Percussion Symbols / Pictograms

JJmus · September 9, 2024, 9:51am

Quick question as I couldn’t find it in the videos:
Can I put the symbols of the percussion instruments in i.e. tam tam symbol, mallet symbol etc?
i.e. Percussion pictographs used to represent percussion instruments

judddanby · September 9, 2024, 10:01am

Instrument and mallet pictograms can definitely be added. They’re glyphs in SMuFL fonts. I’ve created playing techniques with them to show mallets/sticks. If you want them as the staff name instead of text, I imagine that’s also possible, though I’ve never tried.

Here’s a handy reference:

https://www.w3.org/2019/03/smufl13/tables/tuned-mallet-percussion-pictograms.html

JJmus · September 9, 2024, 10:14am

Thanks judddanby!

Janus · September 9, 2024, 10:15am

If you add staff text, just right-click and you can add music text (any of the SMuFL characters)

JJmus · September 9, 2024, 10:16am

Thanks both

will try it out

JJmus · September 9, 2024, 10:37am

Sorted, thanks and saved to library for use in other projects. I will fill out the library as I need it

JJmus · September 9, 2024, 11:39am

Just found a useful video for anyone else wanting to do this coming from Finale and other programs

Tip: Create your own playing techniques – Dorico.

judddanby · September 9, 2024, 11:59am

And…Janus for the win!!

@JJmus, the right-click in staff text that Janus mentions is the way to go.

JJmus · September 9, 2024, 12:04pm

Thanks again! Brilliant stuff

judddanby · September 9, 2024, 12:13pm

@Janus (or other sage), I’ve never thought to try making a staff name a pictogram (or other glyph), but am now curious. Do you know if that’s possible?

johnkprice · September 9, 2024, 12:37pm

It is possible:

judddanby · September 9, 2024, 12:43pm

Thank you, @johnkprice! I will dig into it in case I ever want to do such a thing.

judddanby · September 9, 2024, 1:54pm

For any “Unicode newbs” like me stumbling into this thread:

The way to enter glyphs as your instrument names (in Setup Mode) as shown by JohnKPrice above is to enter Unicode Hex input mode on your keyboard.

A link to instructions for Windows and Mac OS:

github.com

steinbergmedia/bravura/blob/master/redist/bravura-text.md#setting-up-for-unicode-input

# An introduction to using Bravura Text

*Version 1.1, 30 October 2015*

Bravura Text is a [SMuFL-compliant] [1] font containing musical symbols intended for use in text-based applications such as word processors, text editors, desktop publishers, and it can also be used on the web.

Bravura Text is licensed under the [SIL Open Font License] [2], which means it is free to use, redistribute, and modify, but please do respect the conditions set out in the license.

## Glyph repertoire
Bravura Text is a reference implementation for SMuFL, the Standard Music Font Layout, and as such contains all of the symbols defined in the SMuFL specification. [Download the SMuFL specification] [3] for a complete list of the symbols in Bravura Text, including a description and code point.

SMuFL uses the Private Use Area of Unicode's Basic Multilingual Plane (U+E000 through U+FFFF) to encode all of the included symbols. This means that the symbols cannot be typed by using the alphanumeric keys on your computer's keyboard on their own.

## Setting up for Unicode input
Detailed instructions for how to enable Unicode input on all operating systems are beyond the scope of this document. SIL provides [an excellent page] [4] with links to information and tools for Windows, OS X and Linux. In this document some basic instructions are included, but you may need to refer to other resources for help with your operating system and application of choice.

### Windows
There are multiple ways to type Unicode characters on Windows. Here are three methods you can try:

#### Method 1: hexadecimal input followed by `Alt`

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Mark_Johnson · September 9, 2024, 3:13pm

For me the SMuFL spec is the most convenient way to find these glyphs. You might as well copy them straight from the web page and paste.