IWBNI it were possible to assign a lyric to a staff so that an appropriate lyric could be automatically selected as the current lyric when a staff is clicked while typing lyrics into a score.

As it is now, when using Type Into Score, one may change the current lyric by pressing Ctrl+Up Arrow or Ctrl+Down Arrow, or by selecting Lyrics>Specify Current Lyric.

This feature would be useful for polyphonic music that consists of simultaneous vocal parts where each part is associated with a given staff (e.g. Soprano, Alto, etc.).

This could be implemented by adding a new lyric type called Part that would be added to the existing list of lyric types that consists of Verse, Chorus and Section on the following dialog boxes: Edit Lyrics, Adjust Baselines, Specify Current Lyric and Select Default Fonts.

A new menu item called Assign Parts to Staves could be added to the Lyrics menu. This item would display a new dialog box called Assign Parts to Staves that could contain the following controls:

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Assign Parts to Staves Dialog Box

Part Number: _____

Staff: |list box of staff names|
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When Lyrics>Type Into Score is selected, if the current lyric is of type Part, then when a staff is clicked, the current lyric could be automatically changed to the lowest-numbered part that is assigned to the staff. If no part has been assigned to the staff, the next unassigned part number could be automatically assigned to the staff that has been clicked. When typing a part into a score, the keystrokes Ctrl+Up Arrow and Ctrl+Down Arrow could be used to change the current lyric to the next or previous part that is assigned to the current staff. If there is no previous part, a message box could be displayed. If there is no next part, the next unassigned part number could be automatically assigned to the staff. When an unassigned part is automatically assigned to a staff, the baseline for the part could be automatically calculated to displace it from the previous part that is assigned to the staff.

When Lyrics>Click Assignment is selected, if the current lyric is of type Part, then one would be required to click notes in the staff to which the current part is assigned. The staff name could be displayed in the top section of the Click Assignment dialog box.

Created: January 22, 2000 (based on a submission from Arie Fokkens)
Last Updated: January 22, 2000
Version: Finale 2000b