How would you do this? (transposing instrument question)

Dorico
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1

Hi everyone,

I have a “bowed guitar” instrument (not a guitar viol but very similar) that is tuned a 4th lower than a guitar (B to B).

Because I’m a composer with tight deadlines I haven’t dedicated time to learning to read on the instrument in bass clef. However, when I composer for the instrument I like to have it in bass clef triggering a cello sample in the score as that’s the best way for me to orient myself in the context of the arrangement. However, when I am recording, I like to have it in treble clef and transposed an octave+4th up so I can read it as guitar music for efficiency and accuracy when I’m recording.

I know there’s not a perfect solution here since there are not yet custom instruments in Dorico. However, I wanted to poll the group and see what the best workaround might be.

Looking forward to your suggestsions!

2

It seems like this should be possible with Clef and Transposition Overrides in Setup.

cleftransposition
cleftransposition996×970 47.8 KB

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3

I think what Todd suggests is probably the easiest answer here. However you may also wish to know that In the case of fretted instruments you can edit their transposition using the Edit Strings and Tunings dialog, as long as you also set your layout to use that “special” (fretted-instrument-only) transposition in Layout Options. This feature mainly caters either for people using capos or for people using instruments that are detuned one or more steps, so it isn’t quite as general-purpose as the Clef and Transposition Overrides dialog.

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