I have two percussionists in an orchestral work each playing five-wood block kits. I added them in as 5-Line Staff kits, but the spacing of the staff lines relative to every other staff in the score is far too wide. They frankly look goofily “epic” in size, but more importantly they contribute to vertical crowding:
Is this something that can be customized? I’ve been hunting though Dorico, the online manual, and this forum to no avail.
Do I instead have to create standard 5-line-staff instruments and set everything up behind the scenes for correct playback? (Frankly, simply seeing “Wood Blocks” written once to the left of the staff would probably be preferable for all to read; there would be no serious question as to the meaning, and it would be clearer and less cluttered.)
Excellent, thank you! Surprised that I couldn’t find this on my own when searching. I used phrases like “staff line spacing” (rather than “gap”) in my searches, which must explain it. (Perhaps the search algorithm could be expanded…?)
For what it’s worth (and from one pretty new Dorico user (after 30 years using Finale)), the Edit Percussion Kit window seems to suggest that the three tabs (5-line, Grip, Single) are there for the respective type of staff initially set up. They did not immediately suggest to me that I should go to the Grid tab since I had chosen a 5-line. Maybe there’s some tweaking of tab labels that could enhance clarity for the user?
ADDENDUM: I guess I’m totally wrong on that last point — ha! Please forgive a newb. It seems that the kits like wood blocks, temple blocks, etc., available in unpitched perc. instruments are, in fact, 5-line grids, not 5-line staves. Is this correct?
Right. I ignorantly assumed that because the grid had five lines (by default when I set it up, not by any choice I made) then I should interact with the 5-Line Staff tab in the dialogue. Does my ignorance make sense?
(I certainly don’t believe that applications as rich and powerful as Dorico should be “easy” to use, but just wanted to contribute one (new-ish) user’s perspective on why something was confusing that might not need to be…)
