Sibelius Clinic: Fancy Glissando Setups

[@BenjaminCherkassky]

I initially thought this would be about the harp orchestration in the last movement of Sibelius' 1st symphony, but this is also interesting!

[@roqueavellaneda]

Excellent! Please do the mockup guide... Glissandi are tricky to pull off. Always great Thomas 🙏🙏🙏

[@kovachito]

Good to know some techs tips.!! Very helpful to everyone of us whose struggle with some subtleties of these programs.Thanks Thomas.!!

[@herveorus7432]

Thanks Thomas for this focus on glissandi. Even if I am a Dorico user, I like it ! Thanks !

[@eddygonzalez6018]

It's NOT called the "lazy way", it's called the 'Novice, still learning how to work this program" way 😆😉

[@zionfortuna]

How would you have set up a similar glissando in your own compositions? Would you have used a pedal diagram? Also, please do the mock up video.

[@jjaguirremusic]

Tgis is great, could you possibly make a video one day about different glissando scenarios? I’ve come to find it tricky when glissando’s have very specific rhythm placements either at the beginning or end, or when they cross barlines. Maybe a short video of how to handle them and the safest way to notate them. Thanks!!

[@PeterRoos]

Cool, thanks Thomas. You're the boss.

[@adamarroyo4798]

I clicked because I thought it would include the mock up, too. Please I would like to see it

[@sashakindel3600]

I knew there are a lot of options for changing noteheads, but it never occurred to me to use an invisible one when an open notehead overlaps with a solid one and the open one is the one I want to see.

[@aniolelseer7199]

Please do mock up video

[@ContrapuntalComposer]

I am curious about two things: 1. Does the harp gliss plug-in respect the preceding pedaling notation? For example, I could have a piece with a key signature such as 3 sharps for A-major - and then use pedaled enharmonics (F-flat, A-flat, and C-flat) to allow a perfectly physically playable E-dom-7 chord as a glissando. I'm allergic to websites and software installations, so I've handled this by drawing pedaling and the gliss and then using Inspector to suppress playback, then writing note-by-note every note of the gliss in a hidden staff for playback. A total pain. But IF the harp-gliss plug-in will respect the pedaling notation, then I would consider downloading it and installing it... hoping that nothing will crash. Can anyone advise me on this point? (Advice to AVID: Just make a solution to this inherent to the core Sibelius software. The harp is not some exotic instrument for which we should jump through hoops just to get the right notes played.) 2. In the example in this video, the dynamic markings (mf and ff) are between the staves, as one would expect for harp parts. However, the crescendo is below the lower staff. I recognize that this is necessary in order to avoid a collision with the gliss, itself, as well as to fulfill the intention of mimicking the engraved version. However, would it be better to move the mf and ff to below the lower staff in order to make the overall notation of dynamics more visually coherent? I do not offer this as a suggestion, but rather as a real question. Can anyone advise me on this point?

[@OrchestrationOnline]

I can help you. 🙂 No, the glissando plug-in does NOT respect the previous pedal marking. But that is fine, because it can generate a new pedal marking. Usually, pedal markings should be only be added by a pro harpist, and left to them with each concert - EXCEPT in the case of glissandos. So you see, it's actually the reverse of your concern. You can leave off the pedal markings (unless you're a harpist or working with a harpist to produce a part that must essentially be sight-read in a situation like a recording session or traveling theatrical show), but just insert them for the glissandos. As to the second concern - so long as the dynamic markings are attached to the staff in question that will play the notes, then all will work fine. OR if the markings are set to all voices with Option/5 or Alt/5, then you don't need to worry which staff they're attached to.