Hi everyone. I’m having some trouble with the condensing feature. When the voices are the same rhythm, dynamics, and articulations, Dorico is configured to combine them in a single voice stack. But Dorico is only doing that part of the time in this score. Why?
I’ve attached a whittled-down file that demonstrates this behavior. Please check out the “Score” and the “Trombone 3/Tuba” layouts, which condenses the Trb. 3 and Tuba staves from the master score.
Condensing test file.dorico (932.0 KB)
Keep in mind that Dorico condenses by phrase – notes between rests.
mm. 91-93 don’t condense to single stems because the fp in m. 92 is only in the tuba.
Everything from m.96 to the end is one phrase, because the tuba has no rests. Since the beginning of the phrase has to be in 2 voices, even the passage starting at m.107 will stay in 2 voices.
You can add a manual condensing change at m. 107 to get those bars into a single voice.
Even after adding the exact same dynamics at 91-93, the two still did not condense. And there is a rest on both sides of that phrase.
Also, how to you begin a “manual condensing” region (from 107 to the end? The documentation is unclear about that. It appears that maybe it affects the whole length of the flow for whatever staves you choose.
All you should need to do is activate the checkbox. This has the same effect as having a rest in that it tells Dorico to “calculate a new phrase at this point.”
Ok, I’m finding certain elements in my larger score (not the cutaway I provided) are also interfering. So I’m trying to troubleshoot each place condensing appears to not take effect. I’m wondering, however, how mm 42-45 condenses only part of the phrase. Can you account for that? I like it, but I don’t understand it, given the rules you outlined above.
Did you watch the recent Discover Dorico session on Condensing?
(I recommend John Barron at 1.2x speed. 
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I’ve been watching it, thanks to your timely recommendation. But I still don’t understand this condensing behavior:
2025-05-03 10-01-16_Laura condensing demo.dorico (1.3 MB)
If the “a 2” usage appears in bars 1 and 3, why not in bar 5? It begins with a rest like the other two cases, so it ought to be considered a new phrase. And it’s not a matter of clarifying the whole-note unison in bar 6 (which in any case I would think more elegantly shown with “a 2”), because I tried changing one of the pitches and the behavior persisted. And I did check: everything is in upstem voice 1.
It’s because of the g natural at tb 3 last bar. Insert a condensing change on that bar and you let Dorico change the behavior during that phrase, now that it is cut in two.
There are different notes 
Oh no, @MarcLarcher beat me to it
OK, thank you both. I have it looking correct now, by specifying Manual Condensing. But (apparently this is kindergarten-simple, but not to me) why does the G natural create a problem different from the previous two phrases?
You don’t need a manual condensing change here. Only create a condensing change, ticking the condensing group. Dorico will figure out how it has to be done (following the rules).
2025-05-03 10-01-16_Laura condensing demo.dorico (1,4 Mo)
Thanks, I see that that’s what happens (if I choose the correct note). But what exactly is the situation that necessitates it, that’s different from the previous phrases?
Ties vs slurs, I guess. 
