Best way to notate winds and brass?

[tonmeister]

Hello,

I'm currenty loading an orchestral piece into Finale 2004 and am wondering the best way to notate wind and brass parts. Let's take the two flute parts for example: At first, I was of course putting both flute parts on one staff in one layer with the stems connected together because the rhythms were the same. Once I got to a section where the two flute parts became separate (with different rhythms), I realized I have to use layers or V1/V2 to get the stems to separate.

What I'm not sure of is what method to use. I thought the layers method would work fine (with Flute 1 on layer 1 and Flute 2 on layer 2), but when the parts go back to playing in the same rhythm, the stems stay separated. I would like to have (as is traditional on a score) the stems to be together when the parts are together and only apart when the parts separate.

So then I thought about putting both parts on layer 1 when together and only using layer 2 when the parts diverge. I'm worried that this method will create other problems down the line, though, such as when printing/extracting parts comes around. For example, when the parts are "a 2", having both on one layer with the same stem (basically one note) seems like it would not cause Finale to see two parts.

I experimented with the V1/V2 methodology, but it seemed unintuitive and also did not seem to stem the notes together when the rhythms were the same. I would, as usual, get either two parts with stems in different directions or a situation where a line of eighth notes in thirds looked like sixteenth notes due to multiple beams!

If there is a way to get the stems of two different layers to go together when playing a similar rhythm, that would solve my issue and make the most sense. It seems like that should just be a checkbox in the layers preferences. Right now that doesn't seem possible, though.

How do most people address this issue? Do you just have the stems always going up for part one and down for part two? That seems kind of lame (and not the way scores usually get published), but it's the best method I can come up with given my beginner level knowledge of Finale.

Cheers,
Trevor de Clercq

[Peter S.]

If there is a way to get the stems of two different layers to go together when playing a similar rhythm, that would solve my issue and make the most sense. It seems like that should just be a checkbox in the layers preferences. Right now that doesn't seem possible, though.

You can set the stem direction for the layers in the document options/layers, but it will affect the whole piece and that is probably not what you want.

You must decide depending which parts are longer, the parts "a2", parts with only the same rhythms, or the parts with different rhythms.

I would prefer to write sections with the same rhythm and "a2" in only one layer, and only only 2 layers where I really need it.

For extracting parts this will need some extra work on the part anyway. I would work on the extracted part with "dividing parts" and deleting only one layer etc. This is the price for having more space in the score by writing two instrument parts in one line.

Peter

[tonmeister]

Even if I set the stem directions for the layers to both go down, the stems never merge, they just stay as separate stems. This causes the "eighth notes in thirds looking like sixteenth notes problem". But I guess it would be moot to have a checkbox to merge stems in different layers unless it could be applied locally instead of globally.

It seems like such a basic function of notation that you would have two layers (one for each part) whose stems would merge when playing together and whose stems would separate when playing separately that I am surprised Finale can not do this. I suppose I will just put the "a 2" and close harmony instances all on the same layer, saving layer 2 for only when the parts split, but it seems like extracting and printing parts is going to be a nightmare....

Thanks for the reply.

Cheers,
Trevor de Clercq