Is there any way to change the size of the brackets that go around single notes? I have gone to the engrave options, but for single note heads there only appears to be the option for the very tiny font glyph option or the very tiny drawn curve option.
I would like to have bigger brackets, but if I want to use the larger curved lines now available in the lines palette, I can only attach one.
Suggestions?
JW
I donât have Dorico open right now, but one trick I found early on was to select the thing I need to change while in Engrave Mode, then open the bottom panel. The thing is usually named right there. If you type that name in the Jump Bar, sometimes it will point you right to the place where you can change the default, whether in Paragraph Styles, Font Styles, Layout Options, etc.
IIRC, there are multiple places for setting bracket options.
Hi Clancyweeks, Charming that you think it is that easy. There is no option in the bottom engrave panel, and I wouldnât possibly know the wording one might employ to get a result from the jump bar.
Charming that you thought I suggested using the bottom panel to change anything.
/s
What I said was, the thing you have selected is named in the bottom panel, meaning the name Dorico uses for the thing. Sometimes itâs logical, sometimes not. Once you have that name (in this case itâs easy, because itâs probably âbracketâ or some variant) you go to the score, press J, and type that name in the box. It will list all the places you can change options. Sometimes it lets you change it right in the jump bar.
Here:
I see we havenât met yet Clancyweeks. My sole function here is to probe the things I need that arenât possible to do in Dorico either at all or without significant workarounds. Sometimes I get lucky and thereâs an option thatâs only moderately non-intuitive. Iâve exhausted the intuitive and semi-intuitive suggestions from the forum and documentation and will just wait one of the pros to weigh in with one of the true workarounds (if one exists).
I donât think a âworkaroundâ is necessary in this case. You can, of course, adjust each side as necessary in Engrave Mode by dragging the handles. There are also these options in Engraving Options:
If you feel like being creative,
in Engraving Options > Bracketed Noteheads > Design:
Select Use drawn curve and change the values in Round bracket end thickness and Round bracket middle thickness (for Staff notation).
In Engrave mode, clicking on one of the brackets will show the edit handles which can then be dragged around to change the shape of the bracket
Alternatively (also in Engrave mode), the section in Properties entitled Bracketed Noteheads enables one to enter values for R bracket body, R bracket extents and R round br. middle if the right bracket is selected and L bracket body*, L bracket extents and L round br. middle if the left bracket is selected . To see what each one does, select a bracket and try different values.
In Engraving Options > Bracketed Noteheads > Design > Advanced Options (right at the bottom - use the disclosure arrow to see them) there are a few more things to fiddle with - as shown in @clancyweeksâs screenshot.
Hopefully you will find something which gets you closer to what you want.
I donât think those options work on single notehead brackets.
Hi @jakeysworld, beside all the useful suggestions above, to just have bigger brackets, try changing Engraving Options>Bracketed Noteheads>Avoiding Collisions>Minimum distance between end of round bracket and staff line:
(In the example above I used Glyphs:)
very helpful to know that you have to do the thing in two places to get the effect you want. thank you.
What do you mean with âtwo placesâ? From the factory settings, I just changed the global Engraving Options in one place:
Ah yes, Iâm used to having to deal with collision avoidance in the vertical spacing dialog in Layout options.
That Layout Option has nothing to do with the Engraving Option for Bracketed Noteheads that I mentioned. In Dorico you find different (global or local) settings for collision avoidance in many places and for many different type of items. So I donât quite understand what do you mean, sorry.
Anyway: is your issue solved?
Yes, Christian, I find thatâs a rather common thing with Dorico. Hundreds of ways to modify all of the details tucked away in different panels and menus. I havenât resolved the issue, but thatâs mostly because I donât have a couple of hours right now to fiddle around with the options. thanks for your help, tho.
That is what gives Dorico itâs flexibility, but also frustrates those who are just looking for a quick fix (to their unique problem).
in Engraving Options > Bracketed Noteheads > Design > Round bracket appearance for single noteheads:, select Use drawn curve (and click Apply, of course)
In Engrave mode, select the two brackets and, in Properties > Bracketed Noteheads, enter the values as shown in this screenshot (you can enter different values depending on what you want to achieve).
You can also drag the edit handles with the mouse or use the standard Dorico keyboard shortcuts.
I take exception to your assumption that people like me are coming to Dorico for a âquick fix.â I am looking to be able to do normal tasks in music engraving.
In this case I am looking to be able to put brackets around a noteheads that have an appearance consistent with my design file, and that do not require that every single bracket be adjusted in the properties panel. Even @StevenJones01 patient explanation requires hand work on every bracket, which, while it can achieve the objective is not scalable in the workflow for our project. So unfortunately, I find myself again defeated by Doricoâs design choices for the simple desire to create functional lead sheets.
What is on offer here is not flexibility, it is impracticality. What I want is the ability to be able to describe the size of a bracket to put around a note and have it function consistently across multiple files. Iâd like to be able to do that with the large curved lines now available but thatâs off topic for this thread and a whole ânother can of impractical worms.
I just now created a custom notehead with the cartoonishly large bracket that I want to have around the notes so that they are visible.
What I get is that if I use that notehead, the size of the note head itself shrinks, which is not the desired outcome.
I donât appreciate your flippant attempt at gaslighting when I am trying to get Doricoâs vaunted âflexibilityâ to give me the âflexibilityâ to achieve the outcomes I desire.
It should be possible to copy a notehead which has edited brackets, and then paste it to another location. Two caveats would be that the value of the note involved would need to be the same as the target and the pitch would need to be adjusted.
Thanks Steven.! That makes it more feasible, though not as straightforward as being able to define a value for such brackets, which would make it relatively easy to share between scores in a template, or via Library manager.
