So, If I take a Percussion staff containing multiple instruments and break it down to single lines so that every instrument is on it’s own staff and then indicate new dynamic marks (say I mark the Triangle staff ff and the Crash Cymbal staff mp instead of the mf I used in the combined staff) will that make the Triangle louder and the Crash Cymbals softer than when both parts shared the same 5 line staff?
Thanks for any help.
Yes, I think it should. Have you tried it?
This works. When you later change to a 5 line staff for these instruments the independent dynamics will still work but not all show.
May I add that now that condensing is such a sophisticated tool, I find it a bit frustrating that those mechanics don’t work in percussion staffs at all?
I mean, when I condense two flutes and they have different dynamics, Dorico will show one of them below the staff and one above it.
But when I have a base drum playing forte and want a suspended cymbal to make a “p < f” roll, when I combine the instruments into one 5-line-staff, Dorico suddenly goes in full-alzheimer’s-mode and says “What? Different dynamics on one staff? Never heard of it. How would one ever do something like that?”
I’m not surprised this is difficult to do. How would you display dynamics for the instruments on the middle lines if they are different from those at the top and bottom?
From my (naive, of course) point of view this is not much different from combining 3 flutes where they all have different dynamics: When there are more than 2 layers involved, things can get a bit messy. This is totally expected and there should not necessarily be a difference between players who blow into their instruments vs. players who play them using sticks.
Just to clarify: I’m not saying anything about it being easy or difficult. All I’m saying is that I see no differenct between those from a purely visual point of view and I would love it if Dorico somehow managed to use the same algorithm for both use cases 
Estigy,
To be fair, Finale also could not handle two different dynamics (one below staff and one above) in Percussion staves either. I know this is probably the “hard” way and uses up computer memory but for many years I have always created two scores for every piece. One score is called the “print” score and the other is the “Playback” score. On the “Playback” score every Percussion instrument has its own staff and its own dynamic markings. With Dorico all I have to do is create a new layout and break apart the Percussion parts in that layout. That way the bass drum is at f while the Susp. Cym. has its p<f. Problem solved. (Almost) The problem I am having with NotePerformer is that even when I have a triangle part on its own staff and mark it ffff and put accents on every note, I still can’t hear it.
My sense is that @Estigy is aiming for a printed score that shows the different dynamics for each instrument rather than a playback score. It is perfectly possible for a drummer to play both the bass drum of a drum set and simultaneously perform a crescendo on a cymbal.
As you noted, this is not Finale, and although the original implementation of percussion playback and notation was a leap forward, the option to reflect individual dynamics for different instruments of a kit (even if some may overdo things and create barely readable parts) is something now worth hoping for.
Good point Derrek.
Gary
Well, sort of, yes. In the very first post the question was about switching percussion from individual single line instruments with dynamics associated to individual lines to showing them in a 5 line staff, where Dorico suddenly loses the dynamic symbols. So, yes, in the end it’s about the visual representation of dynamics in this “condensed” end result, but I guess this is not only for people who like to print scores.
I managed by adding the bass drum f>p on the second beat, then selecting the f and alt+arrow it into place on the 5-line staff. Also, making it longer with alt+shift+right arrow.
Jesper
percdyn.dorico (518.0 KB)
