Well, as usual - I feel like I’m CLOSE to resolving this, but no cigar. And then I go down a rabbit hole about removing them from the room etc…so, my question is - can I remove the fermata over the half rest in the top staff? I feel it’s not needed because there’s one over the quarter rest in beat three. Am I doing it wrong musically? It looks odd to my eye to have it. Thanks!
Have you tried removing all the fermatas and inserting one directly on the quarter note rest?
I’m assuming you want one on the quarter note rest still?
Well, I can do that, but then if I want the fermatas on the piano staff over the whole notes, it automatically adds it back to the vocal staff on beat one as well. Maybe it’s trying to tell me this is the way I should be doing it?
Is there a way fermatas can be controlled individually on each staff?
If there is no fermata on the quarter rest, then the fermata on the half note makes no sense because beats three and four would be in time on the upper staff but not on the lower staves.. The fermata on the half note would make sense if you want the fermata on the quarter note instead of or s well as on the quarter rest.
Hmm. I guess I’ve been creating my own rule for years! To me, especially in this rubato section, the fermata over the quarter on beat three in the vocal staff makes sense because that’s where the pause is before they sing. But ultimately I’m maybe just procrastinating!
If I create the pause over the specific rest that you want it to apply to, this is what Dorico creates…
Do you want something different?
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No, that is what I have in mind! But when I create the fermata over the whole note in top of staff of piano it puts one over the half rest in vocal line. I will try some more and see if I can get what you got! Thank you.
Yeah, so this is probably also my doing something wrong in Dorico…I can get what you showed me until I try to add the fermata to the treble piano staff…then it adds it to beat one in vocal line too.
Of course it will. You should put the fermata over the shortest duration that you want it to apply to.
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So sorry @bobwalton60 I completely misread your question. Janus’s solution is the way to go.
No worries at all, John. I do feel like have made up some of my own rules in instances like that…and then they become habit over 40+ years of doing them in Finale! Now add trying to learn Dorico on top of it…which brings me back to the issue and Janus’s response. I still don’t understand how you got the fermata on that piano whole note in the treble staff. What might I be doing wrong in there? Sorry to be slow on this.
I simply selected the quarter note rest and applied the fermata to it. Dorico added fermatas to all the other voices and instruments automatically. (It really is that clever!!)
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LOL - thank you! I feel so un-clever every 8 bars when I encounter something that hurts my brain.
What a great idea! lol
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I’m sorry to be back here with more fermata issues. I feel like a dunce when I can’t figure this stuff out on my own. Here are screen shots of what’s happening. Trying to add a fermata to the whole note in the lower voice on m.16 - the others are correct in screenshot 1. But when I try any other method to add it there - other fermatas are placed - as in screenshot 2. I keep thinking “have I been doing it wrong all these years - like John mentioned earlier?” I don’t THINK I am wrong…but I can’t figure this out. Thanks again in advance.
Have a read of this:
It also describes where to change this behaviour by default.
Does that help at all?
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Well, Daniel - thank you! Yes it did help. I don’t know WHY exactly, lol but it did. I highlighted a fermata, went in the lower zone/properties, and turned on max number of fermatas and seleted one per voice. And it added the one I wanted on that whole note. And it only took me 3 hours!!! lol
A little side bar. I have definitely improved in Dorico over the last few months, but I still struggle with how long it takes me to do things. This is a 16 bar tune and I spent hours on it - and it depresses me and makes me nervous. I will try to focus on that I’m improving - but it’s still so easy to become dejected and think “how am I ever going to get up to a speed that is productive.” I’m just venting mind you. I will keep at it…I am SO GRATEFUL for the help I get here.
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I found that many times it was just a matter of getting the settings organised the way I liked them - and there are lots to choose from.
In any case, one day it will just “click” and you will understand how and why things happen the way they do, and also where to look if the results aren’t optimal.
For what it’s worth, my “clicking” points were understanding how voices work, how condensing works, and page overrides.
Thank you for that. Some things have clicked for sure. Page overrides do still get me, and voices I’m beginning to get a handle on. I’m not sure how much condensing I’ll need to do. I think my next adventure will be into playback. I’m a little nervous about that too. Most of what I do is in musical theatre and I purchased a template packet from scoring express, and I feel this will help me with a lot of things down the road. Right now I’m mostly trying to get a piano/vocal in shape that I will expand later on…But I’m hoping that if I can get a handle on most of those issues, writing parts won’t be TOO much more difficult. I do appreciate these forums and the help continues to be very…helpful, ha. Thanks again.
Hey Daniel, since I chose “solved” on this thread awhile back, it may be just us talking! I’m back to having an issue with fermatas. I think I’m not understanding something conceptually with them and it’s driving me crazy. I’m hoping maybe you can help. So this time, I have two bars. Both bars have whole notes. Bar 1 whole notes are tied to bar 2 whole notes. I would like to have fermatas on both bars if possible. I can understand how this may be redundant, and I would settle for fermatas just on the second bar in that case. But whenever I add them, they default to the first bar, which is not correct. I have gone into lower panel like I did before and tried each of those choices under max number/one voice, one per side, one per staff…nothing. Any suggestions??
This is another side bar…I often find myself wishing Dorico would just let me do it the way I want it! It probably does and I don’t know how to tell it so…but like this doesn’t seem like a big deal and if he wants 2 fermatas why not let him!?