🚀 go-pugleaf

Does this help?

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/font/pdfs/5045.Sonata.pdf

Here's the text of the README file included in the Sonata Folder. The bolding is mine. Looks like you need Finale, Sibelius or some other music layout software for best results. I happen to like Finale.

A NOTE ABOUT THE SONATA FONT:

Thank you for purchasing this Adobe exclusive. Sonata� is a musical notation typeface designed by Cleo Huggins for use with any appropriate musical composition and setting applications. Though the characters in this typeface will appear side by side in word processors and desktop publishing software applications, only music composition applications will correctly and automatically overprint musical notations (clefs, notes, accidentals, etc.) on musical staffs. Please refer to the enclosed Key Cap Chart included with this package for complete character set information. Because the characters in this typeface package were designed to be used at larger sizes, text-sized bitmaps are not included. Edited bitmaps in 14, 18, 24 and 36 points are included.
Adobe and Sonata are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated registered in the U.S.A.			7.90

Hi,

Herb... I had found that pdf file at some point previously, but it didn't really help me out. But thanks for providing the link.

Gary... I realize I haven't been able to just "type" and end up with "music," but I have been messing with leading and tracking to create my own sequence of notes and notation "composites" when I can (as described in the pdf "font design specification"). But even when looking at the Sonata glyph variations or the "repertoire" in Font Book, I don't see what characters would be used in order to generate beams. Perhaps beams are generated through some other graphical method within specialized software like Finale or Sibelius, and are not a part of the font at all. Do you happen to know about this?

I'm trying to animate musical symbols in After Effects, and I don't think getting output from Finale or something else would be as versatile. Treating these things like any other form of type is really the way to go. Maybe there's a plug-in out there for working with a music font (like Sonata) in conjunction with AE, but I doubt it. Sure would be nice. Like something where you could type in sequences of notes (using the A through G keys) and use other characters to indicate sharps and flats and note duration and you tell what clef you want to use and it just makes it... wouldn't that be sweet?! Anyone want to code that up for me real quick?

;-)

Hey Ariel,

Thanks for the response. I'll check out Finale Notepad. I appreciate the suggestion.

I'm actually working on an After Effects piece that is demonstrating the different methods to display musical notation. I'm actually showing separated notes and how to represent the same sequence using beams. So I have to figure out how to generate beams. I figured I would have to come up with a workaround of my own, but at least creating a template (or something like that) using Finale Notepad would be helpful.

Thanks again.

Terry,

You can't use a font to generate beams, because the beams' length and angle
changes according to how many, and what, notes they are connecting. I would
imagine Finale and Sibelius, etc., just draw vector lines programmatically
as needed. To be honest, even note stems can't really be drawn with a font,
since they must be shortened and lengthened to hit the beams correctly.

However, you can download the free Finale Notepad. Type in whatever musical
phrase you need and output that to pdf. With the pdf, you can do anything
you want: bring it into illustrator, or rasterize it in Photoshop. Make a
small graphic and animate that. Or don't use beams: just use disconnected
notes.

Ariel

You're welcome.

(If you have time, check out my compositions on the Finale Showcase under
the Baroque section. You can listen to them once you've downloaded Finale
Notepad ;-) )

Thanks
Ariel

Finale Notepad is about the most spectacular free utility I have run across.

I've been using Finale since the program came on diskettes (on my SE30) and I never knew about Finale Notepad. Teach an old dog a new trick!