Narrow Two Voices

Added 01 Aug 2005 (last updated 17 Aug 2010)

For use with Sibelius 4, Sibelius 4.1, Sibelius 5 and Sibelius 6

This plug-in controls the horizontal note offset in passages which use voice 1 and voice 2 simultaneously. There are three actions predefined (you can define and save more actions for yourself):

• Default Rules of Sibelius: This essentially behaves identically to Sibelius, but corrects some known problems: a unison of two semibreves shows now two noteheads, and so does a unison of e.g. a dotted minim and an undotted crotchet.
• Narrow Mode: In situations where voice 2 goes above voice 1, move the voice 2 notes to the left. This allows a more dense note typesetting and is used in particular in organ and piano music.
• Arpeggio Mode: If you have fast arpeggios running in voice 1 while voice 2 doubles the first note of each arpeggio with a longer note, it is common that the noteheads on the first beats are typeset overlapping.

To use the plug-in, make a passage selection (i.e. a single box), then choose Narrow Two Voices from the Plug-ins menu and follow the on-screen instructions.

Changes in v2.0 (updated 29 August 2005):

• Plug-in now requires use of the Preferences plug-in, so will only run in Sibelius 4
• Added wizard with three pre-defined modes, to select your job with two clicks
• Added font metrics for Helsinki font
• improved offset mechanism for several combinations of dotted/undotted notes

Changes in v1.20 (updated 17 November 2004):

• Now possible to force noteheads to overlap, even if their shape differs (useful for arpeggio-like passages where the first note is played with longer notes in a second voice)
• Added fixes for the positioning of unison semibreves and dotted notes in one voice at the same pitch as undotted notes in another
• Added a full set of user options

• Download NarrowTwoVoices.zip (14K, downloaded 8690 times)

Plug-in written by Hans-Christoph Wirth.