small staff for only 1 or 2 measures
Occasionally, I typeset music where someone adds an alternate version of a few measures in the piece. Sometimes I put that alternate melody at the end, or sometimes I'll put it right under the original measure, but shrink its size a bit so the chanter knows that it's the alternate version. I looked through the forum and the handbook, and tried to follow what it said: right click on the measure you want to shrink, select "small staff," and it will change that part. But in reality, it changed the whole score, which I don't want. I only want to change the size of one or two measures (since each system I have is only one long measure). How do I make only 2 measures in the piece small staff, say 85% or 90%, and keep the rest of the score full size at 100%? Thanks...
Comments
The term for showing an alternate version of a passage is "ossia". See https://musescore.org/en/handbook/4/showing-staves-only-where-needed#Os…
But if I understand your question correctly you want the small measures in line with other normal size measures, which is rather non-standard and I don't think there is an easy way to do that in Musescore. Or have I misunderstood?
In reply to The term for showing an… by SteveBlower
Thanks for your reply. I did see in my reading about how to do this that some called it ossia. But I also saw where it said that ossia and small staff are not the same thing. And no, you did not misunderstand me. That's exactly what I want: these two staves smaller in size than the rest of the piece at regular size. I tried again what it said here in the link, but it still shrunk the whole score. Maybe someone else has another idea, or maybe it's not possible. But thanks!
In reply to Thanks for your reply. I… by caholwey
I am still not entirely sure I understand what you want the final result to look like. Can you attach a picture - even hand drawn?
In reply to I am still not entirely sure… by SteveBlower
Well, this is not the piece, but it's a PDF of something I did in Finale, where I have the third measure (Great Moses) there in regular size at 100%, but the next measure as an alternate version is smaller in size, maybe at 85%. Only this measure is smaller in size, while the rest of the score is regular size. For my current score, I put the alternate version at the end of the score, as the last two measures, and I'd like to make only those last two measures smaller in size, while the first two pages stay at regular size. I hope this makes sense...
In reply to Well, this is not the piece,… by caholwey
Go to the Instruments tab, select the Instrument for which you want the ossia (alternative melody), click 'Add staff'. Rearrange the staves to have them in the desired order. Add the alternative melody in the new staff. Go back to the Instruments tab and click the cog wheel for the ossia staff and check the 'Small staff' and 'Cutaway' options. Manually remove the brackets.
In reply to Well, this is not the piece,… by caholwey
Oh, that is tricky! The duration of the alternative measure is different.
I though that this should work
However, I can't get the upper staff to hide after the "alternative" bar. I will investigate further as that looks like a bug to me. But if you are going to be using that upper staff for the rest of the piece, it shouldn't really matter.
Here is my example based on the pdf you attached. I hope you can see in staff properties what I have done.
AlternativeVersions.mscz
In reply to Oh, that is tricky! as the… by SteveBlower
Thanks everyone. I'll give these a try when I get a few minutes. But really, it would be so simple if I highlighted two measures, clicked the "small staff" option, and it would only reduce the size of those two measures. If I wanted the whole score, I could highlight the whole score. Why this is so complicated is beyond me, when it could be so simple. But thanks for your suggestions...
In reply to Thanks everyone. I'll give… by caholwey
"Why this is so complicated" because your case is rather rare. Normally ossias would have the same duration as the "standard" version. What you are asking for is musically complicated and rather niche.
In reply to "Why this is so complicated"… by SteveBlower
"But really, it would be so simple if I highlighted two measures, clicked the "small staff" option, and it would only reduce the size of those two measures."
You can use the Staff type change feature (icons in the Layout palette, then scale down in Properties), see:
In reply to "But really, it would be so… by cadiz1
All of these "small stave for a few bars" tricks are clunky workarounds for what the OP is really needing, a way to have parallel staves that don't match in duration. The workarounds give consecutive sections that will play one after the other when you hit the play button, not parallel sections, only one of which plays. And that seems far from simple to implement.
In reply to All of these "small stave… by SteveBlower
"The workarounds give consecutive sections that will play one after the other when you hit the play button, not parallel sections, only one of which plays"
![alternate1.jpg]( "alternate1.jpg")
Correct.
In this case, I suppose the idea of creating and adding an image is the extra step to achieve the desired result.
In reply to "But really, it would be so… by cadiz1
YES! EXACTLY! THANK YOU!!! That's exactly what I wanted to do.
In reply to "But really, it would be so… by cadiz1
So, if anyone else is interested in this "staff type change" in Layouts, I noticed that if you put one in for only one measure, and make the change in size, it will change all the measures after that. But if you put one in for the measure/system you want to change, and then one in the measure/system after that, you can change the first one without it affecting the rest of the score. Very interesting. Thanks cadiz1.