Default EWQL Rules are a mess

[lazerlike42]

At least if I understand how rules work properly. My understanding is that the order the rules are listed in the file is the order they will be applied in. For example, if we have this:

<rule name="legato tremolo">
<if technique="trem" />
<if condition="under-slur" />
<key-switch type="note-on-prefix" midi-pitch="26" velocity="1" />
</rule>

<rule name="tremolo">
<if technique="trem" />
<key-switch type="note-on-prefix" midi-pitch="25" velocity="1" />
</rule>

then the legato tremolo rule can never be applied. Anytime a person puts a tremolo under a slur, Notion first recognizes the tremolo with slur rule, but then as soon as it sees "if technique="trem" /> in the next rule down, it applies that rule because, while the note is in fact under a slur, the second rule doesn't care about this: it simply tests whether or not there is a tremolo.

In order to fix this, the two rules must be swapped. If this is indeed the case, the "factory" EWQL rules are quite a mess. There are rules all over the place getting overruled by those that follow. For example, in the violins 1 lite rules, it's impossible to activate the fast espressivo patch because the rules read like this:

<rule name="Exp-Fast">
<if flag="vln1" />
<if technique="fasa" />
<if technique="espr" />
<key-switch type="note-on-prefix" midi-pitch="33" velocity="100" />
</rule>

<rule name="Exp">
<if flag="vln1" />
<if technique="espr" />
<key-switch type="note-on-prefix" midi-pitch="34" velocity="100" />
</rule>

They both make perfect sense on their own, but put in that order, anytime someone tries to put the fasa (fast attack) technique with the espressivo technique, it gets overruled immediately after and so key-switch note 34 is used as the prefix, not 33.

This is just one example of many.

[Admin]

Thanks for the heads up! We'll look into correcting them in future updates...if you'd like you could post your corrections for other users.

-Kyle

[lazerlike42]

I'll probably be making all kinds of "personal preference" rule changes myself, rather than just correcting any errors - for example, wanting this patch to be used instead of that one in a particular case, but I can always post them anyways.

As long as this has come up, though, I have a question about the rules. Is there a test for" if not-condition" ? I know the documentation says there's a "if not-technique" , but I've seen folks using a "if not-condition" around the forums here. When I tried it once, it didn't seem to do anything, so I wonder if it actually exists. If it does, it would make these corrections much simpler. Instead of moving chunks of code and trying to get every last related rule in order, I could just ad stuff like "if not-conditon="under-slur" .

[lazerlike42]

Hmmm.....

There's also a serious problem with the way Notion handles the rules that is really causing all kinds of trouble. The Lite patch rules have a reset rule at the beginning of each instrument's rules. This is essential, because it reactivates the standard key switch after any staccato or other articulations have called another keys switch up. The problem is that as Notion goes through the rules, it follows each rule it comes upon. This means that when it hits this reset rule, it hits the regular key switch every time, even if another rule later will counter-act it. The result of this is Notion hitting 2 or 3 key switches before playing the note, which is gums up the works and causes rhythmic problems. For example, a series of marcato eight notes don't play in time - some will sound slightly late because of the multiple key switches.

I can't think of a way around this quite yet. Ultimately, the answer is that Notion should read through all the rules before each note and activate only the key switch that is necessary, rather than activating every key switch along the way that happens to match the situation.