Divisi - getting the music in the right place

Dorico
1

I have a score in which the the violins I are currently divided into 2 sections. There is already music in place for the two sections.

I want to add a soloist divisi above them, so I add a soloist in the change divisi dialogue.

The soloist is added correctly as the top staff, but the music is now shown on the new solo staff and the first section staff.

Obviously, it would be better in my case if the new solo staff is created empty and the existing music is left where it is. Can I make that happen?

Here’s a video
Google Drive link

2

No, I’m afraid not: the soloist is always the “main” staff rather than being added above.

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3

Easy enough to select the music and Move to Staff Below.

Screenshot
Screenshot1006Ă—542 73.1 KB

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4

Thanks very much Daniel and Ben.

The problem I face is that I have a multi-flow project in which only some of the flows need a solo violin divisi.

The solo violin will become the main staff in those movements with soloists, and I can assign a solo violin sound to it.

However, in flows without a soloist, the first section will become the main staff and I need a section sound assigned to it. But because of the assignment I have made for the soloist, it will have solo violin sound assigned to it.

I can get round that, I think, by creating the solo divisi in each flow and then relying on hide empty staves to stop it being visible. But, as I would like to show all instruments in the first system, it will show up there too.

I’m wondering if the simplest option is to create a separate instrument, add it to the relevant flows, and create a violins+soloist layout. But that may have downsides I haven’t discovered yet.

Any thoughts you have are very welcome!

5

Use a Section Player for some flows, and a Solo Player for other flows. Then put both Players in the Part. As long as there is only one Player in each Flow, you will get one staff throughout.

Also, you can turn on Independent Voice Routing to play different samples for different voices of the same staff.

3 Likes
6

Thanks Ben, I don’t think I fully understand your solution.

I need to have both solo and sectional staves in some flows, so I need both players in those flows.

7

A simple workaround is to use Independent Voice Playback for your Violins, AND reserve one voice for your soloist. So when you create the divisi with solo you put all the notes in that voice and elsewhere never use that voice. Route the solo voice to your solo sound and all the others to your sectional sound.

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8

Hi Janus, yes that would work well. I’ll try it!

9

That seems to work, and so far (with some changes of staff labelling in the divisi and some manual hiding of unwanted staves) it’s looking good.

10

That should not be necessary. I find the divisi labelling to work very well automatically.

11

Well, maybe you’re right!

The circumstances were these…

At the end of a section with three divisi (solo, section 1, section 2) I needed to collapse back to unison.

However, the change divisi, if I select unison, shows the solo staff because that’s the main staff, following Daniel’s terminology.

I didn’t want to put the tutti music in the solo staff for aesthetic reasons (though there’s nothing to stop me doing that I guess), and that required the mucking about.

Maybe I should see what happens if I do put the tutti music in the first staff…

12

Yes, you should put the tutti on the first staff. On the next system this will be the only staff remaining! (I find it best to work in galley view where you can clearly see the appearance/disappearance of the divisi parts. Once the notes are in, judicious system breaks may be needed to show the divisi correctly in page view - in both score and part layouts)

1 Like
13

Thanks Janus.