Solo/Section question

Dorico
1

I think I understand the solo vs. section thing, but I do have a couple of really DUMB questions (thanks for indulging me!)

  1. How can I tell if I set up a part as solo or section?
  2. Can I change solo players to section for divisi purposes?

I think I may have inadvertently set up my players as soloists when what I really want is section players, but I’m not sure how to tell…
Thanks in advance!

2

Could be wrong, but I think the only way to tell is in the Player Setup panel in Setup mode. If you see two “heads” to the left of the Player then you know it’s a section, only one and it’s a solo player.

3

solo

No. But you can change section to n-soloists+section using divisi then hide the section staff (I’m not sure what problem this solves rather than having n-soloists as soloists).

4

You can’t change the type of existing players but you can add a new player of the required type, don’t give them an instrument (leaving them “empty-handed”) then drag an existing instrument to the new, empty-handed player. Delete or re-use your leftover old player as required.

5

That’s sad… :pensive:
Especially for all of us over 50…

:joy:

3 Likes
6

Be aware that the sounds between solo and section are different - at least in Noteperformer strings.

7

Having been on both sides of the “deleted and reused” equation, and being over 50, I concur with your assessment.!

8

So I’ve changed my solo player to a section player the way you indicated, but I’ve now got a part that used to read “Trumpet in Bb 3” that now reads “Trumpet in Bb II” and I’ve tried to rename the part to no avail. I’m sure I’m doing something wrong…
How do I get it to read “Trumpet in Bb 3?”

9

These are the circumstances in which Dorico automatically numbers instruments. These are the settings for whether Dorico uses Arabic or Roman numbers for solo/section players.

Unless you really need some trumpets to be solo players and others section, I’d perhaps suggest making them all the same player type so they get numbered automatically together.

Also, these are the different names you’ll see associated with players in Dorico – if you’re renaming the player in Setup mode, that won’t change the staff label because the staff label uses the instrument name.