Rehearsal marks disappear when changing instrument

Occasionally when I change instruments (for example from flute 2 to piccolo or vice versa) all tempo markings and rehearsal marks disappear (post where I am in the score, not pre).
I am copying a large score, and have entered all bars, keys, time signatures, rehearsal marks and tempo markings in advance. Now I am entering the notes.
What is going wrong? Am I perhaps just touching a key by mistake I. should not touch? This has happened a few times now, is highly frustrating since I have to go back to an earlier version and lose a lot of time. All advice welcome.
There is very little to show, but here you can see what it looks like pre and post entering a note in a piccolo part.

  • Correction - as a new user in this forum I can only upload one image! You will therefor only see the image of how the score looks after my entering a note in the piccolo part (which doubles as 2nd flute). You have to imagine that before entering this note there was a rehearsal mark and a tempo marking where the score goes into f# major.

I am curious about what is going here…

If I read your post correctly, the piccolo part is part of Flute 2. If that’s the case, why does it appear as the top staff?

Perhaps there is an issue, since Flute 1 should be before Flute 2, and perhaps changing the order is causing part of the problem?

I just tested this myself, and doing what you are doing still works for me. Nothing is hidden. So it seems that might not be the issue.

Can you upload another picture of all of the markings in place, without the note entry?

Robby

…and/or the actual Dorico file, perhaps? We might be able to see what’s going on in the background.

Hi Robby, thank you for trying to help.
I have indeed swapped places for flute 1 and flute 2/piccolo, depending on if there is piccolo or not. It is easier to enter with the highest music on top in my opinion. I have made these shifts in the setup mode, just pulling the part on top that I wish to have on top at that moment. I enclose a picture of the score before the issue occurred.

Hi again Pjotr, here is a very clear example of the problem in action.
This is the score I am working on. This is what it looks like just before the problem occurs.
When I go to Galley view and enter a note in flute 2 on beat 4 in the bar just before rehearsal mark 39, to go with flute 1 and oboe 1, the rehearsal marks and tempo markings disappear. Very strange, and frustrating. I might have to go back to Sibelius since I am under time pressure, but I really don’t want to.
Pagliacci v7.dorico (1.2 MB)

To be even more specific - it seems that the rehearsal marks etc disappear in Page view, not in Galley view. But I want to work in page view, not in galley view, and also, in the end I need to deliver a score with rehearsal marks. Perhaps that helps you understand the issue though.

I can’t reproduce the problem you describe, @johan1. Both in galley view and in page view, the rehearsal marks etc. remain after inputting a note in the flute 2 staff in galley view. Although I can’t think of any historical bugs that would explain this behaviour, can I check that you are definitely running the latest available version of Dorico, version 3.5.12?

Thank you Daniel for getting involved. Yes, I am using the latest version.
A new twist just occurred, I kept inputting notes in galley view (until r. m. 40), and when I went back to page view, the rehearsal marks were still there.

Can it have anything to do with using Mojave?

No, I don’t think so.

The problem you are describing sounds like what we would call an invalidation problem, and I think the issue is specifically in situations where the top staff of the system is changing because of an instrument change. One way you could potentially isolate yourself from the issue would be to add another dummy instrument (e.g. a single-line percussion instrument or something else that is visually very distinct so you won’t find yourself inputting notes into it) held by another player at the very top of the score. Then you should find that because the top staff is always the same, switching back and forth between piccolo and flute 2 won’t cause the system-attached items to disappear. I am also pretty sure you’ll find that closing and reopening the project would cause all of those items to reappear.

Right! I like the idea of any solution that works.
I will try adding a percussion line at the top for the time being.
Do you think that dragging flute 1 on top, then piccolo on top (in setup) can have anything to do with it? I have done so in order to always have the highest pitch on top when entering notes.

Rather than dragging Players around, why not create a separate Picc. Player (on top)? Once you have finished inputting everything, you can drag the Picc. Instrument into the Flute 2 Player for your final version.

Or let the Picc. Player (and Instrument) remain on top and combine Picc. and Flute 2 into the Flute 2 Layout.

Thank you Derrek,
I don’t know how to merge instruments, and I don’t want to take any risks for this project.
Using the solution that Daniel suggested above works for me (i.e. adding a blank player on top). I can now drag the highest player up when needed without problems, either piccolo or flute 1. I very much like how Dorico sorts out the instrument changes, and so I want to revel in this convenience…! I don’t want any empty confusing staves (like you have in Galley view), which is why I like Page View.

Remember, you can always test things out on a copy of your file without risking the original.