Ensembles/Groups and implementation - Dorico Elements

Dorico
1

Hello,

So I’m looking for tips and wondering how you guys deal with this kind of situation:

I have a composition with piano, string quartet + a choir quartet, but the choir group doesn’t start to play/sing until measure 32, but it’s visible on every page from the first measure and thus taking a lot of unnecessary space in the score, and I’m wondering if it’s possible to implement the choir group only at a later stage in the score, just right before they begin to sing? Because as for now they take about 50% of every page for 30+ measures with no real function.

How do you guys deal with this situation?

Any tips is appreciated,
Cheers.

2

Check Layout Options—Vertical Spacing—Staff Visibility. You can hide empty staves on a per-system basis.

3

Thank you for the reply! Now, I found the function, but unfortunately it didn’t hide all “empty” staves, because apparently if a chord symbol is assigned over a measure then the measure is not considered “empty” and won’t hide. If I remove the chord symbol from the measure (of the empty staff) then the chord symbol also disappears for the playing instrument/s (which I don’t want because I want the playing instruments to have it’s harmony visible).
So how can I make the chord symbols between the instruments independent? Thanks again.

4

Don’t delete the chord symbols, hide them (via the properties panel).

If this happens a lot, you may want to instead use chord symbol regions.

5

The problem is that, by just “hiding the chord symbol”, it’s still assigned to the staff (but just invisible), which means that the that the empty staff still won’t hide when I try to hide all “empty staffs”, because the chord is still assigned to it. Is there no way to assign chord symbols to staffs individually without affecting other staffs?

6

Of course you can! Either…

  1. Set chord symbols only to appear at the top of system. In layout options…

    layout options
    layout options794×359 37.3 KB

  2. Or in Setup. Change the display setting for each player…chord options
    Note: these options are for each player… the submenu assumes players may hold more than one instrument, hence the curious wording!

That said. Why would you feel the need to include any chord symbols in your piece? Who will they help?

1 Like
7

Take out this part onwards, and it’s a great post.

I put chord symbols in my piano parts sometimes. The point is to help the OP achieve what they’re asking for.

1 Like
8

Although I don’t do this sort of thing often, I’m quite sure that staves with hidden chord symbols are indeed not shown… provided the staff is completely empty otherwise.

9

My wrist is duly slapped.

10

Thanks for the help! this cleared it up, and why I need for chord symbols for this piece (since you’re asking): Firstly it helps when arranging & composing, secondly I also need it for my university professor (the piece is school work). Thanks again.