Several things here. 1. When I put an 8va bassa line under a note it causes the note to jump up an octave, which is exactly the opposite of what is needed.
2. I extend the line to cover all the notes I want to play back an octave lower (on piano) and usually only the first note with the 8va under plays back an octave lower and the others play at written pitch.
I also understand the concept of keeping writing and engraving modes separate but it would be nice to be able to extend the dotted line in write mode instead of having to switch modes to do so.
They work by mantaining the octave where the notes were, not by transposing them. To make what you want, you will have to move these notes an octave lower manually.
You donāt have to extend the dotted line when the octave line is set up, just because Dorico allows you to select all the notes you want to indicate an octave higher/lower and then click the ā8va lineā symbol in its panel.
I understand Doricoās logic, but there is an alternate logic:
I write the note where I want to see it; the act of adding 8ba (etc) shifts the output rather than what Iāve input.
Firstly this follows the pen-and-paper operation. Secondly (and more importantly), I donāt have to fiddle around with notes a dozen leger lines down (or up) - which is precisely the point of 8ba in the first place!
And isnāt that the way published music works?
When I play published piano or flute music the octave shifts are there so that I play the notes an octave up or down from what I see.
So if Dorico is moving the notes while keeping the octave line, I would be doubling the shift because I would expect thatās what I was supposed to do.
Is that what Dorico is doing?
that seems to be it Robert. So Iād have to write lines at the bottom of the piano at pitch and then put the octave sign in if Iām understanding this correctly.
Dorico just changes the way it looks in the score, not the ārealā value of the octave. What it means is that if you input a C4, it will always be a C4, and will not transpose. An advantage is that if you make any octave change (8va, 15maā¦), then you can get rid of it and still have the same C4.
Another example of a similar functionality are clef changes: they change how it looks in the score relative to the clef, but do not transpose anything.
There should some workaround, anyway, to change how it behaves when shifting octaves up or down. Both alternatives (the one you described āthe same as in Product B, Fā¦eā, and the one Dorico does) are quite correct, but maybe they have different destinations.
Daniel explained a long time ago that the 8v sign was considered a clef in Dorico. How difficult can it be to write the notes you want to see, select them, press CTRL-ALT-DOWNARROW, and then apply the 8vb āclefā to the already selected notes?
Considering these as clefs doesnāt preclude a different process of entry. āHow difficult can it beā¦?ā is a question that could be applied without end. Nothing Dorico does is ādifficultā in Finale or Sibelius. āHow much easier could it beā¦?ā is better. Chipping a keystroke here, an extra stare at the score there leads to a significantly better whole.
One thing I like about Doricoās conception of 8va as clef, is that it knows what octave the note is, as albert0984 says. In Sibelius, if the 8va line ends a tiny fraction too soon or too late, the octave playback can get messed up - but this would never happen in Dorico.