Individual note spacing between staves?

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Wim4rk
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2021 11:47 am
Sibelius Version: 2021.9
Operating System: Windows

Post by Wim4rk » Sat Oct 23, 2021 11:59 am

Hi,

Can I space notes differently in diferent staves?

I'm working on a score with a couple of cramped pages. I have a few restraints; due to layout on other pages this page must have 4 bars and stave sizes are set.
Sib_cramped.png
Sib_cramped.png (106.87 KiB) Viewed 2186 times
I would like to space each instrument individually, but I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks!


andyg
Posts: 1727
Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2006 8:55 pm
Sibelius Version: 7.1.3 and 6.2
Operating System: Windows

Post by andyg » Sat Oct 23, 2021 9:11 pm

As you probably are already aware, everything is spaced correctly but there is just too much on each system for Sibelius to make it look 'pretty'.

If you really must have that number of bars on each system, you'd have to shift a heck of a lot of notes individually with the X parameter in the Inspector. It might look a little better but the spacings would of course be incorrect.

I would seriously think about the way the page/systems/bars layout is going to be dealt with to get good results. Even to the extent of unlocking the format and resetting everything to get a better starting point.

MikeLyons
Posts: 1631
Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2016 7:20 pm
Sibelius Version: Ult. 2024.3.1/7.5
Operating System: Windows

Post by MikeLyons » Sat Oct 23, 2021 9:27 pm

You haven't told us which version of Sibelius you are using, but later versions will allow you to make the staff sizes smaller on a system by system basis.
Sib 6.2, 7.5 and 2023.6, Windows 11, 32GB RAM, 16TB 7200RPM Storage, 2TB SSD, Note Performer 3.3.2, EWQLSO, EWQLSC, Harmony Assistant and some others. mike@mike-lyons.co.uk

KJ_Palmer
Posts: 388
Joined: Mon Feb 28, 2011 6:22 am
Sibelius Version: 6.2, 7.5
Operating System: Windows

Post by KJ_Palmer » Sun Oct 24, 2021 10:23 am

Not sure if you have wide margins on, but that can give you a little more space to play with. Also maybe consider shortening the short instrument names, and removing some of the space after the key sig. Of course these changes will affect the rest of the score, so you'd want to check the other pages and make adjustments as needed.

Just my tuppence (two cents) worth.
Sibelius 6.2, 7.5.1, Windows 11

Wim4rk
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2021 11:47 am
Sibelius Version: 2021.9
Operating System: Windows

Post by Wim4rk » Sun Oct 24, 2021 5:49 pm

@MikeLyons, 2021.9 on Windows 10.

Thanks for your replies.
Yes, I can make the page more readable by decreasing the size of the systems, but that doesn't make the tuplets evenly spaced. I'd like to disable the vertical alignment somehow. Or even better, make sure all whole beats are aligned, but subdivisions are printed evenly between beats. Tall order, I guess?

MikeLyons
Posts: 1631
Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2016 7:20 pm
Sibelius Version: Ult. 2024.3.1/7.5
Operating System: Windows

Post by MikeLyons » Sun Oct 24, 2021 7:30 pm

That's just not how music in the western system works! Allowing beats not to line up vertically would just make a mess for the conductor.

Once you have reduced the size of the systems, or even the individual staves in a system, you can use reset note spacing to return the spacing to a more sensible default.
Sib 6.2, 7.5 and 2023.6, Windows 11, 32GB RAM, 16TB 7200RPM Storage, 2TB SSD, Note Performer 3.3.2, EWQLSO, EWQLSC, Harmony Assistant and some others. mike@mike-lyons.co.uk

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