When i enter shift+R 3, I get 6 tremolos, shift+R 2 I get 4 tremolo bars, and 1 gives me 3 tremolos on the second note of the tie. It happens in other staves and other measures but only on notes tied to other notes.
Historically, one slash is equivalent to one rhythmic beam, so Dorico keeps their sum constant along a tied note. But this is at odds with the more modern convention of âthree slashes = unmeasured tremolo regardless of the note valueâ. If you do Shift-R, 1 on this note, the half-note will get three slashes. This is best-practice notation but Doricoâs playback will be wrong. What you could do is untie, Shift-R, 3 on both, then re-tie.
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Thanks, that works! I probably let other strange tremolo values get by my eye in previous scores after apply shift+R+3, because I didnt realize this could be an issue.
Iâm aware of this historical way of using slashes, and find it strange that dorico would use that as the basis and not the alternative.
It is because the â3-slash unmeasured tremoloâ is actually the exception, not the rule. 3- and 4-slash measured can be quite normal.
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Still, isnât the exception historical? I feel like nowadays it is common to fully write out a measure or so of 32nd or 64th notes before writing 3 or 4 slashes to indicate that it is measured and not tremolo, if anything to save time during rehearsal and for ease of reading. In any case I have never had a timpani player or string player see 3 bars and ask if it is measured.
I am a string player and can tell you that it depends on the type of music you are playing. This notation is also often used to save space on the page - and to make it easier to recognise a certain musical pattern.
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For example in the Funeral March of GÜtterdämmerung by Wagner there are some bars where 2nd violins and violas must play 3-slash repetitions as 32nd notes..
The players might not ask but the conductor has to advise them of that 
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Yes I (also a string player) am very much aware. I am talking about modern scores. When I (and others alive today) write three slashes on a note and there isnât a precedent (a half measure of 32nd notes or generally 32nd notes everywhere in the piece) usually no one will question whether it is tremolo. Tremolo is the default reading of most 3-slash passages today.
Yes, and if you talk to professionals, these tremolo notes can even be played with slower bow changes than the measured values. It is the produced sound that matters.
Another thing I observed in a famous opera orchestra: they sometimes play the very first tremolo note with a long stroke (without accenting it!) and repeat this when the note changes. It is very effortless, but it gives the tremolo chords a nice sound foundation. I guess - besides improving the overall sound - it does help the singers on stage.
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From the cello part of Berliozâs Symphonie Fantastique, 3rd movt., before Reh. 41:
Here, the 3 slashes at the start of the line seem to indicate tremolos first, but the presence of measured 32nds from the 3rd bar on shows, in retrospect, that the notes before them should be played as measured 32nds as well â which is slightly confusing, and raised a hand in a recent rehearsalâŚ
A few lines lower, there are notes with 4 slashes, where they absolutely indicate a real unmeasured tremolo.
That is very interesting, but I am talking simply notation and whether it is measured by the interpreter.
Yes and like many examples one can find, this one is historical. This is extremely common historically, I imagine because 3 slashes were interpreted automatically as 32nd notes at the time and for 100 years or so after, but at some point in the late 19th century or 20th century it became less of an accepted interpretation of 3 slashes. Whereas before one might write âtrem.â to clarify that three slashes mean tremolo, nowadays one has to take measures to clarify that three slashes mean repeated 32nd notes.
Am I wrong here? Does anyone have proof of MODERN scores where 3 slashes with no other surrounding indication otherwise mean anything other than tremolo?
No, it just depends on the tempo, the ambiguity occurs only if the tempo is below approx. q = 60. In an allegro no one would even think of playing 32nd notes. And in a very slow tempo in most cases the musical context tells you whether the notes are color or pulse. There are also places where the composer wrote non trem. if 32nd notes are desired.
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Yes, I couldâve mentioned the Berlioz example is from the slow movement (the Scène aux champs), where the 32nds are quite playable. Itâs obvious the tempo mattered also in Berliozâs time.
Not exactly comparable, but Finnisey consistently uses 4-slashes for trem rather than 3-slashes⌠(eg at random from his string trio)âŚ
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Thanks! But I agree that it isnât comparable because I am asking for 3 slash examples⌠sorry, Iâm doubling down, being a stickler. I should ask the question in FB music engraving tips.//
That sounds right (historically), thanks for the precision.
But the implication of the Finnisey example is that if he were to use 3-slashes, they would be measured (and he is somewhat precise in his notation style)!
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You donât think he just means⌠reallllllly tremolo?
You can say that 
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