Say I have a mallet player hired for a project with multiple songs. Not all the mallet instruments are used on every song.
Is there a way to list on each flow part the instruments used in that flow? Is there a token I can insert in a master part page?
{@playerlist@} in the flow header might do it?
Neither {@playernames@} nor {@playerlist@} yield the desired results. Drat.
I agree this would be handy token to have.
You’d need to define your mallet player as a separate player.
Player: Mallets
Instruments within player: Glock, Xylo, Vibes, Marimba
On flow ‘X’ only Glock and Xylo are used.
Seems no way to automatically list those two instruments in the part heading, omitting the others.
Agreed. But if no mallets are used in a flow then no player will be listed. It’s a compromise that would appear to meet your need. Aren’t you just trying to identify which flows involve the mallet player, and which do not?
No, I’m trying to identify which specific instruments the player will be using for a specific flow.
I.e,: (Player:) I see I’m only going to be using Glock and Xylo in this arrangement, not the other instruments I brought.
So you would need to give each player just one instrument. (As I said - compromise)
This is for one single player, hired to provide multiple instruments, as a solitary percussionist. There are no other percussionists. Just this one.
In Dorico I have listed four instruments under one Player. It ought to be a simple matter for Dorico to observe which instruments have music in them, and automatically list out just those instruments.
Why does the (single) percussionist need to know exactly which instrument(s) they will play in a particular flow? Surely the important information is that their presence is required (or not) - a fact that will be amply shown in their layout which no doubt shows Tacet for the flows where they are not needed - and the instrument change instructions will show to which instrument they need to apply their mallets!
In musical theatre productions and pops-concert scenarios it is a general courtesy to give the player — any player — a heads-up in advance to let them know which instruments to have ready.
A woodwind player, for example, may be doubling on five or six instruments for a gig. It eases the player’s mind to know oh, I’ve only got to have flute and piccolo ready for this tune, not the whole arsenal or oh wow, I need to be ready to switch between four different instruments on this one.
Allows the player to be better prepared, the conductor to be assured there won’t be any missing parts, and a more professional overall production.
As a work-around, you might try having a separate mallet Player for each flow (or for each flow that handles different instruments) and then combine the Mallet Players into a single Mallet layout for the Mallet Player’s “book.”
Might I humbly suggest that you are patronising your players? The kitchen is well used to working out who will play what, when. Similarly Flute2/Picc. (oboe2/Cor. A, or Clarinets Bb/Eb/A) need about ten seconds to see their part and work out what they need to prepare for.
I do a quick edit on the first page. It takes just a couple of seconds. I typically list the player then underneath the instruments in the order they are played. In any case I always list the instrument that they start on first.
That’s all very well, but I think the original question was about percussion players playing only selected flows from a collection.
I thought he meant on the part. Like the above or:
If it’s different movements, you certainly could restate that text block at the beginning of each correctly listing the played instruments in order. There’s no way to do it as an insert that I know of, I just type it out.
The OP asked about a way to generate the list automatically using a token.
The OP confirms this is true.
For now, this is probably the best approach. Thank you.
