Worm Object
In some bars of scores, a worm-like object appears.
I'm guessing it is to denote something (e.g. effects) that continues after the first bar it appears in, but can anyone tell me what it is?
(Credit: International Music Publications)
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Comments
I'm guessing it means whatever the composer means or, at least, is specific to a particular genre of music or instrument or group. Do you have it in context? i.e. do you have some bars either side of it to hint at the meaning?
It could indicate a form of turn (brass, jazz) or grupetto (classical flute etc.) - although they are usually seen placed over, before or after a note. It could just be one composer's way of indicating that a bar be repeated. It could be a way of indicating a break of indeterminate length (such as when another instrument is playing a cadenza). Hence the wish to see it in context.
Here's an example taken from a vocal line.
In reply to Here's an example taken from by chen lung
I've never seen that before, but would take it to mean essentially the same thing as what a jazz musician would use slashes for. It would appear to indicate a measure that isn't a rest - you actually do something (in this case, laugh) but that cannot be notated normally. I think whoever typeset that particular score just decided to use that symbol because it was available to him and he thought it would work well, not because it is any sort of standard marking.
Here is another example, but it is only applied to one bar (likely because it's free time).
I think I can confirm this object appears when something cannot be transcribed - I believe it was used by Barnes Music Engraving.
It can be in place of a rest , or lyrics .
I think you could easily use the Inspector to substitute a bar rest. I don't know about lyrics though. I did think about Symbols, but maybe there's a rule for this kind of notation. Should it appear for the first and last non-transcribable notes? How would it be deployed?
In reply to I think I can confirm this by chen lung
Make the rest invisible and then [Ctrl]-t and enter a tilde.
[Shift] and # gives ~.
Then embiggen it a fair bit (Times New Roman size 32 looks OK to me) and make it BOLD.
I don't know of any rule for its use. I haven't seen it "in the wild" as it were.