What is the functional difference between linked and grouped dynamics? I’ve looked through the manual without finding anything, and I’ve experimented on my own without resolving the question.
I LOVE being able to change one facet of a set of grouped dynamics and having them all change (I do large ensemble music, so you can imagine how much time that saves.) But I’m not clear on whether one applies to horizontal alignment and the other to something else, or what the difference is.
Thanks much.
One is vertical assignment and mirroring (such as Trumpet 1,2, and 3 all playing the same dynamic through a phrase). I might have it backwards, but I believe this is linked.
The other is horizontal alignment. So that from bar to bar, you don’t get dynamics way out of line with one another. I might have it backwards, but I believe this is grouped.
Robby
OK, Robby, I’ll try operating under that assumption and see how it works.
One of the things that’s confusing is that sometimes (certainly a minority of the time) I’ll select two horizontally adjacent dynamics and try to group them, but nothing, neither grouping nor linking, will do it. If anyone has any ideas about that one, I’d love to hear them.
That’s correct, vertical is linked, horizontal is grouped.
One of the things that’s confusing is that sometimes (certainly a minority of the time) I’ll select two horizontally adjacent dynamics and try to group them, but nothing, neither grouping nor linking, will do it. If anyone has any ideas about that one, I’d love to hear them.
One case where this would be happening is, if the dynamics in question don’t belong to the same voice. You could for example have created one dynamic attached to the voice (using Alt-click or Alt-enter on the popover), and the other one attached to the stave (created normally) or attached to a different voice. In that case, you can’t group them.
If you have a small example that demonstrates that issue, I’d be curious to see the dorico file (a brief excerpt copy/pasted out should suffice).
one dynamic attached to the voice (using Alt-click or Alt-enter on the popover), and the other one attached to the stave (created normally)
What did you mean by “attached to the stave (created normally)”? The only way I know to create dynamics is to attach them to notes. I can certainly see how attaching them to different voices would prohibit grouping, but I don’t know how to attach a dynamic to a staff. Am I missing something obvious?
OK, I think I’ve figured out one reason, if not THE reason, some of my dynamics won’t group. In the attached screenie, you can see that the middle staff’s dynamics are grouped but not linked to the ones above and below. I tried to link all of them, but no go. If I ungroup the middle dynamics, then I can link all three staves dynamics, except for the pp. And after they are linked, I can no longer group the middle dynamics—the pp is left out in the cold (and more importantly, out of line with the decrecs - ppp.)
That’s right: for dynamics to be linked between staves, the individual groups of dynamics need to have the same contents.
Here’s a point of confusion: I’m able to take a dynamic out of a vertically linked group of staves by selecting “Remove from Group”. Is this a bug, or UI ambiguity, or am I mistaken about the definitions of the terms?
It’s not a bug. “Remove from group” broadly removes all relationships, vertical or horizontal, between that dynamic and other dynamics.
Frustratingly, this feature does not work in engrave mode even though it’s not greyed out.
As an aside:
I’m finding it frustrating that linked dynamics also move together in engrave mode VERTICALLY. Horizontally makes perfect sense since the rhythmic aspect is part of the semantic understanding of the dynamic itself, but vertically moving together is a big nuisance to me since each stave has different spacing needs. Often I alt+click hairpins onto multiple staves, but only one stave will need an adjustment; nevertheless, trying to budge that one hairpin makes all the others move up and down. I really wish this was not the case. Then you try to ungroup, but that doesn’t work in engrave mode. Surely there is an easier way to deal with this situation and I’m just not seeing it…
In the fullness of time it is our intention that you should be able to move linked dynamics on different staves independently vertically, but that is not possible now. In the meantime, you might find it better to switch off the option to automatically link dynamics between staves when pasting or inputting them, so you don’t have to worry about unlinking them.
Thank you, Daniel, I will do that. I had learned about that setting in a thread a loooong time ago but had forgotten it was an option. alt+clicking things elsewhere in the scores is such a marvelously useful (and time saving!) feature.
(PS- I’d also love it if it was possible to select multiple notes and add breath marks all in one go.)
