This issue has been posted before on various platforms but I can’t find a workable solution.
I need to put the word Swing as a text item (entered with Sh/Opt X) next to a rehearsal mark. All parts that have a 6 measure multirest at that spot have it broken to read 1 single bar rest (with the word Swing) plus a 5 bar multirest.
For me this is an unsatisfactory solution and I would always prefer 6 bars multirest with the word Swing next to the rehearsal mark.
Solutions given like attach the text to the double bar before and have global properties selected don’t work for me.
Has anyone found a working solution to this that doesn’t involve a whole lot of messing about?
Hi @George_Brodbeck, actually a text inserted at the beginning of a multibar rest, doesn’t break it. Try moving the text using the moving shortcuts (in Write mode) at the exact beginning of the bar.
To have the text on the right of a Rehersal mark, you can then apply to it a custom Paragraph Style with an Horizontal offset (or you could write it as a Tempo marking):
paragraph style with horizontal offset.dorico (1.6 MB)
Hey thanks Christian, this works, but I’m not sure why.
What I had before was: I entered the word Swing into the score attached to the double bar before which didn’t work. Now I re-entered it attached as a System text (with the horizontal offset) to the beat 1 note of one of the instruments that plays in that spot and it doesn’t mess up the multirests of those instruments that don’t play there. Why?
Also could you explain please what you mean by "Try moving the text using the moving shortcuts (in Write mode) at the exact beginning of the bar."
I’m pleased to have found the solution. Will this work with “Swing” as a Tempo item and not as Text?
Hey George,
If you select an item in Write mode, you can move it to the next/previous rhythmic position (according to your rhythmic grid setting) by pressing Alt/Opt+left or right arrow.
I’m pretty sure that if anything is attached to beat one of a multi-bar rest, it won’t split. There may be items that I’m forgetting.
Thanks Muz, for keeping tabs on the forum.
I think the main reason this became an issue for me was, that the two places I had to insert the word Swing into the score, the reeds (top staff) were tacet which means I clicked the rest in the first empty bar to attach the text to.
Dorico is sneaky that way for a beginner. Anyway, another hurdle taken. 
Allow me as a lifelong Finalian and only Doricogan since last December to make a point about entering System text or tempo markings into a score, which I haven’t seen explained or pointed out so far:
When working on a song score it is very common (for me anyway), to enter those 2 and other similar non note/music items as you go above the top staff (in big band probably Reed 1).
In Finale this didn’t require any special tricks. Activate the expression tool, click where you want the text item above the staff and pick an item from the appropriate category, done. Move it if necessary later.
In Dorico my mistake was to follow a similar path. But when the spot on the top staff where you want the item to go happens to be an empty measure, and you attach it to the rest, you finish up with broken multirests on the part.
Here is the key I didn’t know about:
YOU CAN ATTACH TEXT/TEMPO/ETC ITEMS WHILE THE NOTE ENTRY TOOL IS ACTIVATED.
That way one can make sure the caret is on beat 1 before hitting Sh/Opt (or Sh/Alt) X and typing your text.
This can of course be done on any score staff, not just the top one as long as the Option (or Alt) is added to the Shift X.
For a Finale person this is not obvious and has not been made a point of in any recent FB or Forum posts about the issue of system text or other top score staff word item breaking up multirests on parts.
Well, longterm Dorico users, I hope I got this right. Don’t be afraid to wrap me on the knuckles if not.
My not super technical brain sometimes needs a detailed explanation like this to get it.
This is not completely correct: if you select a full bar rest (which means in that bar there is no music in that staff), and you then create an item, that item will be attached at the very beginning of the bar. If that bar is the first of a group of bars for example, then the item will not break the multi-bar rests that will be generated in the parts.
You probably did something else (probably, as you describe, you had the caret activated and the cursor position was not at beat 1). If you happen to have this issue again, feel free to describe your steps exactly.
Thanks for the correction, Christian.
What I did was all before I knew that it was possible to enter text items with the caret active.
My text, as mentioned above, was the word Swing, first entered attached to the rest of an empty bar as a tempo item.
That broke the multirest. Then I was told to enter it as a text item (still to the rest of the empty bar) and that didn’t work either. But since I entered it to beat 1 via the caret the multirests are complete.
Maybe I did something else wrong before (Dorico novice), it’s possible.
Anyway, the problem has been solved, thanks to you and Muz, and I know what to do in the future.
@George_Brodbeck, scroll back up to @Christian_R’s post where you found your answer and select it as the Solution (just underneath the post).
This way any users in the future who come across this thread will be able to go straight to the answer.
Thanks Muz, yes I’m not up with proper Forum etiquette, too much to learn!
