I wish there was a way to get rid of the line next to 8va in the attached example, when it’s the final note. Or do y’all think the line should be there?
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You should leave it, in my opinion, since an ottava indication should typically include a termination point. But if you want to remove it, look under Engraving Options–Octave Lines–Appearance–Minimum Length for octave line and set it to 0. Then click on the line in Engrave mode and set the hook length to 0. That basically gets rid of it.
I tried to do exactly what the OP needs three days ago. I wasn’t able to get rid of the horizontal part of the hook. So if anyone has the real trick (sorry Dan) I’d be glad to know it!
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In Engraving Options / Octave Lines / Appearance, setting Advanced Properties / Hook length = 0, and Minimum Length = 0, still leaves a little dot in the “corner” of the line for me.
The image is from a print to a PDF, so the dot is not just an artifact of the screen drawing in Dorico.
Hide the octave line, put an 8 (or 8va) in as a Playing Technique?
I’ve spent the last hour looking for this solution before stumbling upon this discussion. I think this should be a standard playing technique. It is common practice in many scores for an octave symbol to appear without a line and hook – as if it were an articulation or other playing technique. It would be nice to achieve without a workaround.
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I would also like a way to add an 8va or 8 above a single note. I’m in a trial of elements
Also looking for a simple solution to this!
It is standard and “best practice” according to E. Gould for the octave sign over a single note to have a continuation line and and hook. I personally would never leave it off for a single note because it can create confusion as to how long it is to be in effect, and because a 8 under or over a note has a different meaning: col ottava: add the octave below or above the note. Gould doesn’t seem to mention this latter notation, but it is often seen in older editions.
Dorico should make it possible to use all of these notations including col 8va and col 8 with a line and hook, which is another way to add an octave to the written note or group of notes.
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To chime in, publishers I work for prefer not to have the termination line on an 8va for a single note, especially if it’s the last note. I also went through and reduced all the symbols to 80% to satisfy these publishers’ house style.