A dynamics-only staff? Or vertically centered dynamics on one (FredGUnn's 0-line) staff?

Dorico
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I’m trying to notate 4 MIDI expression pedals (and several foot switches). So far, I’m treating each as its own instrument (and player), using FredGUnn’s 0-line staff. I’m mapping pp to 0 and ff to 127 with hairpins, p, and f to imply intermediate and gradual values. I’m anchoring them to hidden notes. This works nicely visually and for playback with one exception—I can’t vertically center them.

I’d appreciate any ideas about how to notate MIDI expression pedals or get dynamics to appear for a staff vertically centered.

I can attach a project, but since it depends on a library, I’m starting with two screenshots: how it looks in write and in print modes.

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Hi @Multipants, if you don’t use dynamics anywhere else, you could find (via trial and error), a global setting that sets all dynamics centered. Here an example:

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Otherwise you can select the first dynamic of each desired staff, then do Select more twice, and move them all at once in Engrave mode with the shortcuts:

1 Like
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Thanks for such a quick and creative reply!

Ooh, I was hoping your Engraving Options idea was going to elucidate an option I couldn’t find to apply these settings on a per-staff basis. I do need dynamics for other staves so I remain mind-boggled that this can only be done globally.

And as impressive as your speed and facility are with recreating my problem and demonstrating a workaround are, I’m hoping to find a solution that doesn’t require engraving adjustments with every change—especially since it will require selectively selecting only my latest work to elevate once I’ve finished the first round of adjustments.

Do any alternative approaches come to mind? I also tried looking for a way to make my own dynamics markings that I could draw in such a way that they would appear centered when they were below the staff, but couldn’t find one.

Thanks again.

2 Likes
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Thanks for your kind words :slight_smile:

(Waiting for someone to post a better method…) There is also a Select To End of Flow command (in menu Edit) that, combined with right click>Filter>All Dynamics, may be helpful for such cases. (you can then insert the same Y offset values that you have previously, into the Properties Panel fields, for consistency)

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:slightly_smiling_face: Thanks. I’ll try these.