Some unison instructions are duplicated in a row

Dorico
,
1

Open the attached file
In bars 17-19 (bassoons part) you will see that the label “a 2” are indicated several times in a row for some reason, although there is absolutely no need for this.

Снимок экрана (851)
Снимок экрана (851)1520×663 82.8 KB

You have to manually hide all these extra labels.

Is this a bug? Or what did I do wrong that these labels are unnecessarily duplicated?

2

It’s due to the rests that are beamed-over and the divisi at bar 21 (but mainly the divisi).

  • Dorico condenses music in phrases and a phrase is anything between rests. Each phrase needs to be condensed the same way.

  • Because phrases that divide need to have a2 where in unison, it is creating a2 everywhere that is in unison within the phrase.

  • Because the notes in bar 17 and 19 are beamed together over a rest, it is considering everything that is beamed part of the same phrase - even though there is a rest in the middle and it usually wouldn’t.

And so: Dorico is considering everything between bar 17 and bar 26 to be one phrase and will condense it the same way. (Try splitting the beams in either of the two bars and you will see.)

To fix:

  • A Condensing Change will reset the condensing calculations from its rhythmic position as if there were a rest there.
  • Adding a Condensing Change on the first note of the divisi will solve you problem.

Select a note at the divisi (or any object at that rhythmic position) > go to Engrave > Condensing Change >activate the checkbox next to the relevant player group on the left.

Screenshot 2025-02-19 at 7.57.05 AM
Screenshot 2025-02-19 at 7.57.05 AM1295×1080 176 KB

3

Thank you for your detailed reply!
Phew, it’s hard for me to figure everything out at once :sweat_smile:
However, I still believe that the method of solving this problem, which is to add a Condensing Change in a specific location, is a workaround. It would be cool if the user didn’t have to resort to this. In vain Dorico duplicates these unison labels

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4

It’s not a workaround; it’s exactly what they’re designed for.

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5

But is this correct and consistent with notation conventions? We don’t specify, for example, the same tempo in each bar in a row

6

It’s not, I would say. Condensing is still an evolving feature in Dorico.
Currently Dorico is erring on the side of “giving too much information” to make it absolutely clear when notes are to be played by more than one player on a condensed staff, and when a phrase (everything between two shared rests) is exactly the same for all condensed players, it will render the “a2” sign.
I’m sure that eventually there will be more options for this feature.

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