Remove bar lines and note stems

Dorico
1

I’ve got a piece that will have traditional notation, but mixed in will be some sections where I want no bar lines and no note stems, just the note heads. Maybe one row of one system each time, although it may stretch across to two. Three instruments, and it would apply to all three at the same time.

I’ll also want to be able to distribute the note heads equally across the space, rather than having them grouped as if they were e.g. groups of four sixteenth notes beamed together. The idea is that the players can choose a duration for each note and not be influenced by how they’re laid out on the page.

What will be the easiest way to achieve all that? Would I need to do anything with time signatures, e.g. remove them/put in something else?

Playback is not necessary so it’s just how things appear on the page.

2

  • No barlines: input an “open” time signature, and then either just input the notes you need after that point or insert beats using e.g. the bars and barlines popover. (And of course you can add back in a barlined-time signature like 4/4 later on if you like)

  • Just noteheads: hide the stems of any note you want to appear only as a notehead

  • Evenly distributed: if you’re hiding the stems anyway, maybe just input them all as e.g. quarter notes? Or use a note spacing change (provided you have Dorico Pro) to change the automatic horizontal spacing from a specific point onwards in a flow.

3

Got it, thank you. Yes the quarter note thing makes sense, will see if it lets me squeeze enough notes into one row. :slight_smile: