User manual

When the property is deactivated, Dorico SE uses internal heuristics to dene them as either pick-
up bars or normal irregular bars automatically.
EXAMPLE
Irregular bar dened as pick-up into common time Irregular bar dened as normal irregular bar, not a
pick-up
Large time signatures
Large time signatures are scaled-up time signatures that appear much larger than normal
relative to the staff size. They can be helpful in orchestral scores, as the smaller staff size in such
scores means standard time signatures are small and harder for conductors to read.
Large time signatures are also very commonly used in lm scores, as conductors rarely have
much time to prepare the scores before recording sessions. Having large time signatures makes
changes in meter more visually clear on the page, especially when music contains multiple
changes in meter.
In Dorico SE, you can show large time signatures at the following positions:
● Once per bracketed group
● Above the staff and at system object positions
Time signatures shown once per bracketed group
Instead of showing a time signature on every staff that is the same height as the staff, you can
instead show a single large time signature on each bracketed group of staves. When shown once
per bracketed group, time signatures are scaled up in size according to the number of staves in
the bracketed group. The largest time signatures are shown on bracketed groups containing four
or more staves. When shown on single staves, they extend a small amount above and below the
staff, which is commonly used for parts for
lm music recording sessions.
Narrow, serif time signatures shown once per bracketed group
Large time signatures shown on bracketed groups occupy horizontal space, which can be a
signicant amount when they are especially large and use the standard time signature design.
Therefore, we recommend that you use one of the narrow designs in layouts that show large
time signatures on bracketed groups.
Time signatures
Large time signatures
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Dorico SE 3.1.10