Dorico’s default staff for mark tree is a single-line staff. I can edit it to become a 5-line staff, but then I can still only put notes on the middle line. So I have 2 questions:
Has anybody else ever seen mark tree notated on a single line? I thought it was always on a 5-line staff.
What do I have to do to be able to input notes on all five lines if I make it a 5-line staff?
You could try creating a kit with multiple mark tree instruments assigned to various staff positions, and then set the kit to use the five-line staff presentation type in Layout Options.
Incredibly, I have never heard this called a mark tree before. I learn all kinds of things here.
Thanks - I did this, and now I can put notes anywhere on the staff, which is great. But I don’t seem to be able to gliss between notes? Is there a way to gliss between notes in a percussion kit? (That’s kind of what the mark tree does.)
I would just enter the gliss. using a squiggly line, from the right zone.
Does that work for you with a percussion kit? It’s not working for me. I tried with the popover and then with the right panel. Neither one worked. I’ve done lots of glissandi with other instruments, so I’m assuming it has something to do with the percussion kit, though I may be wrong.
Most Mark Tree samples play the gliss (up or down as directed) automatically, so the “gliss line” can just be added as a line.
I was referring to the squiggly line in the Lines panel.
Thanks for the clarification. The line from the Lines panel doesn’t seem to work for me either. It works on other instruments, which again makes me think maybe it has something to do with the fact that it’s a kit? Are you normally able to put a squiggly line between notes on a percussion kit?
EDIT: I tried it on a normal drum kit and it won’t work there either, at least for me.
I wasn’t aware that a Mark Tree (Bell Tree) was an instrument of definite pitch. I normally see just the opening note and a wavy line indicating direction.
The bell tree is slightly different, and I think the notation you’re describing is more common for bell tree. Mark tree is not definite pitch, but I’ve always seen it notated with gliss lines between what appear like definite notes, albeit with a percussion cleff. The notation you’re describing would not be unclear in most cases, I’ve just never seen mark tree notated that way.
Would love to hear if any percussionists want to share what they’re comfortable with or used to seeing.
Ok, I was able to create the line if it was attached to rhythmic position instead of note heads, but of course that means it is horizontal, requiring manual adjustment in Engrave mode. Not the end of the world, but not ideal. Hoping somebody has a better solution, and that the instrument itself will in a future version be compatible with the standard notation by default.
Can’t you use a Xylophone (or similar) and rename it, or do you want it to play back?
I agree, I would not use the single line for a Mark Tree either.
That is probably the best option if playback is not an issue. I may do that, thanks. Of course, the better Dorico’s playback becomes, the more I want it to sound right! I never used to care before Dorico, but now that it can sound pretty good, I want it to all the time. 
You could create both, and hide the real (sound) one from the layout. I actually have one myself which I record when using my DAW.
I’ll make this a feature request: for any instrument, even instruments that are typically notated on a single line, if the user manually switches it to a 5-line staff, it would be nice if that change automatically allowed them to put notes on any lines or spaces of the 5-line staff. (Otherwise there’s not really much point in adding lines to the staff.) Ideally, making this change this way would mean it would not be a percussion kit, just a “normal” 5-line staff where any line or space will give identical playback, allowing for “normal” notations like glissandi.
Thanks for listening, and for your replies!
What should I do to make my Mark Tree a 5-line staff? I’ve selected and applied it in the percussion kit:
Layout Options > Players > Percussion > 5-line staff
A nice, brief demo of the Mark Tree / Bell Tree distinction (though I take some exception to his equating the Mark Tree with Wind Chimes, despite that common conflation):
Adler (3rd edition, 2002): also blends Mark Tree and Wind Chimes, notating it on a 5-line staff either with laissez vibrer ties alone or accompanied by directional gliss. indication:
(He also shows the Bell Tree notated on a 5-line staff:)
Kennan and Grantham (3rd edition, 1983) distinguish all three instruments, offering three different ways to notate the glissandi:
And if memory serves, Elaine Gould repeatedly states that notation mixed-instrument percussion parts on 5-line staves is to be preferred.
