In this discussion, I learned that I can generate several layouts for a single player, which allows me to give that player a choice of instruments.
Now I’m wondering whether there’s a way to do something that is similar in concept, but kind of inside-out in terms of actual effect.
Suppose I’m transcribing a Bach fugue for recorder players. I don’t know for sure in advance which instruments people will bring to the session, so I want to allow for several possibilities.
For example, suppose the fugue’s alto line fits in the range of an alto recorder, and almost but not quite fits in the range of a soprano recorder: There are just a few notes in that voice that are too low for a soprano to play. As it happens, while those notes are to be played, the tenor recorder is in the middle of a 6-measure rest.
Is there a way to create two layouts for each of the alto and tenor players, with these characteristics:
- If the alto player has an alto recorder, both the alto and tenor players play their respective fugue voices as usual.
- If the alto player has a soprano recorder, the alto player should be silent during the measuer with the notes that are too low, and the tenor player should play those notes instead.
This is a little like cue notes, except that they do not occur immediately before an entrance. Ideally they would carry an annotation like “Do not play this measure if you are playing a soprano recorder” or "Play this measure if and only if the alto voice is being played on a soprano recorder.
Obviously I could just treat the two alternatives as different flows, but then I have to remember to change both of them in lock step with each other.