To specify the terminology: Voices in Finale are called layers (there are also voices but this is irrelevant in comparison).
The layers don’t have a fixed stem direction, however layer 1 is upstem and layer 2 is downstem frozen by default.
1 Like
Correct, and this is another advantage of Dorico.
If nothing is present in a rhythmic location besides a single voice, that voice will follow correct stem direction. That also applies to rests removed.
1 Like
Heu… in Finale and Sibelius as well, you know…
In a single voice, stems have the correct direction according to the Engraving Rules of music edition (Gould, Boosey, etc.).
Actually, π might make an excellent value for the default quarter-note Note Spacing…
…that is, if your piece goes on forever. 
1 Like
Ha, ha !
But, having thought about it, I think I prefer the golden ratio, or, if you prefer, 55/89 ! (according to “Binet” formula) 
22/7 is close enough. 
Everybody wants a piece of the π.
2 Likes
355/113 is even better. ^^
EDIT:
Marvellous ! Wunderbar ! 精彩 ! υπέροχο ! чудовий !
I’ll take it.
In the meantime, I’m going to make a cup of tea, because it’s time in Paris.
See you all later.
2 Likes
Hello everyone,
I’m bringing up this 10-day-old thread to ask for clarification on the order of voices (since this topic also covered that).
In a piano part, is it normal for the left hand to display voices 3 and 4 (see screenshot ; colours are my choice, not the defaults ones).
I’m used to other software that makes the two staves independent when it comes to Voices/Layers (that is voices 1 & 2 for the RH, voices 1 & 2 for the LH) so I’m surprised by this. Have I made a mistake in my input ? 
Dorico gives you “Up-Stem 1” on each staff to start with. You can then add voices to either staff as you wish.
Up-Stem 1 on the right-hand staff and Up-Stem 1 on the left-hand staff will appear in different colours.
So, the voice 1 of the LH is, in reality a voice 3 ; correct ?
In reality this is Dorico. It’s an upstem voice 1.
In Dorico there is no way to have a voice 3 (in either direction) without having a voice 2 (in the same direction). I can see the logic in your calling the upstem voice on the bottom staff a voice 2 or a second voice, I suppose, but there’s no logic in calling it a voice 3.
As to the colours, there’s no point in trying to find a logic, particularly if you’ve imported MusicXML (which I suspect you have, given the colours). Dorico assigns colours to voices depending on the order in which the voices are created. This typically means that the first created voice on the top staff of a piano would be blue, and the first created voice on the bottom staff of a piano would be red, and the next voice created (on either staff) would be lime green. It’s consistent if you’re starting a project from scratch, but if you’re importing MusicXML you can’t control the order in which the colours are assigned to voices.
Trying to hang onto a concept of voices from some other program is not going to serve you well in Dorico, where unlimited numbers of voices can come and go as they please.
2 Likes
I agree. But I’m afraid you’ve misunderstood me (my English isn’t great).
For me, the voice 1 of the LH is a voice 1, not a voice 3 (logic according to the “layers” of Finale).
Nevertheless, I can’t understand why Dorico assign the colour I’ve chosen in the general preferences for voice 3. That’s what’s rather confusing in my mind.
1 Like
I don’t know the intricacies of how Finale handles cross-staff notation, but by the looks of things it assigns a MIDI channel to each staff, which probably means that (like in Sibelius) each staff is treated internally as a separate instrument. In Sibelius, this means there are a great many long-standing bugs with cross-staff notation.
Dorico instead handles each instrument as an instrument. Each voice can be assigned to a separate MIDI channel, if you so wish, or routed to a different playback instrument, and will respect that routing even if the notes cross to a different staff. The voice colours are kept separate because in cross-staff situations it is crucial that you know which staff the voice originated on. Consider that it is entirely possible to move the notes and beams of one voice (let’s say up-stem voice 1 of the bottom piano staff) to a staff that is different to its home staff (e.g. the top piano staff). If this voice was the same colour as the up-stem voice 1 that originated on the top staff, you could potentially get yourself into a pickle not understanding why you couldn’t persuade notes of the same colour to beam together, for instance.
3 Likes
Take a look in the Preferences dialog, under Colors > Voice Colors (but in your language, of course!):
It’s a little confusing, but the key is the first sentence. For a piano, Dorico creates the RH up-stem voice (that’s Voice 1) and then the LH up-stem voice (that’s Voice 2). The association with colors as 1/2/3/etc. has to do with the order of creation for the instrument, not the staff, as in Finale.
3 Likes
I see… 
Many thanks
Unrelated to importing XML:
I use V (to change to another existing voice) or Shift-V (to create another) and Dorico shows the notation. Sometimes I might change stems (F for flip). If it looks right after completing a few measures, it is all I care about. I seldom need to look at note colors (this includes piano/organ, classical guitar pieces) but it might depend on the complexity of the notation.
Solved to day.
In fact, I hadn’t realised that once a voice had been created, it remained valid for the staff instrument throughout the piece (not so easy to understand when your habits are different : managing the voices in Sibelius, or Layers in Finale, in which the voices or layers are only applied to a specific measure).
So I understand now why my LH had the colour of voice 3 (I had chosen in preferences) : because I’d created a voice 2 in RH in previous bars.
I’ve done some more tests in a new document, and the LH does have the green colour I chose for voice 2 ; it matches the screenshot you show in your message perfectly.
Now I understand how to use the V shortcut, which allows you to toggle between the voices you’ve created, and which is quite practical.
Many thanks, Aaron, for your help.
3 Likes
I think this is just traditional engraver’s thinking, relating everything to rastral size.
It’s possible to input decimal values though: typing 0.3 is converted to 3/10 for example.