Edit line of lyrics dialogue

Dorico
1

I often have the same issue that @dan_kreider describes in this thread, where I type out a lengthy line of lyrics and then discover I forgot a hyphen somewhere, and everything is off by a syllable. It seems the best solution for now is the Edit Line of Lyrics Dialogue, but when I try to use it, the OK button becomes disabled every time I make a change that adjusts the number of syllables in the line. I seem to be able to edit any given syllable without a problem, but if I add or delete a hyphen, the OK button goes grey. Any idea what I’m doing wrong?

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2

Just note the syllable count at the bottom. You have to match it in order to OK the dialog. When I realize I have omitted a syllable and have to go back, before entering the dialog I add a dummy syllable on the last note, to be deleted.

3

Interesting. That works, though I don’t understand why it should be that way. The only reason I come to the dialogue is to change the number of syllables, so it strikes me as odd that it demands that I keep the syllable count constant.

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If the syllables are different, Dorico can’t know reliably where to put lyrics back when you’re done.

5

Ok, I can see that. Thanks for replying.

If this ever becomes a priority for the team, the ideal behavior for me would be for the syllables to shift from note to note the same way the popover does. So if I remove a syllable, all the syllables after would shift back by one note, as if I simply hadn’t reached the last note with the popover. If I add a syllable, all the syllables after would shift the same way. If this results in syllables at the end having no note to attach to, perhaps a warning would be nice, but it would make sense to me if the lyrics without notes to attach to attached themselves to the next available rhythmic position according to the grid as set.

Thanks for listening!

6

An understandable request, but since syllables, once assigned, actually associate with beats (and sub beats) in the measure rather than notes, this may be more difficult to bring about in Dorico than it would be in a program like Finale, where syllables do attach to notes.

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7

I’ve requested the same thing. My hope is that it could draw on the same sort of functionality that advances the lyric popover to the next note rather than the next rhythmic position. Obviously that whole side of things is opaque to me.

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