I'm still in the learning phase of Sibelius 3. I prefer to have my top bass be on the top G line instead of its default E line and move all the basses up accordingly. I know how to change that mapping in Finale, but not in Sibelius.

Can someone walk me through how to do that step by step?

Thanks

Hi Bill - this is done by editing your bass drum "staff type". What you should probably do is compare midi-input pitches for the bass drum to those found in the staff type. For example, RH drum 1 is pitch D#5. Click on the various noteheads on the current "E" line until you see the one that registers for the input pitch of D#5. When you've found it, just alter the "position on staff" setting so that it's up on the G space. Of course you'll have to do this for the LH as well. Since both pitches share the same line, they had to be assigned different noteheads (though the noteheads actually appear identical).

It's a pain, yes. But once it's setup, you're good to go!

I'd be interested to find how many users prefer their bass notation this way (drum 1 on G space etc). I tend to prefer the E space for drum 1 so my bass stems don't collide with various tenor expressions/hairpins/etc above, but then again I've done it both ways.

good luck!

Thanks for the quick reply Jim. I'll give it a try today and see if I can figure it out.

The reason I prefer to have the top bass on G instead of E is that I'm really picky when I do the final touches on my scores and I hate having stickings too far below the staff like I have to do if the top bass is on E. To me it looks really bad when you have a stretch where there are just unison parts and the stickings are way below the staff.

But then again, I'm a bit odd anyway. :)

Any chance of you guys adding a 6th bass to the future release? My school is adding a 6th bass next year and I'd like to be able to have the kids hear all their parts.

I ran into the same "problem" (I prefer top bass to be on the g above the staff) and I thought I would post the Sibelius template modifications I made with all the bass drums mapped up a third (this includes crushes, dreads, etc.)

Also, stems are always up by default. I think that's all of the mods that are in this? (I forget what I add sometimes)

http://www.vahelmsmen.org/VDLTemplate_v31_bup3.sib

Justin

Thanks for lending your expertise Justin. I'm sure there will be plenty of folks who will benefit from your efforts!