Hi everyone. I’m trying to find the most efficient way to copy a series of bars from one score and insert them into another, and I’ve run into a variety of issues. Here is my process, and the issues that I’ve noticed. Is there a more efficient way to handle this, or to address these specific problems? Thanks everyone!
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Go to Write Mode and Galley view in both your source and destination score files.
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Go to your source score. If it’s not already showing, enable the System Track.
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Select the range of bars to be copied/inserted using the System Track and click the check box at the right side of the final selected bar in the system track to select everything in those bars. Hit cmd-c to copy this material.
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Go to your destination score and enable Insert Mode by typing the letter ‘i’. Hit opt-i to change Insert Mode to the “Global” scope.
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Click on the first rest or note in the top staff of your score in the bar that you want to insert music prior to. Type cmd-v to insert the material from your source score.
Here are the problems I’ve encountered, along with the best workarounds I’ve been able to come up with:
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If the meter of the first measure of the source material is not the same meter as the point of insertion in the destination score, you’ll end up with the source material being pasted into the destination meter, rather than the meter you intended. The best workaround I can find at the moment is to insert an extra (redundant) meter at the first bar of the source material to be copied before you select and copy it. This will then give you the correct time signature at the first bar of inserted music in your destination score.
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The meter after the point of insertion in the destination score will still be the meter from the last bar of inserted music, which may not be what it was prior to insertion. You’ll need to select the bar line at the end of the music that was inserted and add the meter that is intended back in for the music that is immediately after what you just inserted.
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Sometimes you’ll have items in the previous bar(s) (like dynamics or tied notes) of the source material selected, along with the measures you actually intend to copy and paste. As for the dynamics, I believe that’s a result of how they were entered, and that they are technically anchored to the first measure of your selection, even though they appear at the end of the previous measure. If you leave all of this as is and paste, Dorico will insert beats into your destination score before the music you actually intended to copy/paste to make room for these extra items. The best workaround I can find at this point is to cmd-click to de-select anything selected in the bar(s) prior to what you want copied before hitting cmd-c to copy, and then manually add anything you actually needed (like the end of a tied note) into your destination score after you insert.
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Similarly, you might have items in the bar(s) after those you intend to copy/insert selected (again, like tied notes and hairpins). Again, if you leave these selected and then copy/paste, Dorico will add beats to the end of your insertion in your destination score to make room for them. Like above, the best option seems to be to cmd-click to de-select them before copying and inserting, and then adding them back in on a staff by staff basis after insertion.
In related questions (because the answers may solve these issues):
- Is there a way to reduce a selection (to select a beat less, for example), similar to how selections can be extended? Perhaps that could be easier than cmd-clicking everything in preceding or subsequent bars to be copied?
- Is there a way to select a region of measures and only copy the meters, other than manually clicking on them? I didn’t find a filter for meters when I initially looked.
Thanks again!!