Apple Logic Pro 9 - Manual (Page 974)

Head
Controls the appearance of note heads. You can choose to display note heads as normal,
show note names or finger names, or hide the note heads completely.
Assign Parameters
The Chan and Split parameters of the Staff Style window are covered in detail in
Assigning
Notes to Voices and Staffs .
Assigning Notes to Voices and Staffs
You can use two different methods to assign notes to voices and staffs: define a fixed
split point, or use MIDI channels for each voice of a staff.
Using a Split Point
You can use a fixed split point to assign notes to voices. This is a defined pitch, which
determines the absolute border between two voices. Notes above it, or at the same pitch,
are assigned to the upper voice. Notes below it are assigned to the lower voice. Quite
often, in real-life situations, the border between voices needs to be flexible. A piano
piece’s right-hand part may dip below middle C (the defined split point), or the left hand
may go above. It’s not possible to notate this properly using a fixed split point, but you
can use this feature to create an “almost right” version.
To separate voices by split point
µ
In the Staff Style window’s Split column, choose a note pitch.
Using MIDI Channels
You can use MIDI channels (Chan) to assign notes to voices. Every note belongs to the
voice that “owns” its MIDI channel. The different MIDI channels have no impact on MIDI
playback, as the playback channel is determined by the Track Parameter box setting (in
the Arrange window). Given the use of MIDI channels for voice assignment, notes that
aren’t assigned to channels are not displayed at all. This can, however, be used to your
advantage, as it allows you to exclude certain notes from the display (improvised parts,
trill notes, and so on).
To separate voices by MIDI channel
µ
In the Staff Style window’s Chan column, assign a MIDI channel to each voice.
When you use MIDI channels to assign notes to staffs or voices:
• You can edit the MIDI channel in the same way you do all other events: by selecting
the events and changing the MIDI channel in the Event Parameter box or the Event
List.
• You can quickly change the MIDI channel of selected note events with the Event Channel
+1 and Event Channel −1 key commands. These can be especially useful when used
in combination with the Select Next Region/Event, or Set Marquee End to Next Transient
key command and the Select Previous Region/Event, or set Marquee End to Previous
Transient key command, which allow you to move the selection from note to note.
974 Chapter 31 Working with Notation