Blank Score Sketch

[pba007]

I am migrating from Finale. I want to recreate this blank orchestral sketch paper. There’s not a lot of help on this one. Any ideas are much appreciated. peter
Blank Orchestra.pdf (358.3 KB)

[wing]

I was able to get you started:

Blank Orchestra.dorico (509.4 KB)

EDIT: See @AndreLorenzatti 's much improved project file below -Blank Score Sketch - #6 by AndreLorenzatti

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Steps I took:

1. Add generic players from the build menu - Woodwinds, Brass, Strings.
   

   

2. Add a 4/4 time signature and several bars - but then with the sig selected go to the bottom panel and hide it:
   

   

3. In Layout Options > Staves and Systems > Casting Off, selected ‘fixed number of bars per system: 1’ thus forcing “system breaks” so it appears as one blank measure across the page. Also set 2 systems per page.
   

   

4. Same menu, just above - add system dividers dialed to taste:
   

   

This got me pretty close:

(although like I said that is page 2, someone might be able to suggest how to get page 1 to have two systems, I think it might just be a space thing with the title?)

Other elements can be modified to taste in the various layout/engrave menus, such as placement of dividers and staff labels and margins etc. Hope that helps!

[wing]

Also I forgot to do this but you should be able to remove all rests + bar lines at the end of every system.

Additionally you might find some of this helpful:

Creating blank score paper

I was recently heading out on a weeklong trip with no computer, so I sat down w/Dorico to creat some blank sketch score paper to use on the road. With paper and pencil. I laid out three G clef staves and one F clef staff, added 300 bars or so, and then set about getting rid of the bar lines so I could pencil in bars wherever I wanted them. However, though I tried everything I could think of, the best I could come up with was grey barlines between (thankfully not through) the staves. T…

[AndreLorenzatti]

Citazione
someone might be able to suggest how to get page 1 to have two systems, I think it might just be a space thing with the title?

I don’t know if the one I’m proposing you is the most efficent way. I created a project with only two measures and did everything you did. But in Layout Options > Note spacing I unchecked the Justify checkbox, so the second system will fill the page. Then I removed the rests in layout options and used the tick bar trick to remove the barlines.

(Also, I unchecked the “Scale number of systems by frame height”)

[wing]

Great! Yes I think that last one I left alone as it was selected for me by default. If it’s not too much trouble would you be able to share your project file?

[AndreLorenzatti]

Sure!
Here you are.

BlankSketchPba007.dorico (509,9 KB)

[wing]

Great, I too will enjoy using this for sketches like the OP. Thank you for taking my effort across the finish line!

[pba007]

You guys are awesome. Thank you so much for your help. peter

[pba007]

Here is what I came up with. Very similar to the versions you offered, but I made a little more space around everything.

Any ideas on how to hide the barline at the end of each system. The attached image is p2

And the Dorico file
Blank Chamber Orch.dorico (829.2 KB)

[judddanby]

I do this by:

• Changing the barline to the tick style in Write Mode
  

  

• Adjusting the Tick Offset (which sounds a bit like a medical procedure for someone suffering from Lyme’s Disease — ha!) in Engrave Mode / Properties Panel to “-1/2” for Out and In
  

  

and…*violà!

[wing]

Ahhh Judd – I tried playing with tick barline after I read above the “tick barline trick” and I even played with tick offset in engrave mode and couldn’t get it to work, because I was trying wacky large numbers like 50 and -50 haha. I guess you have to be very subtle which is definitely not my middle name

Handsome sketch score all around OP. I’ll have to print some of these out for myself!

[Lillie_Harris]

You could set up the layout with a certain number of beats/bars per system, lock the layout (to insert breaks at the end of every system), then delete the time signature.

That should leave the staves, but with no time signature, there’ll be no barlines.

Edit: here’s an alternative (@pba007 I hope you don’t mind me taking the liberty of editing the file you posted! Also fyi, you last saved yours in 5.1.30, but the latest version is 5.1.51 – more info and how to update here)

Blank Chamber Orch_LH.dorico (842.1 KB)

Bit of spacing advice:

• Don’t be tempted to set the Ideal Gaps too big; keep them low, and trust justification to spread them out.

• Braced staves never justify though, so that braced staff gap does need to be set accurately.

• If you want staves and systems to justify in almost all circumstances, set the 2nd vertical justification value really high, like 99%.

• Keep the page margins comfortable. If you want music to start higher/lower on the page, either move the top/bottom of the music frame on the corresponding page template, or increase/decrease the music frame margins.

• Try to avoid single page template changes and staff spacing overrides, when tweaking some of the defaults (although it might feel slower at first) will get you slick results without much effort in the long run

[judddanby]

@judddanby

I do this by:

“I used to do this by: