Writing for band in Dorico 3

Dorico
1

Greetings!

This is my first post here on the forums and I would like to start by thanking the Dorico team for creating a truly exceptional program!

While I absolutely love the new condensing feature AND the somewhat older section divisi options. I seem to have run into a predicament where the two overlap. I have been commissioned to write a piece for concert band and it seems neither section or solo players give me the options I want/need.

For those of you unaware, writing for band is much different then writing for orchestra. While in an orchestra each part is played by an individual player, in a band each part can be played by many players. For example; on “Flute 1” there might be 4 individuals all playing the “Flute 1” music.

Now we come to the issues, some major and some minor. If I want to make “Flute 1 & 2” “Section Players” then not only am I not able to use the aforementioned game-changing condensing feature. More importantly, I cannot switch instruments: Ex. Flute to Piccolo or Alto to Soprano Sax. Now if I make each part an “Individual Player” I am able to condense. However, I cannot write divisi or solo with gli altri.

Any suggestions on how I can work around these issues would be much appreciated!

Thanks!!

2

Hi.

I ran into the same issue.
Just forget about how many players will sit behind their stands. Use Solo Players everywhere and you will be 99% fine.
(There’s even a remark in the documentation about this case.)

If you really need divisi somewhere, then this part is the exception to the rule.

3

Welcome to the forum, stelthtalon. In the future we expect that it will be possible to use condensing both with section players and indeed with divisi, but there is a hard line between them at the moment.

4

Thank you for the quick responses. I think what I am going to do is make two piccolo “solo players”, two flute “section players”, one clarinet “solo player”, three clarinet “section players”, and everyone else a “solo player”.


In the future we expect that it will be possible to use condensing both with section players and indeed with divisi, but there is a hard line between them at the moment.

That is good to know Daniel. I knew I made the right choice when I switched over! :smiley: