The orchestra that I write for has a house style that generally incorporates 1st and 2nd instruments into one stave.
What are your thoughts on the best/correct way to do this in Dorico. Which kind of player/ensemble in setup?
I’m aware of the “condensing” function and that I could write all parts to independent players, and then create the conductors score, but I prefer in general to deal with less staves in the orchestrating process ( 4 woodwind as opposed to 8 takes up a lot less screen space!) Perhaps it’s time to change this? I suppose I’m really wanting the opposite of the “Condense” feature – write 2 to a stave and then explode out.
More experienced users thoughts very welcome.
Best wishes,
Hi Simon,
I would love this as well. In the meantime, the existing Paste Special—Explode function works pretty well. Still some checking required, but it’s quite predictable.
Thanks – I’ll check that out in due course.
Practically, does it make any difference whether the setup uses “section” players or “solo” players for woodwind/brass etc?
Depends on what you want them to do - section players can divide using the divisi feature, solo players can condense and can have extra staves added to them. Solo players can also hold multiple instruments, e.g. Flute and Piccolo
A section player vs. solo player also loads a solo or an ensemble patch for many instruments, which obviously changes the sound for playback. You can switch these manually after the fact.