Is there any way to write at independent bar length in the two systems of a piano score?

Is there any way to write this in Dorico it is a canon fpr Piano and it has alternating bar length(3/4 + C) as a Canon the changes occur in the lower system always one bar later. Actually this results in
a) always one bar ending in common for both systen
b) and the other bar ending one quarter note earlier in the lower system.

I am pretty confindent that there will at least any kind of workaround if not even a regular function, which might allow that, but I myself do not have actually any Idea yet how to achieve that.
Thanks in advance for any helpful hint.

You have to press alt+enter to enter independent time signatures on each stave. If for some reason that doesn’t work with the grand stave piano, use two single-stave instruments in stead and then just add the piano brace back in engrave mode. But it’s definitely possible.

(EDIT: the compound meters may not work independently though… you may have to enter each time signature measure by measure (again, alt+enter) and then hide them.)

1 Like

That sounds interesting, but I honestly have no Idea when you think I should press alt+enter.
If I do so in write-mode I end up with my curser in the input field of the search.
Perhaps I would need a bit more details to understand your hint. Thank you for your patience.

When you write your time signature in the Time signature popover (shift-T), you don’t end that with Enter but with alt-Enter. That’s the “trick”.
[Edit] Of course, shift-M. That trick works with Dynamics, with Meter, with Barlines, Chords… Worth to know it!

1 Like

Here are the steps for inputting time signatures - including the option to input time signatures that only apply to an individual staff or just the staves the caret extends across, rather than “all staves”.

(Also @MarcLarcher it’s Shift-M for the time signatures popover; Shift-T for tempo)

1 Like

Woops, my bad… Not enough sleep lately !

1 Like

Easily done! I think we’ve all probably done it at least once with that particular popover.

1 Like

Thank very much the link is very helpful and I am sure I am at least able to input now each single change individually. Wich at least will do the Job, but seems to me a bit tedious and results in a speperate time signature for each single bar, while one timesignature for the alternating 3/4 and C measure would be enough.

Thats why I think there is for me just one question left which would might make things absolutly perfect:

Is there any chance to enter alternating measures in a shift+M popup like 3/4 + 4/4 ?
Edit:
OK it works :slight_smile:
this addition to gether with Lillies link was what made it possible

Yes exactly, there are different types of time signatures including ones like alternating and aggregate.

I just want to confirm that what you want is indeed possible although I had to do this manually measure-by-measure, but as I said, you can hide time signatures.

It’s necessary to do it manually if you want barlines to align.
Alternatively you CAN do the compound meters individually, but for some reason the barlines do not align:


In this latter example I did 3/4 + 4/4 alt+enter in the top stave, and then I entered the note input mode, advanced the caret three beats, invoked the meter popover and did the same thing as before with the time signatures reversed.