Create a Divisi or Chorded Instrument from Two Separate Staves

In my post “Keep it Together in Finale or Sibelius : Score & Parts in the same file“, we looked at methods of exploding chorded or divisi parts in the score into individual lines that, would be hidden in the page view of the score, while still available as single line parts.

Often, just the opposite workflow is required: the score already contains individual instrument staves that need to be combined for the score. That is, rather than allocating the contents of a divisi or chorded staff into individual instrument staves,  the requirement is to merge data from two or more independent staves into a single combined staff.

Let’s break it down.

---

DIVISI

---

I’ll use Clarinets as an example. Assuming you already have separate Clarinet 1 and 2 staves containing music, the first thing you’ll do is to add a third Clarinet staff, which we label “Clarinet 1&2”.

FINALE

---

Using the Mass Edit Tool, select all of the Clarinet 2 staff by clicking to the left of it at the start of the piece. Copy it to the Clipboard, then Paste it into the combined Clarinet 1&2 Staff.

In the combined staff, use “Edit > Move / Copy Layers” to move all of the Clarinet 2 material into Layer 2. Unless you have colors turned off in Program Options, you will see the note and rest colors change in the staff, indicating that they are now in a different voice (layer).

From the Document Menu, choose “Show Active Layer Only”. The notes and real rests for Clarinet 2 in the combined Clarinet 1&2 staff (which is now in Layer 2) should disappear. If the notes in Layer 1 disappear instead, you’ll just need to make Layer 1 the Active Layer.

To specify the current Active Layer, use the Layer Popup in the bottom left hand corner of the Finale Document Window. The key shortcuts are Command-Option-1 (2, 3, 4) on Mac or Control-Alt-1 (2, 3, 4) on Windows.

“Show Active Layer Only” has a great side benefit, which is that it filters out any data in any other Layer during copy and paste operations. This means if Layer 2 is the only visible Layer, you can only copy and paste the notes and other data attached specifically to Layer 2. It is a “visibility filter” (what you see is what you get). With “Show Active Layer Only” on, the rule is, if you can see it, it can be copied or overwritten. If you can’t see it, it will not be copied or overwritten.

If both individual instrument staves have identical dynamics, you probably don’t need both sets. No problem. You can avoid duplicating specific elements by filtering them out using “Edit > Edit Filter” before you copy and paste. For instance, uncheck “Smart Shapes (Assigned to Measures)” (hairpins) and “Expressions: Dynamics” in the Edit Filter before you copy and paste the part destined for Layer 2.

If the dynamics are more independently nuanced, you can selectively delete by region after you have created the combined staff.

Highlight the Clarinet 1 staff (e.g. select it). Copy the contents of the staff to the clipboard, then Paste into your combined Clarinet 1&2 staff. You won’t overwrite the notes in Layer 2 because they are not visible.

After pasting the Clarinet 1 part into the combined Clarinet 1&2 staff, uncheck “Show Active Layer Only” and you will see all of the data combined in the score, stems up, stems down. You can respace, and fine tune vertical rest positions, etc.

The “Join Rests of Multiple Layers” plugin available in the paid version of the TG Tools plugin suite merges the vertical positioning of rests of the same position and duration. The free JW Change plugin written by Jari Williamsson also has a Placement Style – Centered option to visibly merge identical rests in different layers. 

SIBELIUS

---

Select all of the Clarinet 2 staff by triple-clicking it. Copy it to the Clipboard, then Paste it into the combined Clarinet 1&2 Staff.

If the dynamics are identical in both Clarinet lines, while the destination staff is still selected, select and delete (or hide) them. Option-Shift-D (Mac) or Alt-Shift-D (Windows) to select, then Delete or Command-Shift-H (Mac) or Control-Shift-H (Windows) to hide.

If the dynamics are more independently nuanced, you can selectively delete by region after you have created the combined staff.

Now, select all of the Clarinet 1&2 combined staff again, and type Option-2 (Mac) or Alt-2 (Windows) to move all of the Clarinet 2 line into Voice 2.

Move to the start of the piece and triple-click in the Clarinet 1 staff to select it all. Now, filter for Voice 1 or type Command-Option-Shift-1 (Mac) or Control-Alt-Shift-1 (Windows). You should see all notes and rests highlighted, as well as any Staff text or lines associated with the staff.

Taking care that the cursor is exactly over the starting beat of the piece, hold down the Option key (Mac) or the Alt key (Windows), and click on the first beat of the combined staff. You will see all of the data combined in the score, stems up, stems down. You can respace, and fine tune vertical rest positions, etc.

A quick option to achieve the above is the Paste Into Voice Plugin (Found in Notes and Rests) which allows you to select which voice you’ll paste into. You won’t need to manually switch the voice of the 2nd part, and you can paste them in any order.

The Hide Duplicate Rests Plugin by Bob Zawalich hides (but does not delete) rests that duplicate a rest (of the same position and duration) in another voice.

---

DIVISI TO CHORDED

---

Sometimes, it’s desirable to provide a clean, simplified look where divisi passages in the score are written with shared stems, as if they were chords.  A woodwind or brass part which is written outside the staff may look quite cluttered with stems up / stems down. With the data already in the combined staff in separate voices or layers, in both programs, we can merge these notes into a single voice (layer).

Most scores are going to have at least a few places where the rhythms aren’t identical between player 1 and player 2 of the same instrument, so it’s usually best to merge the contents of the staff on a region by region basis.  You don’t want your quarter notes in the lower voice to be turned into smaller, tied note values, just because the upper voice has a more active rhythm, for instance.

Finale : Let’s cut to the chase: the JW Merge Layers . . . plugin does this in one step. Select the region you want to merge and run the plugin. Done. One of my favorite productivity tools.

Sibelius : If there are no tuplets in the selection area, highlight the region where you wish to merge the voices and type Option-1 (Mac) or Alt-1 (Windows).

If there are tuplets, the “Reduce” feature found in the Arrange Group of the Note Input tab in Sibelius 7 will merge the contents of 2 discreet staves into a single staff with “chorded” appearance (single voice) in one step. Select the contents of the two individual clarinet staves and run the plugin.

This feature is also available in Sibelius 6 as the “Reduce” plugin, found in Composing tools.

One additional little detail which applies to both programs is playback. You probably only want  each line to play back once in the score. In either program, you can mute or turn down the volume all the way of specific staves using the Mixer.

---

REGIONAL VISIBILITY

---

One of the beauties of now having both a combined staff as well as two or more individual staves containing the same data: when we factor in the ability to control visibility by region, we can show whatever staves we want, wherever we want them in the score.

So, for instance, Clarinet 1 and 2 are playing in thirds or unison for several pages of score, but then they diverge rhythmically, and perhaps Clarinet 2 is even moves to double on Bass Clarinet at that point. You’ve been hiding the individual Clarinet 1 and Clarinet 2 lines up to this point, instead, showing the combined single Clarinet 1&2 staff. But with a page turn in the right place, and using the techniques we discussed in the previous post to hide specific staves, you can easily lay out several pages so that the conductor sees the two discreet staves instead of the combined one for a few pages. When the Clarinet part goes back to homophonic lines, you show the divisi combined staff again. Simple!

The combined Clarinet 1&2 line is never going to be made into an actual part, it’s dedicated to the score, so if you start with the two individual staves of Clarinet to build this combined staff, you only actually need to copy the material which will be used for display in the score.

That’s it – That’s all there is to it!

~robert

As always, thank you for your comments, questions, and of course, your subscription to my blog.