A big thank-you for Dorico's note spacing

Just wanted to say how wonderful it is to be able to do this:

and get this:

Of course I could do this in Finale. But it took far longer. And the results were never quite as good without feeling as though every note had to be massaged. Once I learned how to use Dorico’s note spacing, it was a massive upgrade. You don’t move voice columns independently from the columns around them, but proportionately.

This is the sort of thing that probably occupies 75% of my time in Dorico. I’m consistently pleased with how easy it is to quickly get what I want, down to the pixel.

Thanks, team. You’re the best. Literally.

7 Likes

But, but, why not get your settings better so that you can do less manual fiddling?
I’ve spent a matter of a few minutes tweaking settings to get this:

…and there is precisely one (OK, edit, two) alteration(s) to the Note Spacing and no other manual changes to anything:

2 Likes

It’s rarely that tight; this is a one-off. Usually I stick with a note spacing of 3.

I drag-selected all the handles and nudged all of them at once. Maybe… 10 seconds? :sunglasses: And usually it takes a lot longer because there are lyrics everywhere. I probably didn’t need to nudge them, but I like to get it under 100%.

What did you use for settings? Smaller note spacing I assume. Different spacing gaps?

I don’t know what your settings are, but I do allow note spacing to make room for lyrics (not that that’s an issue here), and yes, room for a quarter is down to 2 spaces or thereabouts.

I’m just not sure what the value is in selecting all of the handles and nudging them at once - is that not equivalent to just setting the note spacing for a quarter to something smaller?

1 Like

You could have put a Note Spacing Change just after to Reset it to what its default was, then add another NSC at the beginning to the value Leo suggested.

In this case perhaps you got there quicker with your method but…

Now, when shall we get this kind of proportional handle-ing effect on staff spacing too? :slight_smile:

As you probably remember, when you keep “Make space for lyrics,” system fullness above 100% will often exhibit unexpected jumping behavior as Dorico tries to work with that it’s got (I think it had to do with accidentals as well). So I always get the percentage under 100.

When lots of lyrics are involved (which is most of the time), note spacing isn’t my limiting factor anyways, so anything less than 3 rarely makes a difference.

But I am definitely always looking for better ways to get there.

Here’s my version, on an even more full system width, with no manual adjustment whatsoever!

Am I missing something?

Page size vs staff space is quite different.

But surely it’s all relative? What did you use? This is done with Note Spacing down to 2 spaces, as yours. I’m not sure it’s crying out for manual adjustment, either:

Haven’t actually got a computer in front of me but think it’s octavo at 5.2mm or thereabouts.

I just wanted to post something about how wonderful Dorico is. I’ve transcribed an ABRSM grade 5 jazzy piano piece just for fun and curiosity, quite complex, triplets, chords loads of dynamics. The only thing I’ve edited in advance was the casting off, 3 measures per staff, and then put on everything without any editing and the result was exactly how the official music sheet appeared. Maybe a fracture nicer! Big awe, Dorico, and thank you!!!

4 Likes

Guys… the point wasn’t about how many handles could be blue instead of red… :laughing: but ok, here’s the original.

But I can see the point you’re making. It was just meant as a general thank-you for such tight spacing with very little effort. And as I said, I only get it below 100% as a habit. Drag-select, nudge three times.

6 Likes

Well, you know engravers. Something can always be done better.

I’ll second your “thank-you” and add a note of gratitude for the unconstrained enthusiasm in this group for improving the output!

2 Likes