After many years using Dorico, I’ve only now become aware of custom layouts. Your video(s) show very logical uses for them (e.g., vocals+piano reduction from larger ensemble), but I am wondering whether there would be any advantage in using custom layouts rather than separate flows when notating multi-layered compositional analyses? For example, a separate layout (including custom layouts) for each of the following: Full Score; harmonic analysis; melodic analysis; fugue subject/answer analysis; structural analysis, etc. Such analyses would consist of different perspectives of the same musical events, rather than of successive musical events (with Flows tending to suggest the latter).
Has anyone experimented with this?
Sure! For analytical score reductions I often have a score layout, a score + reduction layout, and a reduction layout. Sometimes I’ve used multiple variations on those layouts depending on whether I want chord symbols (for analysis) to appear above the reduction.
That sort of flexibility is a great feature of Dorico!
Thanks for your help, Fred!
I’m running into something that clearly shows that I don’t understand the role that custom layouts can play:
If, for example, I create an extremely simple custom layout that uses my Flow 1, along with a piano (the only instrument in my Flow 1), I find that any additions that I make within the custom layout – e.g., figured bass – are automatically copied to my “Full Score” layout. Similarly, if I delete some bars in my custom layout, those bars are simultaneously (and permanently) deleted from my Full Score.
If these are to be expected, how can one do anything like, e.g., chord symbols without them simultaneously applying to the Flows which have been used?
Thanks again for your help!
Yeah, deleting bars will affect all players assigned to that flow. I often make a reduction into a Piano grand staff or multiple grand staves, select all music in the reduction and paste it into other grand staves. That way I can have chord symbols turned on in some reductions and not in others. I’ll just include whichever staves I want in a specific layout.
Thanks, Fred. So is the idea that one can change things in custom layout IF they are applied to players that are NOT being shown in the original flow?
I was thinking of something like this – taking a section of my full score, flow 1, and doing this with it, as one of a number different kinds of analysis:
. . . but it applied the harmonic analysis to my original full score as well. (I notice that it did not change actual visual layout items – like the staff reduction I applied to bars 1 - 6.)
Yeah, you can pick and choose which Players to include. So if I have this …
… then I can cycle through 3 different layouts in the gif below - a score, small score with reduction, and small score with reduction and chord symbol analysis:
(Oops, forgot to shrink the Bass staff in the 2nd layout, but you see what I mean)
Thank-you, Fred – that explains a lot!
Could you also do a custom layout in which only the bass and brass reduction are visible, by removing all the brass instruments from the custom layout?
In the analyses I’m trying to do, I’m currently dealing with only one player (piano), but - as you can see – I want each custom layout to focus on one particular type of analysis.
I suppose I could create two pianos in Full score, and copy the contents of player 1 into player2. Then remove player 2 from the full score and remove player 1 from the custom layout. I could then do anything to the custom layout, with no consequences at all to the content of the Full score.
Or I can simply duplicate flow 1, and make changes to each new flow.
I’m beginning to think the duplicate flows might be the most direct way. . .
So much to learn, so little time. . .
Thanks again!
Of course! I’ll sometimes do a layout with a reduction in the first couple of bars and then empty bars to post as an assignment. That way the students can see what’s expected and can complete the reduction and analysis. Lots of possible options and of course layouts can all be independent in terms of positioning.
