Merge players to voices?

Some time ago, I wrote an 8-voice (SSAATTBB) choir piece where the each two sub-parts would sometimes have their own staves, sometimes be merged to one. So, Soprano 1 and Soprano 2 would sometimes have separate staves and sometimes just be voices on one Soprano staff.

In Sibelius 6, I had to do this by having 3 instruments for each part: I had Soprano, Soprano 1 and Soprano 2. For simpler sections, I would write both as voices on the Soprano staff and for more complex parts I would write them separately on the Soprano 1 and 2 staves. Having “Hide empty staves” on would then allow me to show only the staves with music on them, giving the illusion of the two voices moving between merged and separate staves.

Does Dorico make this any easier? Can I write the sub-parts as separate players/instruments and have them automatically merged to voices on one staff on selected sections, or something similar?

The idea is certainly that you should be able to input the music for each singer or section of singers as separate players, and then Dorico will be able to combine them as necessary to produce a short or condensed score, but this feature is not yet available, so the same sorts of workarounds you have been used to using in Sibelius will be necessary in Dorico too for the next little while.

Thanks, Daniel. Great to hear that it will be easier at least some time in the future :slight_smile: