Finale Forum

Hi all,

Is there a way to automatically stretch hairpins so that they go to and from dynamic markings in a consistent way?

Currently, I stretch the hairpins to and from each dynamic by eye, though I am sure that this aspect of my workflow could be made more accurate and perhaps even automated to some extent... Any plugins, or the like that you use for this task?

If you stretch hairpins by eye, like I do, do you have a means of ensuring that the distances between the ends of the hairpin and the dynamic markings remain accurate and consistent?

Cheers,
Hector.

You may find some help with Jari's JW Pattern plugin.

Zuill

Thanks, Zuil! While I was exploring the JW plugins, I rediscovered the handy JW Slash Beamed Grace Notes which will save me 2 hours.
Cheers,
Hector.

This site discusses how to get consistent relationships between hairpins and expressions, among other points.
https://editionoctoechos.wordpress.com/

I have JW Change sequences set up to adjust for p, mf, etc.

motet wrote:I have JW Change sequences set up to adjust for p, mf, etc.

any way to get a sample or screenshot of the sequence?

All they do is invoke

Hairpins/Left Offset - Horizontal x, Relative: No

where x = 35 for p, 50 for pp, 55 for mp and 70 for ppp. I think I just use the same ones for their f counterparts, but this could obviously be refined for the fastidious. I haven't gotten around to right-side adjustments.

So I create hairpins with JW Pattern, then, if a hairpin started with a dynamic, I run one of the above sequences. (Perhaps it could all be done in JW Pattern; There is a "padding" setting when you create a hairpin, but I haven't experimented with it.)

I've set these up to be triggered via Autohotkey with an Autohotkey script Jari originally wrote and which I improved slightly to fix some timing issues. I've set the backquote as my escape character, so I select the beats where I want a hairpin, type `< (for example) to add a crescendo, then `7 if the hairpin starts with p. This also has the advantage over drawing the hairpin by hand of placing the vertical level to coincide with the below-staff baseline (which I sometimes have to change with the TG Tools align keys).

This is quite a time-saver. I'll post the Autohotkey script here if anyone is interested. Windows only, I believe.

It looks like the "padding" setting in JW Pattern applies to both sides of the hairpin, which may or may not be desirable.