combining choral parts into fewer staves

General notation questions, including advanced notation, formatting, etc., go here.

Moderators: Peter Thomsen, miker

jimjefferis
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Jul 05, 2018 4:47 pm
Finale Version: 25.5
Operating System: Mac

Post by jimjefferis » Thu Jul 05, 2018 4:58 pm

Hello all.

I'm looking for advice on how to create a layout for a choral score. In my composition, there are times when the music is SATB in unison, times when there are 4 parts in homophonic texture, and times when the 4 parts have a polyphonic texture. I have composed the music with a separate staff for each vocal part, but for the final layout I would like to use the following staff arrangements in different sections of the piece:

SATB unison: 1 staff (1 stem per note)
SATB homophonic: 2 staves (1 SA, 1 TB with different stem directions for S/A and T/B)
SATB polyphonic: 4 staves (as is)

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Jim
Finale v. 25.5, Mac


User avatar
zuill
Posts: 4418
Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2016 9:35 pm
Finale Version: Finale 2011-v26.3.1
Operating System: Windows

Post by zuill » Thu Jul 05, 2018 5:21 pm

There are different ways to do it. I usually have SATB staves, then use the Soprano for the single staff unison, and the S and B staves for 2 staff combined (SA on the S staff, TB on the B staff). There are other ways, but that works for me. In the places where the staves are 1 or 2, hide the empty unneeded staves using Hide Empty Staves in the Staff tool.

Zuill
Windows 10, Finale 2011-v26.3.1
"When all is said and done, more is said than done."

jimjefferis
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Jul 05, 2018 4:47 pm
Finale Version: 25.5
Operating System: Mac

Post by jimjefferis » Thu Jul 05, 2018 5:58 pm

Thanks, Zuill,

When you implode the S and A staves onto S, for example, do you know if there is a way to maintain S stem up and A stem down?

User avatar
zuill
Posts: 4418
Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2016 9:35 pm
Finale Version: Finale 2011-v26.3.1
Operating System: Windows

Post by zuill » Thu Jul 05, 2018 7:42 pm

I generally don't need to implode, as I enter the notes as I go, so nothing to implode. If you have already entered the S and A on separate staves, you might want to use the JW Staff Polyphony plugin instead, which is available for download from Jari Williamsson's website.

Zuill
Windows 10, Finale 2011-v26.3.1
"When all is said and done, more is said than done."

jimjefferis
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Jul 05, 2018 4:47 pm
Finale Version: 25.5
Operating System: Mac

Post by jimjefferis » Thu Jul 05, 2018 10:10 pm

I’ll check that out. Thanks!

User avatar
miker
Posts: 5993
Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 4:28 pm
Finale Version: Finale 27.4
Operating System: Mac

Post by miker » Thu Jul 05, 2018 11:26 pm

Or, if you put one staff in layer one, and the other in layer two, they will pick up the correct stem direction when you combine the staves. Use Show Active Layer Only to avoid overwriting.

But as Zuill says, Jari's plugin makes it easy.
Finale 27 | SmartScorePro 64
Mac OS 13.2.1 Ventura
Copyist for Barbershop Harmony Society

Post Reply