The migration of former and still existing Finale users to Dorico has motivated me to shed light on and explain a special, but for many not unimportant function and possibility of the latter notation software: the creation of several parallel but different time signatures. The technical term for this is ‘polymetry’, or rather used as an adjective: ‘polymetric’.
Let’s first clarify what types of this phenomenon there are:
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different, parallel time signatures with the same, absolute note duration
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different, parallel time signatures with different, absolute note durations, i.e. the duration of crotchets, for example, is different for each time signature
(This second example is a reproduction of the Urtext version [G. Henle Verlag] of the posthumously published Nocturne in C# minor by F. Chopin.)
Instructions for the first case:
- Go to any position on a staff and open the time signature popover with the keyboard shortcut [SHIFT] + [M].
- Type in the desired time signature and press [ALT] + [ENTER] to apply it only to the selected staff. (Usually as a fraction, or in the case of four-four and two-half measures, alternatively and respectively, ‘c’ or ‘cutc’.
- Repeat step two as often as necessary or desired.
- (This step is optional and only affects the display of certain bar lines.) If you want to connect coincident bar lines (only possible with adjacent staves), where first beats come together, open the Engraving options, go to ‘Bar lines’, where you can set this under ‘Bar line connections’. (I hope I have translated the last term correctly; I am using the German language version.)
Instructions for the second case:
- This first step is identical to the one in the first case.
- Enter not only the desired time signature as it should appear in the score, but also its actual, hidden length. If the 3/4 bars, as shown in the second (illustrated) example above, should only have the length of two regular crotchets, you have to play a trick by creating an upbeat measure. You do this by entering the time signature and the actual length of the (regular) beats in the popover, separated by a comma. Here is the example from above: ‘3/4,2’ (yes, no spaces). Now press [ALT] + [ENTER] again.
- Since an upbeat measure is only inserted once, the following bar is regular again, which is why you now have to enter the time signature 2/4 from this bar onwards, as described in the first case. You can hide it in the property panel at the bottom of the screen.
- Continue in a similar way with the other time signatures. However, one of the time signatures will be the one to which all the others are orientated because it corresponds to the actual, regular note durations. Enter this specific one as in the first case.
- Now you have to work with hidden tuplets in the time signatures whose note values should deviate from the regular ones in order to achieve the desired effect/look. First open the tuplet popover with [;] (in the English version) and enter the desired ratio and the underlying note value as the corresponding letter (based on the American designations*). Here is the ubiquitous example: ‘3:2q’ (q = quarter note). Now press [ENTER].
- Now enter the notes as usual.
- The input of the tuplets only ends when you press [ALT] + [;], unless you have accidentally pressed the space bar or clicked somewhere with the mouse beforehand.
- Repeat steps four to six as often as and where desired.
- Now use the property panel at the bottom of the screen to make the brackets and numbers of the tuplets disappear. As pictures are often worth a thousand words, I’ll let the following screenshot speak for itself as to which options need to be selected (apologies for the German language, but the layout is the same in all editions):
I’m going to help someone with this post! For Finale migrants, this explanation will certainly be particularly helpful, as this notation phenomenon (polymetry) is implemented quite differently there.