Hash marks through beats above staff

[wmbrink]

Hey Forum;
I’m creating some files for a music test. I has to have beats above a single-line staff. No problem so far in Dorico.
However: I also need to have random “hash marks” through various beats’ 8th notes.

It would be extra cool if the hash marks could be 50% black, but that’s not mission critical.
I spent some time trying to do this solely in Dorico but had to give up and export SVGs from Dorico into Illustrator and add just the hash marks there.
Is this type of graphic editing advisable/possible in Dorico? I’ll have many of these files, all of which will have a different set of hash marks.
Any help would be appreciated as I would like to keep all the work in Dorico.
Let me know,
Thanks, Bill
(ever the Dorico neophyte)

[Christian_R]

Hi @wmbrink, one possible method would be to write the numbers and the + as lyrics. Then write the hash marks as text.
I can obtain this for example on my German Layout keyboard pressing Option(Alt)+ i:

Write one of these ⁄ in the rhythmic position of a +, then edit it and set the foreground color to 50% Opacity (Alpha), then deactivate Avoid collision and position it in engrave mode. You can then paste it in other rhythmic position (with Option(Alt)+click) and will maintain its position properties.

Dorico file example:
hash marks as superimposed text.dorico (437.0 KB)

Usage (to select the superimposed text keep Shift+Option(Alt) clicked when you click with the mouse, to cycle through the selected items):

If you want to delete a bunch of the hash marks, you can easily filter for text

[Janus]

@wmbrink

However: I also need to have random “hash marks”

Why? What do they signify? Would some other (extra cool) mark meet your need?
Why not use lyrics with a font that supports your marks?

[wmbrink]

Hi Christian;
Very nice solution, but the problem is I don’t have the same hash mark available on my keyboard. I just have " / ". The one on your German keyboard is much more usable because of its angle, but I don’t think it exists on a Mac keyboard.
Thanks for the extremely well-documented solution. However, I’m not going to buy another keyboard just to be able to do these files in Dorico. I’ll just use my Dorico/Illustrator workflow.
Thanks again.
Bill

[wmbrink]

This is an example for students. They write (by hand or with Mr./Ms software) the beats above a staff, then cross out each attack they hear with the hash mark. It’s a rhythm exercise. Then they notate that into common music notation.
Bill

[wmbrink]

I just found the more angled slash mark on my Mac. It’s opt-shift 1.
Now all I have to do is learn how to change the “alpha” in the mark in Dorico.
Thanks, Bill

[Christian_R]

@wmbrink

Now all I have to do is learn how to change the “alpha” in the mark in Dorico.

Hi @wmbrink, here a visual guide. Once you entered your text, select it, and you can edit the foreground color of it:

And here again the positioning and pasting (remember first to deactivate Avoid collision as well):