Hairpin playback scope
I have a score with various hairpins, some at staff and some at part level. When I come to a section where the dynamics vary from part to part I suddenly change to part level hairpins, but it can look messy to the player. Am I doing the right thing or should I resort to part level throughout?
Secondly, solely for playback purposes, can I 'hide' a part level dynamic and expect it to take precedence over the staff level dynamic?
Comments
It's easier to assist if you attach your score - right now we don't even know what instruments are involved or anything. But in general, part is the default because that's how dynamics normally work in music - the person reading the part knows any dynamic affects all staves (whether we are talking piano, harp, organ, marimba, or any other instrument notated in multiple staves). In the relatively uncommon cases where a dynamic needs to be notated separately for the different staves, then indeed, it can look messy, so it's up to each person doing the editing do decide how to best position these.
As for playback, whether a dynamic is hidden or not doesn't affect anything. The most recently encountered dynamic wins. Again, if you attach the actual score and describe what you are trying to do, we can understand and assist better.
In reply to It's easier to assist if you… by Marc Sabatella
Thanks, accepted. But simply put, in playback, which wins, a stave level dynamic of "f" or an alto part level dynamic of "p"? It's not documented....
In reply to Thanks, accepted. But simply… by Ali Wood
Again, without seeing the score, it’s tough to guess, because the determinant is not whether it is p or f or alto or anything like that. Most recent, most specific wins.
In reply to Again, without seeing the… by Marc Sabatella
And if they're at the same time position then it is indeterminate.
In reply to And if they're at the same… by jeetee
"Most recent, most specific wins." That's all I needed to know. It doesn't tell you that in the manual, I don't think.
Reply
In reply to "Most recent, most specific… by Ali Wood
Most recent winning is of course how dynamics always work in music notation :-). Most specific winning is just kind of logical, really it's the way it needs to work if you think about it. A staff-specific dynamic has be able to override a part-specific one, otherwise it wouldn't do anything at all. And it has to effect that staff only, otherwise it wouldn't be different from setting to part. So it should work exactly the way a human would read it - no special explanations should be required, it just works the way music notation always works. Unless I'm misunderstanding specific to your particular score.