Notation

Command Location: Score Menu / Score Options / Notation Tab

Show/Hide Score Objects Bookmarks If you have inserted Bookmarks this check box allows you to show/hide them as desired.
Chord Names If you have inserted Chord Names this check box allows you to show/hide them as desired.
Guitar Frets If you have inserted Guitar Frets this check box allows you to show/hide them as desired.
Free Text If you have inserted Free Text items this check box allows you to show/hide them as desired.
Expressions If you have inserted Expressions this check box allows you to show/hide them as desired.
Note Information:

Note Names
and
Finger Numbers
Note Names and Finger Numbers are both kinds of 'per note information' which can be displayed on the score using the note information display preferences (see below).

Note Information Display Preferences

Show inside notes You can also choose to have note information placed inside the note.  In some circumstances (such as printing vs. window view), one layout may be easier to read than the other.  Placing note information inside the notes also generate smaller scores for printing, as less horizontal/vertical space is needed to name each note.  When note information is drawn inside the note, the text color is controlled by MidiIllustrator in order to maximize clarity.
Show to left of note When this option has been selected the name will be displayed near each note on the score (see below for positioning options).
Note that if both Note Names and Finger Numbers are set to display inside or to the left of the note, Finger Number display will override the Note Name.  If you wish to show both Note Names and Finger Numbers for notes then one of the se information types can be shown inside the note, the other to the left of the note.  Alternatively, show note information outside the staff.
Show outside staff When note information is shown outside the staff it can be automatically arranged by MidiIllustrator to create the most compact score based on note positions, stem directions, voices and the note names/finger numbers relative to the owning note.  Alternatively you can customize the display of note information to suit your needs.
Position automatically outside staff (recommended default):  This is the recommended style for the most easily configured score with optimal spacing.
Position above the staff
Position below the staff
Always position voices separately above/below the staff:  With multiple voices in a staff, separating the fingering above and below the score is recommended for clarity.

Show placeholder for non-fingered notes in part-fingered chord:  When note names are shown, they are shown for all notes.  However finger numbers may have been assigned to just a few of the notes in the score.  If only part of a given chord has been fingered and the finger numbers are displayed outside the staff (i.e. not next to their owner note) then it may be hard to tell which finger number pertains to which note.  Showing a placeholder for non fingered notes in a chord will stack the finger numbers in the same way that the chord notes are vertically stacked, making it clearer which note owns which finger number.

Maximizing Clarity of Note Information

You may find that it helps to zoom in on the piece in order to see the note names/finger numbers clearly on the screen, or change the Print Size if you are printing your score.  You may change the color and font of the note information fonts in the Fonts tab - experiment to see what looks best on your score.  Fonts can also be Bold or Regular in size which may improve legibility.

Note Information Fonts

Two configurable fonts are used to display note information.  The size of the Note Name/Finger Number font cannot be changed as the note names start to overlap the notation if they are bigger than the note 'heads' (especially on chords where many notes may overlap).  For this reason, a Note Name/Finger Number is always roughly the same size as a note head.

Notation Compress Empty Measures In order to make the best use of space on the screen or printed page, you can choose to Compress Empty Measures.

MidiIllustrator will compress contiguous empty measures as long as the measures are:

  • completely empty i.e. none of the visible staves in the measure contain any notes; and

  • identical i.e. they share the same time signature, key signature, clef and bar ending

This option is turned on by default.

Show Bar Repeat Count Display (where appropriate) above the measure the number of repeats which will be applied to a section repeat barline during playback.
Show Courtesy Accidental for Every Note With this option enabled, the key signature is effectively repeated for each note on the score, making it much easier to remember to sharpen or flatten a particular note when performing a piece.

Note that this 'global' command overrides the individual per note setting for displaying courtesy accidentals against notes (see Notes Menu and Entry Note Shows Courtesy Accidental);

Unlike in standard notation, MidiIllustrator will not just assume that a sharp or flat ‘holds’ for the measure when this option is enabled.  Instead, in a piece written in the key of G which contains a single sharp (for example), every single F in the score will be marked with its own accidental (sharp), even multiple F# notes in the same measure.

Assign More Space To Longer Notes You can choose to have MidiIllustrator allocate more space on a score to the longer notes than to the shorter notes as an aid to sight reading.
Color Voices in Performance Mode Applies distinctive colors to the different voices on the score when in Performance Mode.  These colors are always applied in Edit Mode to make editing easier.

Colors can be selected using the Color section of Score Options.

Hide ALL upper/lower voice guide rests in Performance Mode Hides all automatically drawn upper/lower voice 'guide' rests.  See more information about Voice Guide Rests.
Playback Play Notes as Imported/Recorded Play imported MIDI songs as they were originally performed, rather than adhering to the notated times displayed on the score.  This allows playback of a recorded song as it was originally captured, even though the notation may have been 'tidied' by MidiIllustrator for easier reading (perhaps using Transcription Options).

Note that this option only applies to scores which contain some original MIDI content or recording session data.


Measure Numbers You may customize if, and how, Measure Numbers (#) are displayed on the score.  The display of measure numbers may be affected by the current 'view' (see below).

The default setting is a Curved Box (which encloses the Measure Number) on Every Measure starting at Bar 1, but this can be changed using the three drop down boxes.

The measure numbers can be set as follows:

  • None - no measures numbers will be displayed
  • Normal - measure numbers will not be enclosed
  • Boxed - measure numbers will be surrounded by a box
  • Curved Box - measure numbers will be surrounded by a curved box

If None has been selected above, the 2 remaining drop down boxes will be grayed out, but they can be edited if Normal, Boxed or Curved Box has been selected.

The options available are as follows:

  • Every Measure
  • Every System
  • Every Page
  • Every 5th Bar
  • Every 10th Bar

The third drop down box allows you to set a start point as follows:

  • From Bar 1
  • From Bar 2 etc (depending on the number of bars in the piece)

Note that measure numbers are shown on ALL measures when in Scroll View as this information is useful for editing.

Beat Marks and Numbers As an aid to counting and understanding the rhythm of a score, MidiIllustrator can place small marks or numbers ‘on the beat’ above the top staff. If, for example, the time signature is 4:4, then four beat marks (or the numbers 1 to 4) will span the top of each measure. Displaying beat marks works well when the cursor is set to follow ‘the nearest beat during playback’.

You may customize the beat mark color to best highlight the location of the beats in the music.

The Beat Marks can be customized using the three drop down boxes.

The first drop down box provides the following options:

  • Hidden - The Beat Marks will not appear on the score.
  • Visible - The Beat Marks will be displayed on the score (except during Playback if the ‘Countdown’ option has been selected. See the ‘Note’ below).
  • Playback Only - The Beat Marks will only appear on the score during Playback.

If Hidden has been selected above, the two remaining drop down boxes will be grayed out, but they can be selected if Normal or Playback Only has been selected.

The second drop down box allows you to display the Beat Marks on the:

  • Top Stave
  • All Staves

The third drop down box offers two style options:

  • Static – whereby the Beat Marks stay in place as the music is played.
  • Countdown – whereby the Beat Marks disappear as they are passed in the score.

The last drop down box offers two more style options:

  • Markers – whereby the Beat Marks are shown with triangular markers.
  • Numbers – whereby the Beat Marks are shown as numbers for each beat to help with counting.

The default setting is ‘Playback Only’ on the ‘Top Stave’ with ‘Countdown’.

Note: You may wish to view the Beat Marks all the time, in which case you would select ‘Visible’ from the first drop down box, and they will be displayed on the score. However, if you then selected ‘Countdown’ from the third drop down box, the Beat Marks would disappear when they were passed in the score during Playback. Therefore, if you actually want the Beat Marks to be on display at all times, even during Playback, make sure you have selected ‘Static’ in the third drop down box as well as ‘Normal’ in the first.

Bookmarks Allows you to customize any Bookmarks which have been placed on the score.

The default setting is a Curved Box (which encloses the Bookmark), but this can be changed using the Bookmark drop down box.

The options available are:

  • Normal – no surround
  • Boxed
  • Curve Boxed
Apply The Apply button applies all the changes made to the score without the need to close the dialog box.