Multiple (Simultaneous) Time Signatures

[Karen_Walthinsen]

I would love to know if anybody has come up with a way to write, for example, 12/8 in one voice and 4/4 in the other voice. The bar lines need to line up so that a dotted quarter note in one voice is equivalent to a quarter note in the other voice.
I am aware of how to get multiple time signatures, but that does not solve the problem of lining up the bar lines and beats.

[judddanby]

Here’s a great post about what you want to do:

To use different time signatures in different parts

Hi @Nicolaas_Ravenstijn – you can input independent time signatures on each staff, absolutely. See here: Just note that a crotchet (quarter note) always equals a crotchet: so if you want 12/8 against 4/4, say, you’ll need to handle that a bit differently. Here’s an article that explains that really well:

EDIT: This post of Lillie’s includes a link to a great Scoring Notes article.

[MarcLarcher]

There’s an article in Scoring Notes that explains the process (it’s from 2017 IIRC). Choose which time signature is going to be the basis. Let’s say it’s 4/4. Invoke the caret in the staff that you want to be 12/8, where you want to input that time sig (could be the start of the flow, or anywhere in the flow, probably at the start of a bar). Shift-M, 12/8,8 and ALT+ENTER. You’ve input a pickup bar of 12/8 that has the duration of 4/4, so the barlines are in sync for that bar. Next bar, invoke the caret at the start, Shift-M, 4/4 and ALT+ENTER. While that time sig is selected, in the properties, hide time signature. Done.
Well, not entirely, of course. Now you need to input a 12:8e tuplet (or four 3:2e tuplets) in each bar, with properties of number and bracket that make them invisible in the page.
While this can seem clunky or complicated, it’s on the contrary very logical and robust. I’ve written this in one go on my phone while waiting for my daughters to fall asleep, so this shows how uncomplicated it is. Try it
[Edit] Ninja’d by @judddanby

[judddanby]

@MarcLarcher

Ninja’d by @judddanby

If that were really true, you’d never have known it…

[Karen_Walthinsen]

Great article. Problem solved. A bit fiddly, but as powerful as Dorico seems to be, hopefully this might be an easy ask for a future version.

[Janus]

@Karen_Walthinsen

A bit fiddly, but as powerful as Dorico seems to be, hopefully this might be an easy ask for a future version.

There are only really two steps:

1. Use a pickup bar to create the initial shift-M 12/8,8 time signature and hide a reset shift-M 4/4 in the following bar.
2. For every bar of 12/8 notes, use a hidden 12:8e tuplet.

Then you can just enter notes as you would normally…

[Derrek]

@Karen_Walthinsen

hopefully this might be an easy ask

“Asking” is always the easy part.
Still, we can hope…someday.