To be clear (or I’m just being dense here), there is no easy way to show rhythm instruments resting when another rhythm instrument is playing chord changes. Or am I missing something?? i can’t seem to figure this out.
I figured it out! On the part level, you highlight the chord changes in question, mute it and then hide it in the lower panel. Voila’, measure rests appear.
Hopefully this will become easier as the updates arrive. Loving it so far!
While I understand the motivation for that comment, it would really mess with my workflow. IN most projects, the first thing I do is enter the chords. That way I always have the harmonic reference for everything else I am writing.
IMHO, the DAW world is going the right direction - including CUBASE. They define a distinct “chord track” that is separate from all the audio and MIDI tracks. You can then associate the other tracks to the chord track, even to the point of having the DAW automatically change the notes if you change the chord. That makes a lot of sense to me. I see the chord track as being a companion to the system track.
If you had such a structure then when you associate an instrument with the chord track, it could be an option whether or not chords appear in otherwise empty measures.
And maybe we would need the option for multiple chord tracks to accommodate differences in chord spellings for different instruments.
I love the idea of multiple chord tracks
I don’t know of any DAW that supports multiple chord tracks yet. A primary motivation in Dorico would be as a solution to the requirement for different chord spellings for different instruments – or similarly, some instruments seeing fewer chord changes.
In the DAW, I see a different motivation. A big use for the chord track in a DAW is to drive arpeggiation. You can lay in a simple arpeggio pattern. Change the chord in the chord track and the arpeggio automatically adjusts. It is very handy, especially for techno-rock or K-pop.
But I notice that in the jazz world one trend in improvisation (well actually “improvisation” is a misnomer here because it is more of a robotic system of playing) is called “triad pairs” The basic concept is that in modal songs (where we typically have the same chord for 4, 8, even 16 bars) the soloist needs to depart from that chord or else it gets terribly boring after a couple of bars. The “triad pairs” system requires the player to select 2 different triads (one of which may be part of the base chord being played – or both might be distant from the base chord.)
The soloist plays by alternating between the two triads. The first three notes are played in various inversions for some number of beats, then the same is done with the other three notes, and back and forth. If the performer is technically very proficient and has chosen interesting triads, this can create a very challenging, sophisticated sound. One can easily imagine that system using two chord tracks in a DAW: one track for the base chords (the rhythm section comping) and the other chord track for the soloist.
Fundamentally this is not much different from what has traditionally been referred to as “poly-chords”, except that it is a system that uses arpeggios, 3 notes at a time and two different triads against the base chord. What I’m getting at here is that even in Dorico, one can imagine two different harmonic systems used simultaneously. In this Satie piece, the left hand and right hand are in two different harmonic systems most of the time:
Over time, as Dorico masters more of the basic engraving things, I hope to see more features that are designed to help the composer create in new directions.
“Something doesn’t appear” doesn’t mean the same as “Something doesn’t exist.”
I read loff56’s post as just meaning chords should be hidden in empty bars. And only “by default”, so if you don’t want to hide them, just change the layout/notation/engraving option.
If you have a long passage where you want hide the chords in a guitar part. I know how to filter the chords but how to select the chords for that passage. with control click it takes a long time to select all the chords. Could there not be an option to select the bars and than filter the chords.
with regard,
Robert
Use the System Track to make the initial selection, and you’ll find that chords are selected and can then be filtered.
Yes that’s the trick I was searching. Thank You!