12/8 in a 4/4 meter

[lucas_r_r]

@Rob Tuley

You can fake that (and Ligeti didn’t invent it, J S Bach and his contemporaries were already writing that way.)

To enter a time signature on one staff only, use the popover and press Alt-Enter not Enter.

The trick is to create a time signature of 12/8 with a pickup bar that matches the length of the 4/4 bar (enter 12/8,8 in the popover) and then change back to a hidden 4/4 time signature one bar later. You still need to use hidden tuplets, of course.

Since pickup bars in Dorico can be longer than a normal bar as well as shorter, you could do it the other way round and have the score in 12/8, and one staff starting with 4/4 pickup bar with 6 beats.

This is indeed a clever solution, thanks!