Slash beams parallel to 8th note beam?

[marklandson]

I am wondering if there is a plugin that would do parallel slash beams (16ths and 32nds) as are common in many typeset published scores as in this example:

Using the articulation tool to place slashes like this just doesn't look as good:

I have wondered for years why there isn't a way to do this within Finale. Seems like a major oversight for something that is a really standard notation. Has anybody come across an answer?

[motet]

I don't know of a plug-in.

The Finale slashes are fixed characters, so it would have to be done instead either by drawing lines, or somehow modifying secondary beams.

The former seems possible, but would have to be done at the very end, since music spacing is apt to change the beam angle, and it would differ between score and part.

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Modifying secondary beams seems more promising, if it could be done. I can get this far, but don't see how to center them. Notice also that the sides of the beamlets are vertical, which might not look right.

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Doesn't seem promising, but there certainly could be something I'm missing.

[Peter Thomsen]

There is a way to do it, but it is rather time consuming:

1) Enter the repeated notes as they would sound i. e. repeated 16th's in Layer 1.
Then, hide the second of each repeated note.

2) Do exactly the same thing in Layer 2.

3) Flip the stem directions in the layers so that the aligned note's stem directions are the same (or change the layer settings in Document Options).

4) Use the Special Tools Tool sub-tool Broken Beam Tool to reverse direction of every visible broken beam in Layer 2.

5) Respace the music.

[marklandson]

Here are the results of doing both methods suggested by motet and Peter Thomsen. Shown in both part and score.

1) In the first measure, I used slashes created with the graphic expression designer, assigned that to a shortcut and then aligned them by hand to the slant of the 8th note beam by placing a temporary guide line using the smart shape tool.

2) In the second measure, I used Peter’s method of using the broken beam tool to flip the layer 2 secondary beams to create the illusion of a single slash beam.

Neither option is perfect, but both are probably usable, although tedious.

The length of the beams is most correct in the first method. I can't seem to find a way to shorten the length of the beams in the second method. But it's very difficult and tedious to adjust the angle of each graphic expression, and it's bound to be less consistent in look than the second method. And of course, as the spacing changes in the score, the angle changes slightly. I aligned it using the page view on the part, since that is most important and visible.

If there was a way to change the length of the secondary beams in method 2, that would probably be the way to go.

Thanks so much for weighing in on it! If anyone has an idea on changing the length of the secondary beams or other tips on this, please chime in!

[motet]

Very clever, Peter!

There is the Beam Extension tool that can be used to shorten the stubs. Double-click on the handle and pick 16th only.

JW Change makes all this easier. You can tell it to hide notes on eighth beats, but click the Opposite box--it will then do all "8th off-beats" at once. After doing layer one, use Utilities|Move/Copy Layers to copy Layer to Layer 2. JW Change can also help flip the stems in the right direction.

[marklandson]

Motet, thank you for the suggestion on the beam extension sub tool. Unfortunately, it seems like I can only access the outer secondary beams/slashes. I can't find a way to change the inner beam/slash. The tool only changes the ends of the whole "beam group".

Here I have adjusted the outer slashes in the first triplet, but you can see the inner one remains too long. Any ideas on that?

[Peter Thomsen]

… If there was a way to change the length of the secondary beams in method 2, that would probably be the way to go …

Actually it is a document setting:

Document Options - Beams
In the lower pane there is a field where you can set the broken beam length.

However, this setting affects all broken beams in the entire document.

You can apply a custom staff style to a selected region, but you can not apply a custom “Beam Style” to a selected region.
Hey! This sounds like a good idea for a feature request.



Indeed it is time consuming to create these beam stubs.
I suspect that it could be done faster via a plug-in.

[John Ruggero]

These is an extensive discussion of the subject at:

https://notat.io/viewtopic.php?t=124

[marklandson]

Thank you all for the insight into this problem! I have decided to go with using Peter’s solution and adjusting the broken beam length to split the difference between perfect slash lengths (.5 spaces, ie 12 EVPUs) and the default broken beam setting (.75 spaces, ie 18 EVPUs).

I decided to go with 14 EVPUs, which is what setting it to .6 spaces adjusts to. 15 EVPUs, ie .625 spaces would be my 2nd choice.

Below are how it looks with 14 EVPUs with usual broken beam notation and simulated doubled note slash notation, both in the part and score.

broken-beams-part-example-finale-broken-beam-set-14evpu.jpg (9.58 KiB) Viewed 616 times

Thank you again!

[motet]

It looks good!