Grace note & Embellishment (or Ornament) Timing


This option is available from Tools->Grace note & Ornament Timing on the Main Menu.

The precise timing of both single grace notes and embellishments (& ornaments) may be set with this screen. These timings are used during playback.




Terminology

The term grace note is used to refer to both single grace notes appearing on the score, and to component notes which are grouped together to form an embellishment or ornament.


Fields

Grace note duration: this sets the duration (in milliseconds) of a grace note. Embellishments appearing on the Embellishment Toolbar are not affected by this setting, as they have their own timings. This is used both for single grace notes or embellishments built up on-the-fly by dropping grace notes together on the score.

Vary grace note with tempo: grace note timings may be fixed for all tempos, or they may be set as correct for a specific tempo (the Reference Tempo).

Reference Tempo: If  Vary grace note with tempo is chosen, all timings will be relative to this reference tempo. Move the slide horizontally to set the reference tempo in beats per minute. The value will update to the right.

If, during playback, the tune's tempo is set higher than this reference tempo, grace note timings will be shortened accordingly - and vice versa. In this way, grace notes and embellishments will be played quicker as the tune speeds up and played slower (more openly) as the tune slows down. The latter can be helpful when learning.


min: sets a lower limit on the duration of a grace note. To remove the limit, set it to zero.
max: sets an upper limit on the maximum duration of a grace note. To remove this limit, set it to something ridiculously high such as 999 (about a second!).


Steal time settings: these settings allow the 'attack' of a note or beat to be played. They also have a marked effect on the whole timing of a score.
If in doubt, setting 50% before and 50% after is a good general compromise. Playing around with these settings is the best way to hear how they work.

Tip: If a balanced Before/After setting is required, it is sometimes easier to set one of the sliders to 100% and then adjust the other slider to take up the remaining percentage.