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Haolenuke
Lokahi
USA
117 Posts |
 Posted - 10/14/2010 : 06:08:22 AM
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Aloha,
I was recently surprised when my Guitar Pro annotation software scored a baritone ukulele piece an octave lower than an identically tabbed guitar piece. The service rep at Guitar Pro responded to my query by saying that while guitar scores are transposed up an octave to fit within the treble clef, ukuleles are not transposing instruments and are thus scored at concert pitch. It turns out that the bari books I have split on this issue. Mel Bay's "Fun with the Baritone Uke" has all the scores transposed like guitar scores. Jumpin Jim's "The Bari Best" has all the scores at concert pitch.
Is there a slacker consensus on this subject?
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Mark
Ha`aha`a
USA
1628 Posts |
Posted - 10/14/2010 : 08:20:00 AM
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quote:
Is there a slacker consensus on this subject?
Is there a slacker consensus on anything? 
My take on the issue: the whole idea of writing music for the baritone uke is so new that it is still being developed.
Finale--or at least the most recent version I have, doesn't even have a default for baritone uke, though it does have gamba, requinto, sitar, vihuela and 3 or 4 dulcimer tunings.
BTW: Finale's uke TAB defaults have the strings reversed from where most folks expect them. As I said, it is all in flux.
RE: Mel Bay. As a long time Mel Bay writer I can say this: standardization is not their long suit. So, just cuz one book has it one way, doesn't mean that's the only way.
Good topic, BTW. I hope some others write in with examples of how different scoring programs approach this.
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Edited by - Mark on 10/14/2010 08:20:47 AM |
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Mika ele
Ha`aha`a
USA
1493 Posts |
Posted - 10/14/2010 : 09:27:50 AM
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The scale length of the strings are closest to a standard guitar (just the top four strings) I would go with the same as the guitar which is usually concert pitch.
Many transcribing programs (I have Sibelius G7) don't quite know what to do with an ukulele. I assume GP gave you the same register as a baritone guitar which would be an octave (or so) below the standard guitar tuning. At least G7 allows me to correct the software incorrect assumption and give the intrument the proper tuning and register. GP probably does as well |
E nana, e ho'olohe. E pa'a ka waha, e hana ka lima. |
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Haolenuke
Lokahi
USA
117 Posts |
Posted - 10/15/2010 : 07:29:31 AM
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Aloha Mark and Mika ela,
If I'm not mistaken, guitar scores are generally tranposed one octave above concert pitch so that the music fits within the treble clef. Since most ukuleles are tuned GCEA I suppose there is no need to transpose the music to have it fit in a treble clef.
You guys seem more interested in whether or not Guitar Pro 6 plays well with ukuleles, so I'll write a bit about that. When setting up a four string ukulele track in GP6 you can either set it up as an ukulele, or as a 4 string acoustic bass. If you set it up as an ukulele, the score is shown at concert pitch. If you set it up as a acoustic bass the score is transposed up one octave like a guitar. Once you set up the track, you can adjust the tuning to whatever you want, and you can choose whatever MIDI voice you want for the instrument. I typically set up a baritone uke as a 4 string acoustic bass tuned to taropatch, and select a nylon guitar for the MIDI voice. It is not possible to assign different MIDI voices to the bass and melody lines within a single track, which if I recall correctly, is something that you do Mika ele with G7. There is only one ukulele MIDI voice and it is a particularly plunky soprano, but the nylon guitar does approximate a baritone ukulele fairly well.
GP6 does make it fairly easy to create an ukulele arrangements from a guitar mele. You simply annotate the guitar mele, add a 4 string track, tweak the guitar tab to fit on the 4 strings used by the ukulele, cut and paste the modified guitar tab into the ukulele track, correct the cut and paste errors, and delete the guitar track. There aren't usually many cut and paste errors, but GP6 will change fretted notes on the fourth string to open string notes on the third string if it can.
The other pros and cons of GP6 that I've observed are detailed in a thread in the gear section of the Taropatch forum. The service reps at Guitar Pro are already talking about the upcoming introduction of Guitar Pro 7 which is likely to resolve a many of the remaining issues with GP6.
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Mika ele
Ha`aha`a
USA
1493 Posts |
Posted - 10/15/2010 : 1:14:52 PM
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In Sibelius G7 you define the ukulele by string notes using piano notation (G4 C4 E4 A4) where C4 is middle C on a piano (and in music notation). The C5 is an octave above middle C. The C3 is an octave below middle C. Since I use the low-G tenor tuning, I modify the predefined ukulele for my instrument and define the string names as (G3 C4 E4 A4). This puts the lowest possible note on my ukulele at just three notes below middle C (barely in the treble clef). Since most of the notes are above that the standard G-Clef (concert) notation works fine. Sibelius does not automatically transpose up an octave.
Then I can define which MIDI instruments will play the notes as transcribed for the tablature/notation. The nylon string guitar sound pretty close and allows me to practice learning tablature while letting the computer play the piece and me try to play along.
Standard Guitar is tuned E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4. This places most of the notation in the treble clef. IN this case, Sibelius G7 does move the notes up an octave and "displays as in concert notation.
There is no pre-define baritone ukulele instrument in G7. Baritone Ukulele is tuned D3 G3 B3 E4. It would be good to move the notes up to concert notation although their absolute is mostly in the treble clef. Sibelius defaults without the transpostion. |
E nana, e ho'olohe. E pa'a ka waha, e hana ka lima. |
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Is a baritone uke a transposing instrument?
