Bar less, (un)proportional representation

Dorico
1

Hello
I’m about to convert an excerpt that uses barlines and metric beats into something more free - where musicians wait for ‘when it feels right’ cues from one another. So I’m writing it barless, with semibreves laid out on the stave approximately in proportion to when they occur (but without enough semibreves to cover the time played - notes are just signifying a change in chord). So this means I’d like to write a barless score where in Engrave I can move the semibreves wherever I want on the page. Do I just do that using the ALT + Arrow keys and jogging things slowly left and right. Or is there a function that makes everything move more swiftly left and right?

And (sorry if this has been asked before but I may have missed an update): Is there now a function to make sections of stave with silent bars invisible when they come part-way through a line? I know I can do this by covering things up with boxes but it would be great to have a way to do this automatically - so with more free scoring, people can by eye get the contour of when things stop and start.
Thanks!
Sarah

2

From the manual (emphasis added):

  • To move items a standard amount to the right, left, up, or down, press Alt/Opt plus the corresponding arrow key. For example, press Alt/Opt-Left Arrow to move items to the left. This moves beams by 1/4 space and all other items by 1/8 space per press.
  • To move items a large amount, press Ctrl/Cmd plus the standard key command; for example, Ctrl/Cmd-Alt/Opt-Left Arrow. This moves items by 1 space per press.
  • To move items a moderate amount, press Shift plus the standard key command; for example, Shift-Alt/Opt-Left Arrow. This moves items by 1/2 space per press.
  • To move items a small amount, press Ctrl/Cmd-Shift plus the standard key command; for example, Ctrl/Cmd-Shift-Alt/Opt-Left Arrow. This moves items by 1/32 space per press.
1 Like
3

Thanks!