Adjusting Note Positions for Unpitched Percussion on a 5-Line Stave

Dorico
1

Hi everyone,

I’m working on setting up my template in Dorico 5.1 and could use some advice on unpitched percussion.

Note position in 5-line staves
I’ve already used the new instrument editor to set my unpitched percussion instruments to use a 5-line stave, but I’m having trouble figuring out how to adjust the position of the notes on the staff. E.g., I want to move the Gran Cassa to sit in the space where F would normally be in the treble clef.

My goal is to ensure that when I switch between multiple 5-line percussion instruments assigned to the same player, the stave remains consistent without any changes in the number of lines, and the instruments stay in the positions I’ve set.

Assign noteheads
Additionally, I’d love to know if there’s a way to globally assign custom noteheads (e.g., X and diamonds for metallic instruments) within the settings, so I don’t have to do this manually each time.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much for your help!
Sebastian

2

I wanted to follow up on my initial question with a workaround I found. To adjust the note positions and assign custom noteheads, I created a separate percussion kit for each instrument (e.g., Gran Cassa, Suspended Cymbal). This allowed me to set their positions and notehead types individually. Afterward, I went to Layout Options > Players > Percussion to select 5-line staves for each instrument.

Additionally, I created three extra instrument kits just for labeling Percussion 1, Percussion 2, and Percussion 3 for the stave label at the beginning of the piece.

If there’s a more elegant solution, I’d love to hear it.

Best,
Sebastian