I often run into a scenario where I would like a somewhat in-between rhythm of multi-note tremolos. I’m working a passage right now, where a 3-stroke trem is too fast (playing at 32nd notes), and a 2-stroke tremolo is too slow (16th notes).
So this is also a part notation question, since I am not aware – is there a way to get an in-between tuplet feel (which would likely sound like 24th notes in this context)?
I tried various ways of creating tuplets and then applying the tremolo, before and after, but to no avail. I would think somewhere in the history of music someone has thought to create 2-note tremolos with a tuplet feel… but I just don’t quite know what that should look like and how to achieve it in Dorico.
Consider the following example with Minimum number of strokes for playback of unmeasured tremolos set to 4 in Library > Playback Options > Timing > Tremolos:
In the second measure, the oboe has a 2:3q tuplet and the piano has a 3:3q tuplet. The multi-note tremolos in the first, second and third measures of the piano play two, three and four notes for every note played by the oboe, respectively. To give the appearance that every measure is in 2/4 time at the same tempo, the time signatures in the second and third measures and the oboe tuplet can be hidden, and the metric modulations can be moved off the page in engrave mode.
Now this brings me to my next and perhaps more important question - is this musically acceptable / understandable? I looked in my copy of Behind Bars and it makes zero mention about tuplets for two-note tremolos such as this. I personally haven’t really seen it myself on a music stand.
Because I suppose at the end of the day, I don’t think there’s much of a point going through this workaround with the metric modulations if that’s not something players would be familiar with seeing (especially sightreading). It technically might be faster and simpler to just write out all the notes:
I think the two-note tremolo notation with a tuplet does make sense, but I am just curious to hear other thoughts on that.
(also realizing an additional workaround could be a combination of these, where I simply write out the notes on an added staff above, and then hide the staff - so it’s for playback only - and then notate the tremolo version for the actual score – seems like that should also work without the metric modulation?)
Since the use of a multi-note tremolo inside a tuplet is not common notation, it would be better to write out the notes for one beat and then switch to the multi-note tremolo:
In this example, the visible tuplets are 6:4x and the hidden ones are 3:3x. The multi-note tremolo in the second measure has its playback suppressed and the lower staff for the piano could then be hidden.
Edit: Think of the multi-note tremolo as a kind of musical shorthand. Since my examples in this topic are so short, there is little to be gained by using a multi-note tremolo in the second measure rather than writing twelve sixteenth notes inside two 6:4x tuplets. However, if multi-note tremolos were not used in the Brahms example in the other topic I linked to, then there would be a huge number of sixteenth notes inside many 6:4x tuplets.
Thank you! I am the one to blame for that original Brahms thread, which I did peruse initially to try to get some ideas but thankfully what I’m trying to do in this instance, is a lot simpler and therefore seemed to need a simpler solution, too. I agree with your idea to first illustrate exactly how it would be played, before continuing on with the “abbreviated” shorthand version of tremolos. Great thinking.
Likely I wouldn’t use them as shorthand all that often, preferring instead just to write them out – if that is, it’s for a brief moment in the music. My thinking is that the shorthand of tremolos would be most helpful for a part which is repeated frequently or across several bars – to make it easier of course for the musician to compartmentalize it at a glance. In which case, your second example here (in the second bar) in my opinion would be a perfect solution, where I could simply write it out and use the shorthand with suppress playback, continuing the note values on a separate staff for correct playback. Definitely sounds like the easiest and most sane approach. I’m actually re-marking that one as the solution since it’s probably even more practical in the end.
