Whole rests - what's happening here?

You’ve already confirmed that the way you got the first bar to show CutC but contain three quarters/crotchets was to use a pickup measure. The next measure is three quarters/crotchets long, by way of another explicit time signature. Time signatures break multirests, even if they’re hidden. I don’t see an easy way around this - I guess you could type the CutC time signature as text…

I can’t believe i haven’t realised that two bars in one time signature each, won’t be turned into a multirest. But why are there three quarters rest only, in the cut common bar? Pianoleo, you write that I used a pickup measure. Could I ask: how did I do that? This confuses me and I would very much like to learn.

“Shift+M > cutc, 1.5 > alt+enter” is a 2/2 bar with a 1.5 beat pickup bar.

Anyway:

Thanks to Marc’s tip, both bars are now whole bar rests. So far so good. Then, as pianoleo points out: Dorico won’t allow me to make a multi-rest out of one 3/4 bar and one cut common bar. So I’m halfway there.

For those interested, I will go around this by putting a cue for other instruments in those two bars … so that it looks as if that’s the reason there is no multi-rest. Come to think of it, it actually makes sense to have a particular que in the part in question. So a blessing in disguise.

Thank you for your insights, everyone!

I am not sure I understand why you would expect Dorico to make a multi-measure rest out of two measures with different time signatures. I would keep the resting measures at a consistent time signature and alter only those where instruments are playing. After all, those are the one’s that need tp see the changed time signatures.

I’m also not sure I see the advantage of a multi-measure rest for just two measures. It doesn’t save that much space on the page. Clearly if you are copying for an “hyper-avante-guarde” composer, you may have to do what you are hired to do, but this seems to create confusion rather than clarity.









I am not looking for a way to save space. As a performer I would wonder why the engraver hadn’t made a multirest out of two bars. For me this issue is solved.