I’d like to know if a fix will eventually be made for slurs that cover two notes that are widely spaced on a staff (ie: one low, one high).
This is mostly an issue in string writing, with multi-stopped chords that are notated as a grace note first, then the “real” note.
let me give you an example:
write a grace note low C in treble clef.
now write a “real” note one octave higher.
now slur them.
the slur comes out right, the correct angle, the correct placement.
now, using shift+i, add a 5th above that “real” note.
The slur will now leap up (incorrectly) to the top note and the placement will now be completely wrong.
The slur should not have moved from its previous position, attached to the low grace note, and the lower of the two “real” notes.
I get commissioned to write a lot of music for strings, and this situation comes up constantly. it would be nice if I didn’t have to manually alter the positioning of slurs so often.
This has been raised before and the team is aware.
That said, it’s easy enough to adjust the slurs in Engrave (you might find flipping them gives a better result initially)
Wrong is debatable. As a string player, I would not object… Nor would I object if you flipped the grace to stem down (then the slur would be correct). Or you could just notate it as a straight chord. The effect would be the same.
the image I posted isn’t actually drawn from a work, it was just a quicky sample I drew up.
There’s a reason why I don’t use the straight chord notation. There are, in my pieces, always two ways of performing multi-stops: 1) with an exaggeratedly separate grace note (ie, there’s no pause, but the grace note has “length”), and 2) as a rapid chord with as little pause as possible between the grace and the real notes.
I generally notate the difference by using the slash mark through the flag to indicate a rapid grace note, and un-slashed tails for the slow version.
While I appreciate that most string players would not take exception to various variations on the notation, I, myself, as an engraver prefer to skew toward the accepted engraving standards rather than the exceptions.
You might find it’s faster to use a l.v. tie in this situation. This obviously needs editing, but it might be quicker to start from this than a regular slur.
Practically that is a distinction without a difference unless the presence of the grace is to indicate it is played before the beat (eg Pagannini Caprice 11)
the grace note IS played before the beat when I indicate it without the slash in the flag.
this is mentioned in performance notes at the beginning of the score.
