The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #167868   Message #4054962
Posted By: Howard Kaplan
24-May-20 - 11:30 PM
Thread Name: Tune Req: 1834 Clock, Plays7tunes, what are they?
Subject: RE: Tune Req: 1834 Clock, Plays7tunes, what are they?
Using Noteworthy Composer, it's possible to add a lilt to music that is written without one. In other contexts, that lilt is called "swing", and that's usually a better search term. I learned to do this years ago, and it's a real help.

Briefly, you set up an extra track consisting entirely of quarter note rests, and you use tempo adjustments to make them alternately slightly too long and slightly too short. This forces all of the other tracks to follow the same time distortions. If the long rests take twice as long as the short rests do, you get something that sounds like 6/8 time. I often find that something less extreme, 5:3 instead of 2:1, is a good ratio.

For more details, look at these forum postings:
Topic: Swing rhythm
Topic: How to Make NWC Play Jazz (Specific Instructions)
Topic: Swing eighth notes