Is there any way to make chord symbols appear BETWEEN treble and bass clef staves for piano??

Dorico
#1

This is a request that has been made of me for Broadway rehearsal/notation-purposes but I can’t figure out how to do this. It seems like the only option is to specify in Layout Options ->Staves and Systems-> Chord Symbols that the chord symbols appear “Above specific players staves”, and then in Setup to click on “Piano” and choose “Show in Full Score and Parts”. But this puts the chords only above the top of the entire piano, not between the staves, as I would like. I thought that perhaps I could choose 2 separate pianos and “group” them in Setup so it appears like 1 piano (and then specify chords only appear above the “bass clef piano”). However, I don’t see the option when adding instruments to choose Piano (single staff Treble Clef only) and then separately Piano (single staff Bass Clef only) (something that incidentally might be useful to offer in the future, by the way!)
Finally, I presume I could probably create some sort of “blank” treble and bass clefs, assign their sounds to a piano patch, group them, and then specify that chord symbols be only above the bass clef - but is there a better (faster!) way? And if I DO this approach, I can see no easy way to label the group “Piano” so it appears indistinguishable from a “normal” piano.

Thanks for any suggestions!

  • D.D.
#2

Seriously, try reading the manual. Look at the tip at the bottom of this page: https://steinberg.help/dorico/v1/en/dorico/topics/notation_reference/notation_reference_chord_symbols_appear_staves_choose_t.html

I really don’t mean to be rude, but (just because the dongle’s not plugged into this computer and I can’t be bothered to run upstairs to the other computer) the search that gleaned this result was this:

Looks, it’s the first result. I just don’t get how you’d go to the bother of trying to concoct workarounds without running a 2 second Google search.

#3

Clearly the fact that I spent so much time trying to solve the problem is a pretty clear indication that I DIDN’T find the Google search result I was looking for. I seriously don’t have time to come here just for “kicks” (as much as I appreciate the help I’ve received, which I’ve also tried to return in kind when I can) - it’s because in this case I had clearly tried various things, tried to find an answer, and now was kindly hoping that someone else could help given my deadline - isn’t that the whole POINT of this forum? No need to be “snippy” (though I do thank you for the solution).

  • D.D.
#4

It’s totally the point of this forum, but you managed to string together the words that you needed for the title of this post.

Try google searching for:
is there any way to make chord symbols appear between treble and bass clef staves for piano dorico

I would bet money that the first result is STILL the one that I posted.

edit: unless by the time you search for that string this thread has been spidered by Google, obviously.

#5

I’ll try that next time. But I repeat, no need to be “snippy” and I would hate it if others are deterred from posting questions, after making a concerted effort to find a solution on their own, for fear of not being “smart enough” to do the perfect Google search first. We are all working professionals, many of us on serious deadlines, working with a new program that doesn’t always have the documentation so at hand, and sometimes what seems obvious to you may not have occurred to us. I would say, “cut people some slack” (though I do thank you for the solution, which was the whole point).

  • D.D.
#6

Until roughly a year ago, e.g. a year after Dorico’s commercial release, Dorico had a rudimentary operations manual that amounted to 157 pages. For that year, this forum served to compensate for the lack of documentation. Then Lillie was appointed.

Over the last year Lillie has done an awesome job of fleshing out the documentation. She’s paid to write the documentation, while the user base here isn’t.

I realise it’s not my job to do this, and it costs me time (and given I’m freelance, money) to do so, but, like quite a few others here, I read every single thread on this forum, with the hope that I can either help others or learn things that help me in my own (Dorico) work.

It’s extremely frustrating to read:
a) questions that have been answered in the past week or so
b) questions that have very obviously been answered in the documentation (e.g. questions that, to me, require no thinking outside the box)
c) questions that have been cross-posted both here and on the Facebook group, particularly minutes or seconds apart

There’s a great list of forum etiquette that we all agreed to when we signed up to this forum, and I’ve probably breached it in this thread by being snippy. However there is only ONE rule that deserves its own sticky thread at the top of the forum and that is “please search the forum before you post”. If you’d used the forum’s own (mostly useless) search box (before starting this thread) and searched for “chord symbols between staves” (without quote marks) the second post (Daniel’s) clearly indicates that there is an Engraving Option to show chord symbols between grand staves. In the preview. You don’t even have to click on the post.

I haven’t bothered to search for all the things you could have tried searching for, because I’m not paid to do so.

My problem is that I can’t answer the interesting questions without reading the inane ones that basically just require a user to type some words into Google and link to the first result.

I hope that gives some explanation to my “snippyness”.

#7

I guess I don’t have time to continue this but I will say that if I had realized the answer was a “b) questions that have very obviously been answered in the documentation (e.g. questions that, to me, require no thinking outside the box)”

then I wouldn’t have posted the question in the first place. I seriously do NOT have time to post questions just for the heck of it and I was trying to demonstrate in my initial post that I THOUGHT I had exhausted everything I could think of, precisely to demonstrate that I had tried to work through the problem. Clearly, the solution was right under my nose (and YES, I HAD searched, though not for the exact terms you presumed I would think of, apparently), but that’s still not reason to go needlessly on the “attack”.

I’ve had 2 hours of sleep to try to make a deadline so I guess I’ll leave it there (and I will also continue to post questions when I can’t find answers - hope this is ok with you).

  • D.D.
#8

I, for one, think the forum is thankfully lacking in questions that are truly inane. I’ve been on such forums and find them unreadable. By contrast, users here are consistently intent on professional solutions for problems, and we manage to avoid the nonsense found elsewhere.

I don’t mind posts that ask questions that Google can answer. I too read every thread and find myself learning from all of them, especially those that ask questions I hadn’t previously considered.

I appreciate the professionalism of the forum and hope to see it continue.

#9

Sorry, D.D. Unreservedly. I took that way too far.
I hope we both get better sleep sooner rather than later.

#10

I also don’t mind answering re-occurring questions. If I think about it, forum members who are ‘in an earlier stage if the learning curve’ will get a chance to answer these questions. Answering and reacting to forum questions of other users of the software is also part of the learning process.

Another thing to consider: part of the nature of humans is the ability to learn; one way by asking and getting help and answers. But it is also part of the human nature to repeat mistakes - a strange funtion in the brain it seems.
It means one can get stuck at the same issue over and over again. I have found myself asking the same question twice in this forum - even after having received a helpful answer…

#11

While I appreciate the rules of the forum, I do find it a bit interesting when responders have snippy moments. (We are human, it’s OK.) However, no one is obliged to respond to anything. If it annoys people so much, they can just ignore the thread! Let someone else respond. No one should be losing time and money to respond to strangers’ questions on a public forum when they aren’t part of the paid Dorico staff. When problems arise, that is unfortunately on the responder, not the questioner seeking help. While it is true that people sometimes need to do a bit more homework, it is also true that if the first place you turn to is the forum, it can be difficult to find good threads because the search function is rather frustrating to use. (Bad results, no results at all, wants specific wording, or just too many to digest when it quotes every single post in multiple threads!)

I roll my eyes everysingletime I see a new thread (or the old thread pop back up to the top) about licensing. [insert “I literally can’t even…” meme here] I don’t engage… at this point, I don’t even read it anymore. Not worth the effort or my time. Like anyone else, I could “happily” jump back in and point out that this has been hashed hundreds of times but I don’t. A lot of people are new here and haven’t gleaned the vibe of the forum or are coming to these same questions for the first time, unlike many of the rest of us who have been here from the beginning.

I don’t mean to poke a bear by this post, and it seems those affected have reconciled. This is more a reflection for anyone else coming to this thread down the road. I mean this post to be a collegial reflection, not a reprimand.

#12

Thanks - all good (and I DID just get some better sleep :slight_smile:)…

  • D.D.