Vertical Spacing of all verses of a lyric at the same time?

[mark carlson]

I'm editing a strophic choral piece with four verses of text. I'm having to vertically adjust each line of text in each voice (SATB voices, not Finale voices) in each stanza, and as soon as I get one voice adjusted for all four verses, I realize that I have to go back and readjust all the others in order to get them spaced evenly vertically. This means, choosing "Specify Current Lyric" for each line of text in each voice, and not only is it painstaking, but I can never get all of the lines to be spaced evenly vertically.

Is there an easier way to do this? In other words, is there a way to have the exact same vertical distance between each line of lyrics and the next within the same voice?

Attached is the piece is question.

Thanks,

Mark
OS 12.3.1
Finale 26

[Anders Hedelin]

I've had just the same problem, and can confirm that it's time-consuming and nerve-racking. Because you can't move the whole set of verses as a unity, and because you can't nudge the arrows of the lyric lines with the arrows of the keyboard - you have to drag them with the mouse with annoyingly uncertain result.

But, I guess it's just one of those things - with Finale, and with MM.

Anyone knows if there's a plugin for this - at least for moving the set of verses in a bundle?

Edit: If you could create the desired distance between each verse (with the leftmost arrow left of the lyric lines) on the first system, and then move the whole set on each other system individually with a simple operation, that would be a huge improvement.

[miker]

Something else for the long-promised overhaul of Lyrics...

[Anders Hedelin]

Thanks Mike. So glad that you agree...

[mark carlson]

I've had just the same problem, and can confirm that it's time-consuming and nerve-racking. Because you can't move the whole set of verses as a unity, and because you can't nudge the arrows of the lyric lines with the arrows of the keyboard - you have to drag them with the mouse with annoyingly uncertain result.

But, I guess it's just one of those things - with Finale, and with MM.

Anyone knows if there's a plugin for this - at least for moving the set of verses in a bundle?

Edit: If you could create the desired distance between each verse (with the leftmost arrow left of the lyric lines) on the first system, and then move the whole set on each other system individually with a simple operation, that would be a huge improvement.

I am relieved that I'm not the only one experiencing this but am sorry that there is no known solution for it!

[motet]

On Windows I believe there is an "accessibility" feature than lets you use key strokes to move the mouse. Does the Mac have similar?

[Anders Hedelin]

Could you explain how to get access to that 'accessibility thing'? (On Windows for my part.)

[mark carlson]

On Windows I believe there is an "accessibility" feature than lets you use key strokes to move the mouse. Does the Mac have similar?

We have up, down, left, right nudge arrows, but there are certain things they don't work on at all in Finale, unfortunately. Moving lines of lyrics is one of those, and unfortunately, there are a bunch of others.

[Perotinus]

This may not do everything you want, but you might try this, from the User Manual, under the Lyric Tool:

Set Piece Offsets To Default Font. Click this button to tell Finale to automatically change the baseline-positioning values for all Verses, Choruses, and Sections in all staves. When this is done, each successive lyric of each type is neatly and evenly stacked. When Finale calculates these default positions, it takes into account the font and size you’ve specified in Document Options - Fonts.

This at least has helped to equalize the vertical spacing of the various stanzas when I have used it.

Once this is done, you can choose the Adjust Syllables icon (looks kind of like a compass) in the Lyrics window or in the Lyrics menu. This will display a handle on each syllable that will allow you to nudge it/them with the arrow keys, and you can drag-select the handles to include as many or as few as you wish.

P.S. More on Adjust Syllables:

Adjust Syllables. Choose this command to display handles for each syllable and move them wherever you want. Click a handle to select its syllable; SHIFT-click to select additional syllables attached to the same note. If there are multiple Verses, Choruses, or Sections present, click the staff above a syllable to select multiple handles. Press BACKSPACE to restore a selected syllable to its original position. You can also use Adjust Syllables in conjunction with the alignment and justification commands. To select this command, you can also click the Adjust Syllables icon in the Lyrics window. See To move or delete a syllable.

[mark carlson]

This may not do everything you want, but you might try this, from the User Manual, under the Lyric Tool:

Set Piece Offsets To Default Font. Click this button to tell Finale to automatically change the baseline-positioning values for all Verses, Choruses, and Sections in all staves. When this is done, each successive lyric of each type is neatly and evenly stacked. When Finale calculates these default positions, it takes into account the font and size you’ve specified in Document Options - Fonts.

This at least has helped to equalize the vertical spacing of the various stanzas when I have used it.

Once this is done, you can choose the Adjust Syllables icon (looks kind of like a compass) in the Lyrics window or in the Lyrics menu. This will display a handle on each syllable that will allow you to nudge it/them with the arrow keys, and you can drag-select the handles to include as many or as few as you wish.

Thank you! I discovered that yesterday, and it was a godsend for the first three pages of my score. After that, things get reduced to just two lines, and then one line of lyrics, so I had to adjust those by hand. The manual suggests that there is a way to set the baseline for just one system, but when I tried it, it adjusted all of the prior systems as well. I either didn't understand it, or it doesn't work (presumably the former).

In any case, I highly recommend this method if you have the same number of lines of lyrics throughout the piece. But it's best if you do that after you have everything else as you want it so that you don't have to keep redoing it.

[Perotinus]

So glad! I added another paragraph from the manual, just in case there are further things that might serve you.