How to make a tempo marking different from what's actually played?

Dorico
#1

I have the following situation. My piece begins with a tempo marking of Adagio, quarter note = 48. I have chosen this marking because I intend the average tempo during the piece to be 48 BPM. However, my piece begins with a pickup measure that I want Dorico to play a bit slower than the stated tempo marking, at 43 BPM say.

How do I make this change, from 48 BPM to 43 BPM, in the tempo lane without changing the tempo marking as well? Dorico automatically adjusts the tempo marking to Adagio q = 43. And if I try it the other way round, by first making the change in the tempo lane and then creating tempo marking, then the tempo marking destroys the changes I’ve made in the tempo lane!

#2

Possibly try inputting the tempo mark with q=48 as you want displayed, then in the Time track in Play mode, draw in a new tempo point a fraction later - so set the rhythmic grid to something tiny, and add a new point that gap after your ‘official tempo’. You can add another one to “reset” back to 48 wherever you want that to kick in again. 2 tempo marks can’t exist at the same position, so they need to be slightly offset.

(It’s similar to how some users mock up fermatas/pauses in playback)

#3

Thanks Lillie; it works!