Condensing Bracing Spacing

Sorry for the numerous questions but I’m out of time. . . (At this point I’d be interesting in working out a Venmo deal with a Dorico Ninja to just walk me though some of the issues I’m having!)

In Condensing, how do I get Horn in F instrument name to only display once, between the two 1,2 and 3,4 staves? (I figured it out how to do it for other instruments in Engraving options > Staff Labels, but that doesn’t work for the horns in Condensing.

How can I get rid of the brace on the 1st and 2nd violins without deleting the braces for everyone else?

How can I adjust the spacing between the instrument names and the bracing? Way too close in my score.


Thanks ahead of time!

Hi Jeremiah !
It should just work for the horns as for the other instruments. Is your file an XML import ? If so, I would recommend spending some seconds to perform four times the operation [open the player’s card in Setup mode - in the player’s menu (the little chevron at its right, select change instrument - choose Horn in F] for each player.
If it’s not an XML import, maybe you’ve been editing the names of the horns, which is fine but can lead to problems. In order to have the proper condensed names, it is compulsory that these names are exactly the same : no additional spaces, not numbers… and beware the transposition options at the bottom of the Edit names window. They must be exactly the same too.

I suppose you’re using Dorico Pro. To change the brackets and braces, use the accurate tool in Engrave mode (left panel, third section, Bracketing). You can actually drag and drop brackets and braces in Engrave mode. I suggest you do that at the very beginning of your score, or it can lead to very strange results, unless you really know what you’re doing.

Check Engraving options (cmd-shift-E)>Staff labels. The first options are what you’re looking for.

Hope this helps !

Thanks Marc! I originally imported everything as MIDI and was renaming instruments. Then I realized this is a problem and actually went and added a solo instrument for EVERY instrument and copied the music into the appropriate staves. I haven’t messed with the ‘stock’ names since.

I created Custom condensing groups:
Horn (F) 1 ,Horn(F) 2
Horn (F) 3, Horn (F) 4

. . . and the same for trumpets.

Any ideas?

Go to Engraving Options / Staff Labels / Staff labels for identical adjacent solo instruments.

Jeremiah,
Did you add the numbers to the horn parts, or did you let Dorico assign them?

Thanks for responding Derrek - I literally just added the solo horns and did nothing else. Does anything think the ‘MIDI Import’ organization of all this has negative repercussions?

Marc thanks again - I seemed to have solve the problem with the horns by creating Condensing change.

The spacing issue is solved with that suggestion - thanks!!!

Not sure I’m ding the bracketing/bracing thing right. If I make any changed to the Violin’s bracing, it effects the bracing of the horns and trumpets as well…?

Bracket and bracing changes are slightly tricky: you need to consider that they work on the actual staves you can see at any point, and condensed staves are not the same staves as the uncondensed staves for those instruments, so you may need to add brackets and/or braces for other instruments, depending on where you add your bracketing change.

Thanks for chiming in Daniel! Can you point me to instructions on how to remove a brace from the violins but not the horns, trumpets, etc? When I attempt any bracing changes in Engrave it effects more than just the violins.

Thanks!

I’d suggest you start in the operation manual here.