The PSALM Liturgical Music Resource
Special topic: Two ways of dealing with phrases of varying lengths (e.g. in liturgical recitative)
- Dividing phrases in advance:
- This method requires some careful and time-consuming calculations, trying to estimate how many beats (or letter characters) will fit into a line.
- After numbering the measures on the original and noting the number of beats in each measure, adjust the time signature for each respective measure and proceed to enter the notes.
- Entering one musical/textual phrase per measure, as described above, then adjusting:
- After applying the Note-Spacing Metatool (see above), begin adjusting the measure lengths; most often this entails splitting a long measure and putting part of it on one system and moving part of it onto the next system (with an invisible bar-line at the end of the system). Do not use the "Split measure" feature in Finale; instead, follow these steps:
- Insert a blank measure after the measure you wish to split,
- Determine how many notes you wish to move
- Go into measure FROM which you wish to move beats and reduce the time signature by the appropriate number of beats
- Go into measure TO which you are moving notes and increase the time signature by the corresponding number of beats
- Highlight both measures with the Mass Mover tool and select "Rebar music".
- Changing the time signature destroys your allotment spacing, so you must highlight those measures again and re-apply note spacing (Meta-tool "4"). Recalculate music (Update layout)
- Use Mass Mover tool and Fit Music feature to arrange measures properly on the page
- NOTE: This same procedure can be used to move beats from one measure to another if the note or word spacing too tight or too loose.
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