Hi everyone,
I’m looking for a way to add a “ripple” roll symbol to the stem of a chord in my marimba part (akin to a tremolo), like in the attached image above. I’ve looked in the manual and forums but I can’t find anything on this topic. Is there a way to create this image in a marimba part, even if it is just by adding the symbol to the stem of a note somehow?
Hi @mhhmakesmusic, and welcome to the Forum.
You could edit a musical symbol that you don’t use, and substitute the glyph.
Here an example changing the glyph for the Combining tremolo 5:
You can reach the dialogue from menu Library > Music Symbols…
Choose one symbol to edit, delete the original glyph, search for a new glyph, and add it. You can also rename the music symbol, if desired.
After editing the desired music symbol assignation, you can insert in the music with the same original shortcut for the popover. In this case Shift+R (for repetition), and then 5
You can also edit the length of the stem and the position of the S, locally in Engrave mode, or globally in Engrave Options > Tremolos:
Dorico file example (I added also the O to substitute the 4 lines tremolo):
ripple roll marimba.dorico (1.4 MB)
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Hi Christian,
Great, thanks for your help on this! I almost have it: I have changed the glyph for Combining tremolo 5 to an S, however when I try to insert it with the keyboard shortcut (shift +r, then 5), nothing happens. Any suggestions?
Hi @mhhmakesmusic, glad to help.
Not sure what happens on your system.
If, in Write mode, I select a note/chord first, and I invoke the Repetitions popover (Shift+R) and then insert a 5 and press Enter, the application log shows following correctly executed commands:
2025-06-06 00:17:20.530 [info] Executing command: NoteInput.ShowRepeatsPopover
2025-06-06 00:17:20.536 [info] notifyPostCommandExecute: NoteInput.ShowRepeatsPopover (5 ms)
2025-06-06 00:17:21.926 [info] Posting command (requested): NoteInput.AddRepeatsToSelection Definition=5
2025-06-06 00:17:21.926 [info] Executing command: NoteInput.AddRepeatsToSelection?Definition=5
2025-06-06 00:17:22.018 [info] notifyPostCommandExecute: NoteInput.AddRepeatsToSelection?Definition=5 (91 ms)
I cannot find any customisable Key Command for the Strokes Single-Note tremolo (or Repeats as they are called in the log file), so I think those commands are internal to Dorico, and I have no idea why it doesn’t work for you.
Did you try inserting the other numbers, for the Repetitions popover? (1,2,3 and 4). Do they work?
Maybe someone more expert can tell what is going on.
I found this among the SMuFL glyphs:
I associated it with a custom playing technique that I called ‘tremblement’. I use it with the VSL Studio Percussion Marimba for unmeasured tremolo.
1 Like
Hi Christian,
I tried it with a different symbol, and it worked this time. Thanks for your help!
Max