Playing Techniques > Guitar > P.M. (Palm Mute)

I am interested in using the P.M. (Palm Mute option in the Guitar section of Playing Techniques however whenever I insert it into my score I’m unable to manage it’s duration so it remains from the insertion point to the end of the score. I have searched the community for posts and various Dorico Options settings and am unable to locate controls that let me define P.M.'s duration across chords and/or single notes - any suggestions?

Try selecting the range of desired notes first (using click and Shift-click), then adding the PT.

Hi Dan, sorry I forgot to mention that I did that and while the P.M. -----| shows up under the first 8 16th notes I selected the PM still carries past those notes for the rest of the score. I just created a new demo score (in case my initial score had gremlins) building a dozen measures and applied the P.M. to a group of notes and again it carries on from that point on. Are you able to apply the P.M. and have it start and stop as expected?

Try adding a natural (nat.) after it.

Placing a Natural on the last note in the Muting or the first note after the muting didn’t help. I’ve attached my demo score for you to look at, please let me know if you experience the same issue of the P.M. remaining on for the remainder of the song.
Palm Mute not ending properly in Dorico 3.dorico.zip (419 KB)
Thx
Rod

My main issue here is that while the P.M. notation looks correct, the playback carries the muting past its cutoff. This appears to be a bug in the software. I am working on another score right now and I added the P.M. in the middle of a verse and the same issue occurred, once Palm Muting was activated it remained activated throughout the remainder of the song.

I agree that Dorico should return to an open/unmuted sound at the end of the P.M. line, but I do find that if I create a “nat.” playing technique immediately after the end of the P.M. line (which I can hide if I like), the playback will return to the open sound.

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My apologies, I was applying the Nat accidental rather than the nat. playing technique. Yes, now I see what both of you were telling me to do will work (not the best design but works for now). Thank you!

Sorry for necromancing this thread, however I would argue that in many styles of rock and metal there is such an alternance of staccato palm mute playing and natural technique that expecting the user to reset to “nat.” and then hide the notation to get a correct playback is a major usability problem.

I.e. In some quite standard metal riffs, palm mute is applied on and off two to four times per measure. See the chorus riff from “Stranded” by Gojira. (I wasn’t allowed to embed images, unfortunately).

Given the quantity of metal players interested in orchestral music and vice versa, I would argue it’s an interesting userbase for you guys, and it would be rather key to make sure input and playback of such a common technique is painless.

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How would you normally indicate a palm mute?

To be able to attach images you need to read other threads to upgrade your posting status.

A palm mute in guitar notation is normally indicated with a P.M. marking and a dotted line if it applies to multiple notes. This Dorico renders without problems.

I’m referring to the problem quoted above, where the playback articulation will be broken unless the user manually adds a “nat.” articulation after the P.M. has ended.

This is the Gojira riff I was referring to above:

Under Play > Edit Playback Techniques, change Palm Muting from Direction to Attribute.

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In future versions of Dorico, the program will automatically revert back to the previous playing technique at the end of a playing technique that shows an explicit duration, as the ones in your example, @M_Sides, do. If you just write P.M. on its own, however, without an extender line, then it will either revert at the end of the note above which it’s written (if you have the playback technique set as an Attribute) or until it is explicitly countermanded (if you have it set as a Direction).

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Thank you, that sounds reasonable.