Dorico Pro 3: Grace Note Tuplets

Dorico
#1

I absolutely apologize if this has been answered somewhere else and I’m just not seeing it. I am in Dorico 3.1.1 and for the life of me cannot add tuplet grace notes in percussion notation. This is rather important because it will change the way it is played. Is there any way to create a tuplet in grace notes?

All I’m trying to get is a sixteenth grace note tuplet.

That said, I noted in 2017 this was not possible. In 2020 is this still the case? Many thanks for any work-around OR just how to do it!

#2

Dear nerr1al,
Welcome to the forum !
I don’t think you can use tuplets on grace notes. They are “off the rhythm grid”. What you can do (and since version 1) is nest tuplets, and hide some. And you can also change the size of notes, and make them look like grace notes. You might then be able to write the whole thing without any grace notes, but make it look (and sound) as you wish. I’m sorry I cannot provide you with a more detailed explanation, as I don’t have the beginning of an idea of the notation you are trying to achieve (maybe attaching a picture might help !)

#3

You could try creating a Playing Technique with the tuplet number in it and applying it to the center note of a grace-note tuplet. I cobbled together an example as proof-of-concept, although the size and typeface of the tuplet number was just something I had on hand and would have to be changed.

graceNotes.png
I’m guessing you would be unlikely to need a simulated tuplet for an even number of grace notes, but if so, you could adjust the positioning in Engrave mode.

I also tried using the Line Tool (beat-to-beat mode) to create a tuplet bracket. To my eye the spacing is slightly off (at the beginning–I had to extent the line to the beat on which the quarter-note started to get the righthand bracket placed as I wished), but it may be close enough.

graceNotes2.png