Playing technique, not getting the continuation line I expected

Dorico
1

This is one of my questions as I prepare to teach Dorico to handbell people.

In my test file (attached) I changed the “SK” playing technique under pitched percussion to have a continuation as a wavy line. This is a standard part of handbell music. But the line doesn’t show.

When in the playing techniques panel I hover over the “SK” it shows “SK (pt.natural)” – does the stuff in the parens mean “playback technique natural” meaning return the VST instrument to its default original state? Or is this an indication there are two “SK” playing techniques? If there are, I haven’t found the second one.

LV-Test.dorico (645.0 KB)

2

You need to give the playing technique some duration (either select some notes before applying the technique, or extend the technique using shift-alt-arrow)

cont
cont359×241 6.07 KB

3

A couple of things:

  1. You created a playing technique for SK, but no corresponding playback technique, so it has no effect on playback.

  2. Because there’s no SK playback technique defined, you don’t (can’t) have it in the expression map, hence, you won’t see it in the key editor.

  3. you need a duration for SK to show the wavy line. If you want it to show for the whole note, select it and shift+ctrl(cmd)+right arrow for a little while and it will appear.

Where do you see “SK (pt.natural)”? I can’t recall every seeing techniques displayed like that.

EDIT: scratch that question. I see it in the tooltip. It shows pt.natural in parens because that is what it defaults to because you haven’t linked a playback technique to it.

4

Isn’t a whole note enough of a duration? Or a half or quarter note?

  1. I know there isn’t a playback technique because the Aria player and its handbell sound don’t have a “SK” (shake) sound. In handbells a shake means to actually shake the bell so the clapper rapidly hits the front and back of the casting. Yeah, I know there is no playback.
  2. Not seeing it in the key editor is fine. I need it in the score.
  3. I tried shift+ctrl+right arrow and all it did was add the second whole note, which I don’t want under “SK”. Continuing to hold down that key combo seemed to try to add more notes (and there aren’t any more).

Thanks for explaining what the (pt.natural) means.

5

I meant to select SK, not the note. As for duration, what is meant is over multiple notes, not necessarily the value of the note itself. Trills behave much the same way but Dorico gives a property to show it even if it isn’t over multiple notes (Has Trills Line I think it is).

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6

When you enter a playing technique on a single note, I think it just attaches to the start of that note as a point, not a duration.

To extend it just select the playing technique on its own! (Don’t select the note as well)

And the extend keystroke is just Shift Alt arrow (no Ctrl involved)

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