Difficult to get choir parts to go to unison automatically (condensing)

Dorico
#1

See attached. There are some areas where TB automatically go to unison as expected., e.g. letter B. But then at E they should also be unison at least the first line but are not. Similar for SA. At E they should be unison for the first line. Then at measure 69 S/A inexplicably split into separate staves even though the music is the same. I’ve tried deleting the altos and copying from the sopranos to make sure there are no differences.

I was eventually able to get it the way I wanted, but it required more condensing changes than seems necessary. Also tried the “Allow whole-phrase unison” and “Allow mid-phrase unisons” options via condensing change, had zero effect. Am I missing something?

Thanks,
Stephen
All Creatures Bug Not Unison.zip (832 KB)

#2

Remember that “Dorico Pro considers a sequence of notes between rests as a single phrase” so if there is an interval different from the unison Dorico will show up and down stems where the voices play unison. Condensing changes can be used as “markers” to end a phrase and begin a new one, so you can enter condensing changes (without changing the condensing options) just to separate phrases.

condensing changes.gif
condensing changes.gif1784×919 1.78 MB

Bar 76, the breath mark is attached to a different ryhtmic position in soprano and alto (an eight appart) that is causing the split at bar 69.
I hope this helps.

[EDIT]
You can copy a condensing change in write mode by selecting its signpost and alt-clicking where you want to copy it. That can speed up the whole process, and if you need to edit a condensing change (in write mode) just press enter while its signpost is selected.

condensing changes 2.gif
condensing changes 2.gif1784×919 1.84 MB

#3

That’s a big help, thanks. Would never have figured that out myself, even with the manual (nor guessed that you could even create a condensing change without any settings selected).

What do the “Allow whole-phrase unison” and “Allow mid-phrase unisons” mean, then, if not that I shouldn’t have to mark the phrases myself?

#4

If you are condensing two staves that are in unison. there are two different conventions. Either you write notes with single stems and an “a2” text instruction, or you write each note with two stems in opposite directions.

You have the choice of which one to use for a complete “condensing phrase”, or for each individual unison note within a phrase.

For example putting “a2” text on single notes in a passage usually looks bad, but if there are no rests in the music a single “condensing phrase” might extend over multiple systems in the score, and contain a “long” passage in unison.