Pedal line end hook request

hello

I would like to add a request regarding pedal lines.
Would it be possible to add an arrow as and end for a line ??
Thanks for listening

Best
Yan

2 Likes

Can you say a bit more about this, Yan? What does the arrow mean for the player? How does it appear? Which composer(s) are using this notation?

It means keep pedal pressed until the sound disappears (unknown duration)
Screenshot 2021-05-01 at 08.43.41

I use it a lot, especially when using pedal lines (with hook or retakes) it also allows me to express the need for the pedal to be held down for a long duration without having the line spanning over many bars.
Screenshot 2021-05-01 at 09.22.25

Here are some other composers using this (I could find more but I’m in a rush…)

Beat Furrer
Screenshot 2021-05-01 at 08.40.04

Ivan Fedele
Screenshot 2021-05-01 at 08.42.17

Daniel, if I may.
As a general rule, I wouldn’t want software to constrain the possible creativity in musical notation. Otherwise it cannot evolve; think of the Stockhausen ped. that you included for example.
I teach composition and electronic music in the Paris Conservatory for the past 15 years and I can tell with certainty that some very nice ideas emerge in this area and the software we use need to be flexible enough to address them. So for example, for this pedal thing, an extra choice labeled “custom” in the menu allowing the user to choose any symbol would be great and it would not in any way “soil” the beautiful and elegant way you guys implemented traditional notations.

With respect
Thank you and all the best

Yan Maresz

3 Likes

It’s not about constraining creativity, Yan. It’s about the fact that every dimension of freedom we can give to our users costs time and money to achieve, and in a world of limited resources – we only have so many people working on Dorico, and they only have a finite amount of time available – then we have to prioritise carefully the things that we are working on. Adding the ability to show arrowheads on the end of pedal lines is definitely a valuable feature, but the reason I ask for information about how widely it might be used is that can be a factor in determining its priority relative to other things we could spend our time on. Ultimately we would like people to be able to express whatever musical idea they might have in whatever way makes sense to them, but that is much, much easier said than done.

I will definitely make a note of this requirement and add it to our backlog, but I cannot promise when we would be able to add it.

1 Like

Thank you for your clear answer Daniel.
I now understand what you are facing with every request !

Best
Yan

In the meantime, I’ve definitely fudged such a thing with either the Lines tool or a Custom Playing Technique. That method won’t work if the arrow has to come at the end of a long, detailed pedal line (though a separate arrow Playing Technique could be dragged over a real pedal line) but either of the examples above (Furrer & Fedele) could easily be crafted as Lines or Playing Techniques.

Yes, I ended up doing that.
Thanks

Yan

You definitely don’t need to lecture the team on this. They try to implement as much as they possibly can, well beyond the conventions used by Mozart or Brahms. This is evidenced by many features already implemented, and the commitment on the forum to hundreds of other user requests that have yet to be implemented.


Also, in the meantime, perhaps you could mark your chords with laissez vibrer ties, since that is, in fact, what they are for.

Ps-sorry if the latter half of my comment came of as condescending; I didn’t mean it to come off as so pedantic, but upon reread, it strikes me that way. Not intended. Sometimes people are unaware that certain options exist within the program (or indeed that pre-existing conventions exist), hence the suggestion. It was, however, not worded in a terribly friendly way.

And PPS-

To be clear: I’m not against them implementing any additional functionality, and I’m not against alternate forms of notation, nor did I mean to imply that the version you would prefer is invalid. I was simply suggesting that LV ties would be an acceptable workaround (in the meantime) since they convey the same intent as your arrow.