I would like to select a single notehead that forms part of a tied note duration. In this case, it is to add a hairpin on the final portion of a held string note but I also frequently want to add changes of articulation/playing technique part-way through a tied note. What’s the current ‘meta’ on convincing Dorico this is a good idea?
I appreciate that this topic has come up many times before on the forum but some of the advice I’ve seen in response conflicts with my experience of Dorico as it is now. For instance, I saw one response that advised selecting the staff, rather than the notehead, and adding a hairpin to that, but clicking on the staff containing the note at the end of the tie chain has no effect for me - nothing is selected.
As a general note to the developers, I find the approach to tied notes kind of bizarre.
I had a quick look at the nearest printed score I had to hand, Beethoven’s ‘Ghost’ Trio, and found that, in string writing at least, hairpins on portions of tied notes are more the rule than the exception. This matches my intuition on the idiomatic use of hairpins for instruments capable of sustaining notes while varying dynamic - particularly bowed strings and vocals. Some instruments, like the accordion, have it as a virtually mandatory feature.
In contemporary works, the practice of varying articulation/bowing/fingering etc. while sustaining a single pitch is practically a cliché at this point. Maybe this is why the Dorico team are so reticent to allow it? Too many afternoons spent nodding off to spectralist slow-movements?
There is no prohibition against putting things in the middle of things.
Don’t forget that a hairpin needs a duration, so once you’ve entered > in the popover, you’ll need to move the caret forward (Space) to give it some length.
Generally, you can add dynamics/playing techniques wherever you want by activating the caret (shift-N) position it using the arrow keys (set the rhythmic grid appropriately) and then shift-D/shift-P to invoke the popover.
In this particular case, select the tied note and cut it (U). Add the dynamic. Re-tie the note.
Articulations are slightly different: Enter the articulation and use the property panel to position at the start/end of the tie chain.
There are many strengths to the way ties are handled, not least the the increased speed of note entry and what happens when notes are manipulated/cut/pasted/rebarred etc.
I suppose increased speed of note entry is dependant upon the processing capacity of the note enterer! I personally find that it slows me down, especially when working with mixed metres & tuplets. I mostly hand-write music and compose without time signatures, so I think I have a particular mindset when it comes to ties & durations across bar lines.
Tied notes and Tuplets? Agreed (There I usually enter notes without ties and add the ties later). But mixed meters are absolutely no problem - even changing meters after the notes (if you know the insert rules!). Also using the shift-alt-arrow to extend note duration is a time-saver.
If you compose without time sigs, then surely there are no barlines to start with, and so no tied notes..?
You can always enter notes without a time sig, and put the time sig in afterwards! The beauty of Dorico is that the ties will change, according to whatever metre you give it.
I certainly do! The ability to start a score with no time or key signature and just get cracking was my love-at-first-sight moment with Dorico. The difficulty is that expressing 17 8ths of a whole note as a single notehead is beyond my arithmetic capacity as a Music graduate.
The alt-shift-l/r is great for this, of course, but sometimes I want the ties to reflect different rhythmic values. I think it’s just something that will take getting used to - my brain just wants to put things in as they appear rather than as they are to a computer.
