an octave.

C min

G

Eb/7

This example shows the C/C range with the chord spots and some chords added. G maj6, C min and Eb /7.

3maj6 -I min -2/7

Here the chord names have been changed for numbers. On the left side numbers have been added to show how those numbers are worked out. Please note that the numbers on the left side are for reference only and won’t appear on the staff.

As you can see when transposing, in this example from C/C to D/Bb, the chord numbers remain the same, but the chord numbers refer to new chords after transposition, as the chord spots move along with the notation. In these examples G maj6, C min and Eb /7 have changed to Amaj6, D min and F /7.

Remember to learn the numbers for the chord spots as they are only included for reference in the examples.

Chord spots can be added to every bar line, however, one in each staff line or even one for each piece of music is probably sufficient to act as a reminder.

Using PDF staffs

There are interactive PDF staffs included on the MELADEUS website, which will require the free Adobe PDF reader. Unfortunately these are not suitable for most mobile devices as they normally don’t allow PDF layers.

Although I have included up to a six page PDF, for most users I advise just downloading the two page PDF for printing, as this includes a first page with room to add a title and a second full page which can be printed multiple times to the amount required.

The other PDFs are in case a user wishes to add their own notation to the PDF on their PC, this is not a substitute for notation software, but with patience it gets the job done, see “Composing/transcribing with the PDF staffs on the PC” further on.

Now open a staff Pdf:

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See above, you will be met with bookmarks in the top left hand comer. If you click bookmark 1, (Notation template) you will see a blank notation page except for a range marker in the centre, this can be printed if you wish.

2. has the full staffs. Pressing the + sign will expand the bookmark to show all the full staffs. Although they are all the same, they are arranged at the right vertical height and vertical orientation for aligning the notation template with the staff template when copying notation onto A4 paper with carbon paper

3. has the small/instruments staffs, again pressing the + sign will expand the bookmark. These optional staffs are instrument specific. Again they have been arranged at the right vertical height and vertical orientation for aligning the notation template with the staff template when copying notation onto A4 paper with carbon paper.

4. Has both full and small staffs as above, but they have the range markers added for use on the PC in case a user wishes to add their own notation to the PDF on their PC, an experimental procedure.

For composing/transcribing by hand

For transcribing, print a staff in the octave range of the instrument you wish to transcribe from.

For composing, print a staff in the octave range of your preferred instrument, generally your main instrument.

In both scenario’s either print a notation template or you can use blank paper and manually add the range markers yourself to the staff template when transcribing or composing.

Place carbon paper between the staff template and the notation layer. You can now write musical notation onto the staff template. If the notated staff template is in your preferred octave range you can use that as a hard copy, if not, you can transpose using the notated notation template.

For transposing the notated notation template, print a staff onto a transparent film. Although any of the full staffs are suitable it is probably best to print from the full C/C octave range.

Tip: When transcribing from a key different to your main instrument, add an extra sheet of carbon paper and a paper print out of your main instruments octave range. You can then notate both the notation and your own staff layer underneath the staff you are transcribing on.

Non permanent transposing

For work that will require a lot of editing or is only required temporarily print the staff onto paper. Overlay the paper with a blank transparent film. If you use a non permanent Overhead Projector Pen, you can edit or clean the transparent film easily.

Carbon paper: carbon paper for copying can be bought at a stationers or online at sites such as Ebay, Amazon etc.

Transparent film: transparent film for different printers can be bought at a stationers or online at sites such as Ebay, Amazon etc.

Overhead Projector Pen: or OHP pen can be bought at a stationers or online at sites such as Ebay, Amazon etc. Non permanent OHP pens can be wiped clean from transparent fdm with a damp cloth.

Traditional songs 1

I have included some songs which you can try out on the PC, either transposing or switching between full and small staffs on the PC or you can print them out for use off the PC.

You can print the songs as staff and notation combined, but this will not allow for further transposition, or print the staff and notation separate for transposing off the PC.

I will endeavour to add more songs over time.

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Above shows what you will be met with in the top left hand corner of “Traditional songs 1”, when you open the PDF. Click the song folder icon for notation without a staff. Click the + against the song to expand and show the notation on the full staffs.

At the bottom is the small staffs, click the + to expand and see the notation on small staffs.

Changing instrument:

When transposing by changing one instrument for another, it is just a matter of changing from the original octave range to that of the octave range of the new instrument. You can use the range markers to make this easier.

You can check out the “Full staff’ and instrument/small staff sections at the beginning of this book, this shows all the instrument keys and lists their root notes.

Transposing for your main instrument.

When you need to actually transpose from the original key for your instrument, work out exactly how many semitones you wish to transpose up or down then it is just a matter of counting up or down from the root of your instruments octave range the correct amount of semitones, which will indicate the new octave range’s root.

When transposing, if you go above the root of the highest MELADEUS octave range, Ab, start counting up again from the root of the lowest octave range A. You will then need to add a +1 “Octave modifier”.

If you go below the root of the lowest MELADEUS octave range, A, start counting down again from the root of the highest octave range Ab. You will then need to add a -1 “Octave modifier”.

Note: depending on the range of your instrument using the Octave modifier may not always be possible or desirable for your particular instruments range, so adjust accordingly.

Attaching the staff and notation layer

There are many ways to attach the staff and notation layer right down to the good old paper clip, however I will tell you my favourite method.

As you can see above, I attach two full staffs, 3 and 4, printed on transparent film. Side 1 is completely attached, side 2 is partially attached. Then a notation layer, 5, can slide into the folder sandwiched between the two staff layers.

Using your thumbs, 6, you can slide the notation layer back and forth for transposing It should stay in position without any problem.

Alternatively 3 and or 4 can be blank transparent film and a paper notation layer can be sandwiched between the transparent layers if you wish to compose/transcribe on the folder with an OHP pen for temporary work.

I advise that you have the printed side of the transparent layers on the inside of the folder This will save the printed side being exposed to damage and wear and tear

A simple tool for transposing on the screen of most devices (Included)

To use this simple tool you require transparency film or a screen saver and a nonpermanent OHP pen. The transparency film should be placed over the screen. It will stay in place by using a slight amount of moisture to either the screen or the back of the film, a clear screen saver is the best as it will stay on your screen at all times.

This simple tool is basically a set of JPEGs images of the full or small staff, each staff set at the correct vertical height and or orientation for transposing. The full staff set is interchangeable with the small/instrument staff set.

Best way to use this is with a photo viewer.

Open the instrument or full staff in the octave range you require and add notation to the screen with a non permanent OHP pen. Once you have added the notation change the image to a different octave range. When you have your transposition you can wipe the film clean with a bit of moisture on a tissue, toilet paper etc. Then you can start again with a new transposition.

I have included these on the meladeus.com website, so you can download them.

Note, even if you are only using standard music, you will find this simple tool excellent for transposing, especially for accidentals, Give it a try.

You will probably need to view the staffs in landscape mode on your device for the best results.

Composing/transcribing with the PDF staffs on the PC (Difficult to get right)

If anyone wishes to use the supplied PDFs for composing or transcribing on the PC, the free Adobe reader does have a drawing tool in the “comments” section, however I have included a system whereby you can add notation using the “stamp” tool. Both methods can add notation that can be transposed by changing the staff. Remember to use “Staffs for PC” so the range markers are added.

Please note, some may find this a bit daunting, but I thought I would at least offer this process for the more adventurous. But do remember Adobe did not intend this feature for the way I use it.

Note, if you delve deeper into the “Comments” “stamp” of the Adobe reader feature you can customise it to suit how you work, however I will convey the way I have it set up. Users may find better ways.

Setting up the custom stamps

First download the PDF file named “PDF stamps” on the meladeus.com website.

If you have the latest Adobe DC reader, which I advise you get as its free. Go to the path C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Acrobat\DC\Stamps ... Note, ensure you change \User Name\ to your PC user name from this path I have just given.

Some older PCs may not upgrade to Adobe DC reader, but to the Adobe reader 11.0, In that case use this path

C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Acrobat\11.0\Stamps ... follow the same steps as above. If you really want to stick with your older Adobe reader version check the version and change this part of the path \ 11.0\ or \DC\ to, for example, \

10.0\ or the relevant version.

The stamps folder will probably be empty, it doesn’t matter either way, just copy and paste the “PDF stamps” PDF files into the Adobe stamps folder, my stamps will now work on your PDF reader.

You can actually add your own stamps, but if anyone requests specific notation stamps, not included, just ask me and I will endeavour to make them available.

To make your own stamps use the free Inkscape vector graphics software or similar and save a stamp as a PDF file and then upload as a custom stamp.

Using the custom stamps

Open a staff page PDF and open the staff/octave range you wish to transcribe or compose on. Close the contents section to make more room.

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You can open and close the contents section by left clicking the arrow.

Select “Tools” in the top left hand comer and select “Comment”. Its a yellow speech bubble, which you may also find in the right hand column.

Now select the stamp icon, shown above, which will open a pop up window. Select “Show Stamps Palette”. This will open a palette from where you can add notation onto the staff.

Open the main stamps page. You can select the different pages by left clicking the window shown by the arrow, this will list the contents.

Make the palette as wide and as tall as possible by hovering the mouse over the edges to show a double arrowed line, then left click and drag.

Now drag the palette by left clicking the top of the palette where it says “stamps” until most of it goes off the right hand side of the screen except for 4 rows of the page “main”. This will only need to be done once as the reader remembers the set up.

The palette will always stay on top.

To select an item left click on it and move the mouse to where you wish to place the item and left click it again to place it where you have selected. If you get it slightly wrong click on it and use the arrow/cursor keys to finely move the item into place .... You can always go back to items you wish to move by left clicking the item, you can delete any item by right clicking the item and selecting delete.

A good tip: before I continue. If you have two items very close or overlapping the new item may disappear while above the old item, if you hold down the shift key this won’t happen. Again its just a matter of left clicking to place the item where you want.

There are other tools such as Text, lines, shapes and drawing tools which I will leave up to any interested party to investigate for themselves.

Note items can be stretched or made smaller by dragging or pushing on squares in the comer of an item that has been selected by left clicking, they can also be rotated by dragging on a circle at the top of an item after it has been selected. This is handy for angling slurs and ties or stretching them to fit the notes.

The beams

The beams need to be built from lines which can be found in the “Beams” page.

Don’t forget to hold down the shift key when building beams, as most times you will be overlapping items.

A quirk I find when joining vertical lines, beams and notes is that to get a unified line width you must place the item very slightly to the left or right when joining the items, I’m afraid you will need to experiment as different PCs may not be the same.

Another tip: When building a beam start with the beam and then add the shortest note. When the note is in place left click the note to select. Then using the arrow/cursor key move the short note to the correct position and then fill in the gap between the beam and the short note with the lines available also in the beam section of “Stamps”.

To close the stamp palette right click at the top where it says stamps and left click “close”.

To close the comments section left click the “comment” text with a yellow speech bubble in the top left hand part of the PDF and in the drop down box left click “Back to document”.

Printing/saving

Save compositions or transcriptions as a separate file “save as PDF” so as not to lose the staff page PDF you downloaded. You will still be able to edit on the new PDF.

You can also Print to PDF (for PC use) or print with your printer, note, you will not be able to edit after.

If you just want the notation use the “Notation template” which only has range markers, or if you want the notation on a staff select the desired staff before printing. For staff templates for transposing use the staff page PDF you downloaded.

Note

I’m afraid for the rest it will require experimentation. But feel free to ask questions at [email protected]

I hope to eventually have dedicated notation composing software.

(Experimental) MasterMelody™

MasterMelody are videos I may produce, that contain a transposable staff with scrolling notation that accompany either a backing track or a backing track with a melody line. The idea being to play-a-long with the melody line while you learn the song/s and then use the backing track without the melody line for performing.

The videos would also contain a transposable notation line that scrolls or transitions in time to the music track so the music can be read on many devices that are video enabled, such as smart-phones, tablets, iPads, PC's, smart TV's, etc.

Presently I have made a simple example which can be seen on the meladeus.com website.

For the example I have added two public videos, with just notation, one with melody line and one without.

I have also added some unlisted videos (so as not to clutter my channel) with the notation on small/instrument staffs, which can be accessed via meladeus.com. These have the staffs embedded for now, as its just for an example. I have done it this way so it can be viewed on all devices that can view YouTube.

I have used the tracks with the free VLC video player. By adding PNG staffs as transparent logo’s, the scrolling videos can be transposed by simply changing the logo’s, which are in fact transparent staffs. It actually works perfectly for Mac and PC, however not for mobile devices.

I have also made staffs on transparent film that overlay several of my devices. By moving the staffs I can transpose the scrolling notation. I can also transpose by adjusting the height and vertical orientation of the video player. I could make this available, but its not worth it for one video.

I would also like to investigate transparent staff overlays that would virtually overlay the video player, stay on top and allow for click through to control the video player. I have seen some that work, but haven’t decided on any particular software or app.

If interest was shown I would like a cross platform software solution. Again, any software developers let me know if you have any suggestions and a price, as I may do a crowdfunding to try and make it happen.

Thank you for reading and I hope the MELADEUS transposable staff and notation system is useful in your music making.

Claims (8)

Claims

1. A transposable music notation system comprising:

a first opaque layer where musical notes and indicia can be disposed thereon, said notes characterized in that they also indicate their individual octave pitch, a second transparent layer with a staff configuration disposed thereon, that can overlay said first layer, characterized in that the said staff layer can transpose said notes into any key or for any transposing instrument by changing the vertical alignment, orientation and combinations thereof between said first layer and said second layer.

2. A transposable music notation system according to claim 1 wherein the second layer can be one from a set of transparent staff layers, comprising a portion of the staff configuration of the said staff layer from claim 1, characterized in that the said staff layers can transpose said notes into any key or for any transposing instrument by changing the vertical alignment, orientation and combinations thereof between said first layer and said second layers.

3. A transposable music notation system according to claim 1 wherein said first layer is transparent and said second layer is opaque, said first layer overlaying said second layer, characterized in that the said staff can transpose said notes into any key or for any transposing instrument by changing the vertical alignment, orientation and combinations thereof between said first and said second layers.

4. A transposable music notation system according to claim 2 wherein said first layer is transparent and said second layers are opaque, said first layer overlaying one of said second layers, characterized in that the said staffs can transpose said notes into any key or for any transposing instrument by changing the vertical alignment, orientation, staff layer or combinations thereof between said first and said second layers.

5. A transposable music notation system according to claim 1 and 2 and 3 wherein said first notation layer horizontally scrolls across a display device, said second layer/s being (a) virtual layer/s or a transparent layer disposed on the display screen.

6. A transposable music notation system according to claim 1, 2, 3 and 4 wherein the said first notation layer scrolls in time to a synchronised backing track, with or without a melody line.

7. A transposable music notation system according to claim 1, 2 and 3 wherein said first and second layer are duplicate paper or said second layer is overlaid on an opaque blank layer or opaque further second layer and has copy paper interposed between said layers, whereby notation can be hand written on said staff layer to be duplicated on the said first layer below.

8. A transposable music notation system according to claim 6 wherein further layers, either blank or containing a staff configuration or combinations thereof are lain under the said first and second layer with further duplication material interposed between.

Intellectual

Property

Office

Application No: GB 1622271.3 Examiner: Mr Ralph Plowman