I thought I had something of a grasp on Vertical Spacing. I experiment with different values to get the look I want, and am always happy with the result. Still, there is something that baffles me: if I want a lot of space between systems, no setting gets me there. I have attached two images, one that shows a first page with the staves dragged to an absurd level of spacing; the second shows the settings, which are also absurdly high (or are they?). as you can see, the second and third pages are pretty nicely spaced, and the settings in the layout seem to have no effect. In short, what am I missing? I’m not attaching the file - I don’t need this, as it’s really just a matter of satisfying my curiosity, and preparing me for greater challenges down the road.
Thanks for any insight you can share.
If I want different system spacing, I usually add or adjust the number of systems per frame (casting off section). I also tend to turn off collision avoidance initially just to see what vertical space padding I might need to adjust for better auto spacing. That’s my approach but I’m a relative newby (Finale to Dorico Aug 2024).
Got it! Thank you - I was looking in the wrong place (I needed to keep scrolling).
There is one odd thing (only one?): after I apply this setting, the score does not re-flow; I now have pages that are 185% full. I would think that the music would be spread out over more pages. Or is it that more pages won’t be added? There are no Frame Breaks, no signposts hidden or otherwise.
So, a lot closer, but still something of a mystery. But thanks - you got me a long way farther down the road of understanding!
Are you sure? I just tested, and systems neatly flowed and new pages added where needed.
You might hit this, so please double check
System breaks at the start of systems that were created using Make into System have Wait for next system breakactivated in the Format group of the Properties panel by default. When this property is activated, Dorico Pro creates a system containing all material between that system break and the next system break or the end of the flow, whichever comes first.
If you later delete subsequent system breaks, this creates very full, tightly spaced systems. For example, if you delete all subsequent system breaks, all music until the end of the flow is forced into a single system.
A new page was added when I increased the Note Spacing, but the pages are all still close to 200% full. They look fine - nothing is cramped. I’ll keep fiddling with it.
What did you change the inter-system gap to? And under Layout Options > Staves and Systems > Casting Off, do you have a fixed number of systems set?
In your original, the first page is only 48% full because there is a frame break at the start of page 2, which means Dorico will not move any material from page 2 to page 1 to fill it up.
If you wanted the four systems on page 1 to justify, you should change the vertical spacing>Vertical justification settings not the myriad of other options!
Generally, Dorico default settings work pretty well perhaps with small adjustments.
The inter-system gap is 25 - this was just for experimenting. No casting off of systems was set (I never to that), and nothing is ticked/checked.
I’m wondering is the old shutdown/restart might be in order.
Yes - I was really just messing around with the settings to see how they worked. The one I wanted was the inter-system setting. I would never use those numbers for a real score; and with all the fiddling the Frame Break was removed.
No harm in that, but better maybe post your project
Okay, this is getting strange…
I shutdown/restarted, opened the file, and set the inter-system number to a sane one. Looks great, except for the last page. Here is the file - something in my justification settings is off.
But for three systems - 95%? And do those pages look like they are 279%?
Spin - rhythm shortened:layout experiment.dorico (1.9 MB)
I reset vertical spacing to factory default, (removed two redundant system breaks) then changed only the inter-system gap from 10 to 12.
Spin - rhythm shortened_layout experiment-edit.dorico (2.0 MB)
That’s because of these huge values! Defaults are 1 and 2.
With the default values in these fields:
Spin - rhythm shortened_layout experiment.dorico (1,9 Mo)
Thank you! That was the problem - I should know by now not to experiment…
The system break is there because - I’m assuming the settings have caused this - there is a note that is moved to the following line: see measure 58 (bottom system, first page of your screenshot). Not sure why that happened.
Thank you, again!
Thanks - much clearer, now!
Sorry, did not notice that.
It is because there is insufficient space for everything to fit in a single bar on the line above.
The solution is to set an Engrave>Note spacing change… (to reset note spacing) at the start of bar 59 and another Note spacing change (to nudge the notes closer) at the start of bar 58 like this…
OT — for a moment I hoped that Spin would just be Chick Corea’s Spain but just with all the A’s removed. 