Slurs

A Smart Shape slur expands and contracts with the music and automatically breaks in two if it straddles a line break.

Note: Slurs and phrase markings technically serve different musical purposes. However, you use the same SongWriter techniques to create both. In this discussion, the term slur refers to both kinds of markings.

Engraver slurs were new to SongWriter 2002 and automatically reshape the slur to avoid collisions with noteheads, stems, accidentals, beams, and certain articulations. Any new file created in SongWriter 2002 will use Engraver slurs. Files created in SongWriter 2001 or other earlier Coda products will not use Engraver slurs, although you can use the Selection tool/Remove Manual Slur Adjustments command to convert your old slurs to Engraver slurs. You can also change individual slurs into Engraver slurs with the Smart Shape contextual menu command Remove Manual Slur Adjustments. Please note that some files may use a combination of Engraver and regular slurs.

Any manual edit to an Engraver slur will make it immune to Engraver slur settings. When frozen, Engraver slurs will no longer reshape to changes in the notes. Remove Manual Adjustments in the contextual menu or Utilities Menu will revert the slur to behaving like an Engraver slur or unfreeze the slur.

Note: Unless you’re collaborating with a SongWriter user, you probably will never need to know about Font Annotation files. These files are used to tell the Engraver slurs how big a notehead or articulation is, depending on the font. Font Annotation Files or .FAN files are provided for all MakeMusic fonts. If you’re editing a file created in SongWriter with a non-MakeMusic music font, you’ll need to get a FAN file from the SongWriter user, in order to see good results with Engraver slurs.

See also Engraver Slurs.

To create a slur

1. Click the Smart Shape tool   in the Main tool palette. The Smart Shape palette and Smart Shape Menu appear.
2. Click on the Slur tool   in the Smart Shape palette, then position the cursor on the slur’s beginning note.
3. Double-click the mouse, holding the mouse button down on the second click. The note will be highlighted and a small slur line will appear. Continuing to hold down the button, drag the slur to the right until you reach the note marking the end of the attachment. When SongWriter highlights that note, let go of the mouse button. The new slur appears.

To create a slur spanning only two consecutive notes, just double-click the mouse on the first note. SongWriter places the slur on the adjacent notes.

To move, reshape, or delete Smart Shape slurs.

1. Click the Smart Shape tool  . The Smart Shape palette and the Smart Shape Menu appear. A small handle appears on all existing Smart Shapes in the score.
2. Click the handle of the slur you want to modify. You can also use the Tab key to select the desired slur, then hit Enter to modify the slur. The slur displays a several diamond handles and a polygon connecting the handles.

3. To move the slur or change its arc or its end points, drag the appropriate handle.

You can modify the slur in a few additional ways if you press shift while dragging: shift-drag an outer curve diamond handle to limit the direction you reshape the slur to one direction. Shift-click an outer curve diamond handle or Bezier control handle and drag it to the right or left to reshape the slur and change the “sharpness” of the slur’s inset; dragging away from the center of the slur makes the slur “fatter”, and dragging inward makes the slur more “pointed.” Shift-click a Bezier control handle and drag it up or down to reshape the arc of the curve.

4. To remove the slur from the score press delete.

To change a slur’s direction

1. Select the slur whose direction you want to change
2. Choose the direction (Automatic, Over, Under) from the Direction submenu in the Smart Shape Menu that you want SongWriter to place this slur. Or, you can use the keyboard shortcut ctrl-F to flip the slur.

User Manual Home