Inner and outer text

The Soundslice editor supports several different types of text in notation. Here’s info on the different types of texts and how to use them.

Inner vs. outer text

When it comes to general-purpose text, our system supports two types: inner text and outer text. Both can be either above or below notation. What’s the difference?

1. The positioning is different:

• Outer text appears farthest from the staff, outside all notes, symbols, chords, tempo markings, etc.
• Inner text appears as close to the staff as possible.

2. The word wrapping is different:

• Outer text will wrap at the end of the current bar or at another outer text, whichever comes first.
• Inner text will wrap at the end of the current staff.

3. The default font is different:

• Outer text defaults to small sans-serif.
• Inner text defaults to slightly larger serif.

Otherwise, the two types of texts work the same. You can change the font, font size and italics in either case.

Adding text

1. Select the note or rest at which the text should be aligned.

2. In the editor’s top panel, open the “Text” section and click one of the four text icons:

• Outer text (above)
• Outer text (below)
• Inner text (above)
• Inner text (below)

3. At the left of your screen, you’ll see a place for you to enter the text:

(Note: If you’re on a narrow screen, you’ll see a slightly different interface. Instead of a section at left, you’ll see a full-screen interface.)

As you enter text here, you’ll see your notation update immediately. You can also change its size, set its font style and toggle italics.

Editing text

To edit text, just click on it in your notation. The text-entry interface will appear at left, and you can make changes.

Deleting text

To delete text, click on it in your notation to make the text-entry interface appear at left. Then just delete the text and click “Done.”

Controlling text position

Text is positioned and word-wrapped automatically, depending on your screen dimensions and current zoom level. There’s no way to move text or set a specific bounding box — but this is something we’d like to add in the future.

Line breaks

When editing text, feel free to use your Enter key to insert line breaks.

Should I use this text feature to enter fingerings?

Heavens, no. Use the proper fingerings feature for that. This will give you some nice extra features, and the look/layout will likely be better.

Should I use this text feature to enter tempos, like “Allegro”?

No. Use the proper tempo markings feature for that.