I started write mode on multiple staves at the first beat of the song with global insert mode active, pressed shift+M and then 12/8,2; what I get is two beats only on the first three staves but not on the lower one….
When you change a time signature with insert mode on, Dorico will add extra musical time at the end to ensure there are no incomplete bars. It will not add anything at the beginning. So what you see is correct!
To realign the piano part.
Engage Insert (I), select the first note and do shift-B 2e , which will insert two quavers and push all the notes back.
For the truth I also tried without Insert mode and even activating write mode on multiple staves (as I’d read somewhere) but the result always was the same.
So is this the unique way to insert PU bars? First ‘adding’ then ‘removing’?
There are a number of different scenarios that people get confused about. Some people want to add an extra bar as pickup, others want to convert their existing music to use the first note(s) as a pickup.
Scenario 1: Empty score.
If you score is empty, just create your pickup (shift-M 12/8,2). The first notes you enter will go in the pickup and later bars will all be normal.
Scenario 2: Existing music (but only one time signature at the start)
When you create the pickup, Dorico just looks at the existing notes and redistributes them (apparently moving some into the pickup). If you want the pickup to be empty, you must insert the extra musical time (eg by using the shift-B 2e method)
Scenario 3a: Existing music (with multiple time signatures throughout the piece). Create pickup without Insert mode.
Dorico redistributes the notes (like Scenario 2) BUT when it reaches the next time signature, it just stops. This means you could end up with another pickup (short) bar being created there!!
Scenario 3b: Existing music (with multiple time signatures throughout the piece). Create pickup using Insert mode.
Dorico redistributes the existing notes… BUT when it reaches the next time signature it pads out the final bar to create a whole bar. This may result in additional rests suddenly appearing in your existing music.
It is well worthwhile experimenting with a test score to see how all these different situations work. But it is perfectly logical!
Hi @arfo1962,
adding to the eccellent suggestions by @Janus, you can also let Dorico create the pickup for you.
Just input the desired notes at the beginning of the piece while Insert Mode (Global Adjustment of Current Bar) is activated (this is the fourth scope of Insert Mode).
And don’t forget to deactivate Insert Mode when you are done!
In following post you will find 3 short videos about pick-up in three different scenarios visualised (in case it could be of further help):
I think I’ll have a try with a text score as you suggest, that’s a good way to avoid getting stuck when being inspired or in a hurry to finish a song as well…
I’d tried this too at a certain point but probably not in the right way; the truth is I can’t dedicate enough time to deepen my basic knowledge of the main functions of Dorico and if I don’t use them often I risk to lose something along the way…
Thank you so much for helping!
I think this forum is really an extra feature of the software itself, that is really excellent in my opinion; many very kind and collaborative people and this is great!
