Make the bending effect more flexible

• Nov 4, 2021 - 00:55
Reported version
3.6
Type
Functional
Frequency
Once
Severity
S5 - Suggestion
Reproducibility
Always
Status
active
Regression
No
Workaround
Yes
Project

The bending effect available from the articulation palette is a very powerful expression tool, allowing even to draw a pitch envelope and get it played. However, it seemingly is thought for the guitar or other fretted instruments only, where the bending can only increase the pitch. Hence, the graphical tool available for drawing the pitch envelope includes only pitch variations above the note pitch

It would be interesting if it accepted pitches below the written note.

A workaround is to introduce a negative tuning correction. For instance, if one needs a whole tone bending, the tunning would be -200 cents, equivalent to a whole tone. Then the starting pitch is set one whole tone above the bottom line and then falling to the bottom, so that the pitch starts at the nominal pitch and falls to a whole tone below.

Another problem is the symbol of the bending. First, it has the word "full" above, which can't be removed. This is not used in instruments other than the guitar (compare for instance the glissando effect, where the text can be customized or deleted right away). Even for the guitar, the symbol is used in tablature writing and not always carries the word "full", See https://www.guitartricks.com/helptab.php

Second, the symbol attempts to follow the selected shape of the pitch envelope, but it does so incorrectly, since several curved falling patterns are added as new breaking points are added to the pitch encelope. If several points are included, the final symbol is very tall and rippled.

Workaround; pick the symbol from grissando palette and make de bending invisible.

It would be nice that the symbol could be customized from the Inspector panel allowing the selection of different styles such as guitar, winds, strings and in each case it played as is usual on the respective instrument.


Comments

Since that notation is never used for any instrument other than guitar, I don't think it makes sense to force people writing for other instruments to use that notation - they'd then just have to hide the symbol since it's meaningless to the musician reading the score, then add the symbol they actually want. Much better to simply enhance the bend notations that are designed for winds etc.