How do I set up a repeated section so that certain MEASURES are only played on certain passes (otherwise skipped)?

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Robert Gustafson Edited June 30, 2020 04:15

Windows 10, Finale v26

Sometimes sheet music has a repeated section where certain measures not constituting an ending are meant to be played on certain passes, and skipped in others.

For instance, suppose that a 13-measure section that is played 4 times has measures 1-4 (relative to the beginning of the repeat section) and 9-13 played all 4 times, but measures 5-8 played (in-between the other sub-sections) only the 3rd time. In other words:

Pass 1: 1,2,3,4,9,10,11,12,13 (9 measures long)

Pass 2: 1,2,3,4,9,10,11,12,13 (9 measures long)

Pass 3: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13 (13 measures long)

Pass 4: 1,2,3,4,9,10,11,12,13 (9 measures long)

This would be indicated in standard "commercially-released" sheet music by placing the 13 measures in the same repeated section, with an ending-style "horizontal bracket" over measures 5 - 8 (in the middle of the section) and a caption such as "Play third time only". I can use SmartShapes and Text to create the visual effect, but that won't cause the effect to be generated on playback; by default, measures 5-8, which should be skipped on the 1st, 2nd, and 4th passes, would play on all 4 passes. I've seen many (although not a lot) of sheet music where some of the "pre-ending" repeat sections have measures meant to be skipped except on certain passes, and I'd like to be able to generate the appropriate playback effect without having to "arrange" the piece differently.

(NOTE: I'm talking about playing or skipping entire MEASURES, not musical aspects of measures, such as "muting" and "unmuting". In my above example, pass # 3 would last 4 measures LONGER than passes 1, 2, and 4.)

It's not a live-or-die issue for me, but I've seen enough examples in commercially-released scores to want to know if there's a way to do this kind of thing in Finale.

4 comments

Date Votes

PETER THOMSEN Posted June 30, 2020 04:41

I would do it with a Text Repeat that executes a jump from m. 4 to m. 9 on the Passes 1, 2 and 4.

You can hide the Text Repeat so that it is not shown in the layout.

Robert Gustafson Posted June 30, 2020 05:26

I think I figured it out. First, create the forward and backward repeat symbols (with "4" specified for the number of times for the backward repeat) for the 1st and 13th measures of the section. Then at the 4th measure of the section, click to create a new text repeat, select "Create", then enter "Play 3rd time only" for the Text in the ensuing dialog, setting the font as needed. Upon return to the main repeat dialog, click to select the new text repeat, and, in the ensuing dialog, select "Jump on pass(es)", and enter "1,2,4" (leaving out "3"), then select "Measure #" and the 9th measure of the section (or "Forward" and "5" to jump 5 measures forward) under "Target" (probably checking "Auto-update target" as well"), then, upon returning to the main repeat dialog, click "Select". Finally, drag the "Play 3rd time only" text handle so that the text appears over the 5th measure of the section, and use SmartShapes to create a bracket.

It should be noted that if the repeat section is returned to, say, as the result of a "D.C." or "D.S" instruction, you should probably include additional passes for "Jump on pass(es)".

Robert Gustafson Posted June 30, 2020 05:31

I already figured it out. (Thanks anyway.) The only problem is, if I create the bracket as a SmartShape, there seems to be no way to affect the depth of the "vertical" parts of the bracket.

PETER THOMSEN Posted June 30, 2020 12:23

… if I create the bracket as a SmartShape, there seems to be no way to affect the depth of the "vertical" parts of the bracket …

If you - instead of the sub-tool Double-Ended Bracket Tool - use the sub-tool Custom Line Tool, you have full control over the line, including the height of the hooks.

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