Violin / fiddle tunings

In Norwegian folk music it’s common with different open string tunings on the Hardanger-fiddle. I couldn’t find that instrument in Dorico, so I used Violin or Fiddle. But as far as I can see, it’s not possible to have different tunings on violin (and I guess, Fiddle too). Is that because there’s no fret on those instruments? Anyway I have a request that you make it possible! I think it is being used in classical music too.
If I’m wrong, how do I do it?

You could repurpose a Mandolin. Rename it and change the patch in Play mode.

Edit: I’m not sure what effect that would have for Standard Notation. It usually is used with Tablature.

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I read about it at Wikipedia, and found that the issue is it’s normally a transposing instrument. So this is a candidate for a custom instrument definition, which will be a new feature in Dorico 4 for which there is a workaround.

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You can create a Transposition change for its Lay-out in Setup mode to account for the transposition. This, together with @Craig_F s suggestion to use a mandolin and change the tunings should already get you there.

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Sadly being able to define your own instrument types is not a feature in Dorico 4.0, though we know it is something that many users would benefit from, and it remains something we certainly plan to add. It’s a very significant amount of work given the richness of data that Dorico has about the different characteristics of instruments.

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Thank you for the answer! The mandolin-trick could serve my purpose, except for the notation vs. playback aspect: The notation is based on how you would play it on a standard tuned violin, but you obviously want to hear the music as how it would sound when played on that specified tuning. When used with Tablature the different tunings produce different results, but used with standard notation, there is no effect of different tunings. I don’t know if the Hardanger-fiddle is the only instrument in need of this function? Anyway, I guess it’s allowed to ask for it to be concidered? :slightly_smiling_face:

Yes, absolutely. We’ve been thinking about capos for guitars, which have a similar kind of effect, and it’s quite possible that the work we’ve been doing in that area could be extended to provide alternate tunings and scordatura for string instruments.

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That’s great! Very nice to hear that you have been working on capos for guitars! Would be great if you extend it as you describe! Applause !

I use Tablature as a trick to help create Scordatura. I created a Template file with a Worksheet Layout to assist with this. It uses two instruments, one with the alternate tuning and one with standard tuning. Then, you just match the numbers in the Tab and the Scordatura is created.

Scordatura Template.dorico (407.3 KB)

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As of Dorico 3.5, that XML hack is no longer needed. As @klafkid already pointed out, the Clef and Transposition override feature can change the transposition of an instrument. You just need to be sure to make the change in all Layouts that the instrument appears in.

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Ah, that was a smart way of using the Tablature to help create Scordatura! Thank you for the file and the idea :slight_smile: I’m finished with the task for now, but I will keep the idea and use it later if the situation occurs again (and Dorico still lacks such functionality).

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