Setting to place dynamics
On all the vocal scores, with very few exceptions, that I see and that I write when arranging, the dynamics are above the bar so as not to interfere with the lyrics. I end up after placing every dynamic having to set the vertical placement to -9.
Only very occasionally does this also cover other marks and need a different value like -9.5 or -10.
Could there be a setting that for Vocal parts dynamic marks are given a negative value to automatically move them above the bar but still allowing them to be moved further?
Settings:
Default location of dynamic marks:
Vocal parts: -9
Instrumental parts: 0
Obviously these would need to be a box where you could set these to your own preference 0 being the system default.
Thanks
Comments
Unfortunately it's all or nothing. There are ways to make changing all the dynamics on a line easier and faster though.
Work is being done for the next major release to enable changing the anchor points of your dynamics (or any text object for that matter) to be above staff. See also this thread: https://musescore.org/en/node/140831
You can create a custom palette and drag your customized dynamics onto it and re-use them.
Attached is a customized Dynamics palette. Copy it somewhere convenient, run MuseScore, select Custom palettes. Frist back up you existing palette (right-click and Save) and then right-click on the existing Dynamics palette and choose "Load Palette".
Top rows are set up for dynamics positioned below the stave - actually a bit lower than usual as I tend to use them in piano-vocal scores and this places them roughly in the middle of the two staves of a piano. Further down you have dynamics positioned for above the stave (for the vocals). I've thrown in a few other common annotations for good measure.
In reply to You can create a custom by underquark
Thanks. I did "First back up you existing palette (right-click and Save)" and then "right-click on the existing Dynamics palette and choose 'Load Palette'." but I can't as it is greyed out. Any ideas on that?
In reply to Thanks. I did "First back up by Grandpa David
See the Handbook under "Custom palettes". You meed to create a custom workspace first, you also may need to enable a palette for editing if you wish to modify a predefined palette.
In reply to See the Handbook under by Marc Sabatella
Thanks I will have a look at that. :)
In reply to See the Handbook under by Marc Sabatella
Yup that worked. Thanks and thanks again underquark
In reply to You can create a custom by underquark
Your input has been most useful. I discovered that the mpal file is actually a zipped xml file and I was able to go in and make the y offset -1 where you had -2 which places the dynamics just where I want them. It was then a simple matter of zipping the file with its meta-inf folder, renaming it to .mpal and hey presto all is perfect when re-loaded. Much appreciate your time and effort.
In reply to Your input has been most by Grandpa David
Excellent. I think custom palettes are a powerful but underused feature.
I'm not sure what version of MuseScore you're using, but this is easy to do in 2.0.1.
Right click on any dynamic marking in your score, then select Text Style from the context menu. In the dialogue panel which will appear, change the vertical offset to the value you want for all dynamic markings in the entire score, and click Apply.
Note that this will affect dynamics on ALL staves, not just vocal lines. Depending upon your arrangement, you will have more voices than instruments or vice-versa, so making per-stave adjustments may make more sense. To do that, follow this procedure:
Open the Inspector F8. Single-click on a dynamic mark in a staff to select it, then right-click on it to bring up the context menu. From that menu, click Select>All Similar Elements in Same Staff, and then adjust the vertical offset in the inspector to the value you need. This will move all the items selected together, but it will not change the default Text Style settings.
Warning:If for some reason you subsequently modify any parameter in the Text Style for dynamic mark, when you click Apply all the parameters score-wide will be reset to whatever values are in the various fields when you do that. Your earlier manual, per-staff adjustment(s) will be wiped out and you'll have to do it/them over again. So plan ahead, as they say: Set Text Style first, and do any needed manual adjustments later. ;o)