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#55 "Central Octave Naming"
I think the string "Central Octave Naming" in the tab Visualisation of the dialog window Preferences (Edit -> Preferences) should be only "Central Octave". In the drop-down box there is a "C" that should perhaps be C2. However, C2, C3, C4 and C5 are not octaves but single notes.
This setting is located in the tab "Visualization" because it only changes the display, not a deepest property. You don't change the central octave here, but only how it is displayed when you show the note names. To change the overall octave layout of the virtual piano you need to use the "Base Octave" setting, located at the Notes Toolbar, which you already know.
The contents of the combo box are the examples of the resulting options for the MIDI note #60. The first option means omitting the octave designation (for all notes, not only for #60). The default option is "C4", and the other options correspond to commonly used schemes. See:
https://dictionary.onmusic.org/appendix/topics/octaves
See also: https://www.midi.org/forum/830-midi-octave-and-note-numbering-standard
OK, so why not call it Octave Naming or Octave Designation System, and use "Helmholtz 1", "Helmholtz 2" and so on, as options? There is also another system that looks like System 2 in the OnMusic Dictionary but uses Arabic numerals instead of the tiny lines; this is still, I believe, the most widely used system in middle and northern Europe.
Last edit: Magnus Johansson 2021-10-26
So, your proposal is to change the label to "Octave Naming", and the contents of the combo box equivalent to the current options would be:
I've not implemented any of the Helmholtz's schemes because it doesn't look well compared to the other systems, not to mention the more complex implementation of superscript and subscripts.
The default option would be Acoustical Society of America or Scientific Pitch Notation which is a very large string for the combo box, but the main problem is that it will be the origin of a lot of tickets asking the meaning of all that options, and other people asking how to name the notes with the same scheme as their Yamaha keyboard (which uses C3 for the MIDI note 60). Honestly, I would prefer to change the label to "Octave designation for MIDI note #60" (which is too large!) or maybe "Central C note name" and leave the combo values as is.
Yes, or even better "Octave Designation System", and combo box content None, Traditional, SPN, MIDI 1, MIDI 2. The traditional system can be used without super- and subscripts like this: C2, C1, C, c, c1, c2 for the default SPN C0, C1, C2, C3, C4, C5. I can write a help page in English for confused users, if you like.
Ticket moved from /p/vmpk/bugs/77/