4/4 underneath 12/8

[lynndavidnewton]

Using an up-to-date Mac and Finale 25.whatever_was_last.

I'm sure it must be possible to notate one set of staves in 4/4 while another is in 12/8 at the same tempo. People who know the answer will know what I'm talking about. How is this done?

I'm working on a fairly simple voice and piano thing (an old song of my own) where the accompaniment is fairly simple and square, but the voice part has so many triplets in it that it's occurred to me to just write it in 12/8 to save a lot of trouble.

Not sure I really want to do that, but it's worth investigating. Comments?

[Bill Stevens]

In the Staff Attributes click Independent > Time Signature.

::: Bill

[Peter Thomsen]

The “independent time signature thingy” works best if the bigger time signature is the “real” time signature.

In this case, set the “real” time signature to 12/8.

For the 4/4 staves, select Independent Time Signature, and then set the staves’ time signature to 4/4.

Beware that the positioning of smart shape hairpins can be a problem in the staves with Independent Time Signature.
An easy solution:
First put the hairpins on the 12/8 staves (and position the hairpins), then use the Copy Filter to copy only the hairpins to the 4/4 staves.

[motet]

It's also ok to leave it in 4/4 and omit the 3s from the triplets after a while, if they're what's bothering you. If you have duples at all, I think that argues against mixed meters.

[lynndavidnewton]

I didn't know about Independent Time Signatures.

I've decided to just tough it out with 4/4 and frequent triplets. It's just an ordinary ballad type song about 2:30 in length, a little more elaborate than a lead sheet, and I have 4/5 of the music laid in already, just needs some of the accompaniment added and a little tweaking.

But it's good to know about this feature. Thanks to all who responded.