Hello all,

I'm using Sibelius 5 on Windows (just upgraded), and VDL:2.  I'm using the latest template from Tapspace (v0.9.7).  I would like to change the snare staff from its default 5-line configuration to a 1-line staff, and move all the notes so that they are input on to that one line (i.e. what would normally be the center line of a 5-line staff) when entered from my keyboard.

Can anyone tell me the correct way of going about this so that I don't screw everything up?

Thanks!

- Matt

Bill and Jim,

Sounds like a pain in the butt!  Yeah, I will just keep it the way it is; it was merely for my aesthetic preferences about the printed score that I wanted to change the snare staff.  I had previously been using Finale 2006 as my main notation program, and was able to tweak the VDL2 template to make the snare staff one-line without too much effort, so I just wanted to see if this would work for Sibelius.  Thanks for your insight!

Oh, and Jim - Cavies were slammin'!  It's good to see your expertise and work in action over there. Lookin forward to next season!

To tie on to what Jim said.  With the snareline manual/lite template, if you move change it to a one line staff and want everything on the line, you'll have to alter just about the entire map.  I did it on the 5-line because in that one instrument is the full ensemble, solo snare player (not the Snare Solo Kevlar/Mylar) and full line w/ snares off.  Add on to that all the cymbals, rims etc and you've got a train wreck if it's a one liner.  You could do it, but you'd have to unmap solo and snares off as many of those noteheads are already in the full ensemble and you can't have two same noteheads on the same line/space.  For example, notehead 0 is right hand snare hit, right hand solo snare hit and right hand snares off hit.  All the exact same notehead, but because they aren't currently on the same line/space, it works out.

Hope I didn't confuse you too much.

This is done in House Styles>Edit Staff Types. Bear in mind, there are many ";twin"; noteheads in these staff types which can make working with the VDL templates very confusing. If you decide to alter notehead placement on the staff up or down, be sure that the ";input using midi pitch"; values do not change from what they were initially set to. So again, proceed at your own risk. ;)

Hey Jim -

Thanks for your prompt reply.  Yeah, I had read that earlier when I went to go look for a Sibelius 5 template. However...  I have a copy of Sibelius 4 on my laptop, and I've been trying the same thing with no success.  Could you give me the instructions on how to do this properly in ";Sibelius 4 terms";?

Matt - If you are using Sibelius 5, this is done in the ";staff type"; editor of the ";Edit Instruments"; window. However, proceed at your own risk. There are many things (at the moment) that will make the Sibelius 4 template not function properly when using it in Sibelius 5. We are working on getting some Sibelius 5/VDL templates produced and available soon, so until those are here, you may find you're spending more time tweaking staff types instead of making music.  Please stay tuned here in the forum for upcoming news on the Sibelius 5 templates. Thanks for your patience.