Range of dynamics

• Apr 17, 2025 - 23:16

I seem to remember that previous versions of MS had a way of applying a single dynamic to all staves. Is this possible now? I look at the properties panel and there's no such thing.


Comments

There is such a thing, but how to reveal it is not obvious. If you click on the dynamic and look in the properties panel you should see this

Clipboard_04-17-2025_02.jpg

If you see this
Clipboard_04-17-2025_01.jpg

click on the triangle next to the word "Dynamics".

Having reached the stage in the first picture, if you look very closely at the button that says "All" under the heading "Voice assigment" you will, if your eyesight is good, see a small black triangle in the bottom right hand corner. Click on that and you should see this

Clipboard_04-17-2025_03.jpg

Where you can choose whether the dynamic affects the whole instrument or just the stave it is attached to.

I find these multiple layers of dropdowns rather unhelpful. It looks tidy but hides things away in surprising places.

In reply to by SteveBlower

I have no such little triangle. I guess that's because I've been too scared to move to 4.5?
And I doubt whether the "All voices on instrument" applies to all of SATB when they're on separate staves.
What I'm after is an "mf", say, above the soprano stave, which applies to the ATB staves as well. The soprano isn't the same "instrument" as the alto, tenor or bass.

In reply to by Ali Wood

The facility to have different dynamics for different staves of an instrument was available in V3 but not in early versions of V4. If that facility is important to you then you need to use a version that provides it - a later version of V4 or a version of V3. If other things are more important then stick with your preferred version.

In reply to by SteveBlower

The choral parts are regarded (I think) as separate instruments, each having its own stave. I can specify different dynamics for each part, no trouble. What I cannot do is specify a single dynamic that covers all four parts, which is what I want to do to save space. That was indeed available in version 3, but I certainly don't want to revert to version 3. I'll upgrade to 4.5 as you suggest, but holding off from doing that until I find a time when I can do it without disrupting work on current scores!
Hope that helps. Thanks, Ali

In reply to by Ali Wood

Actually, after re-reading your initial post and paying proper attention this time, I see you want one dynamic to affect four independent staves. That is still not possible in V4.5.1 and I think not in the imminent 4.5.2. However, you can add dynamics to all staves and then make invisible the ones you don't want to see.

In reply to by woodah@btinter…

And forwards.

Dynamics can now be assigned per voice on a single stave. They couldn't in MU3.

Having a single dynamic for several parts is a rather uncommon usage. I would rather have the per voice facility than the block dynamic facility. The latter can be easily achieved by adding dynamics to each part and hiding those that are not to be seen.

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