I'm using Sibelius First 6.2.0 (yeah, yeah, very old, but my needs are limited).
I have two voices in the bass clef of a piano score, and I find that the second voice doesn't align with the first voice or with what's going on in the treble clef. In other words, notes in the second voice that should be sounded at the same time as notes in the first voice and in the treble clef are not in the same horizontal position, which makes reading the music harder. See attached picture - it's from Part IIc of the Koln Concert, in case you're wondering.
How do I shift the horizontal location of individual notes?
I tried experimenting and am confused about this rule. When inputting notes in a given voice, if they are near the bottom of the bass clef, Sibelius gives them a stem up. If they are near the top, the stem points down. If this is a rule, Sibelius itself isn't following it. Can someone point me to more detailed documentation about this rule so I can see exactly what it says?
The rule given by Robin applies only in multi-part (polyphonic) writing. If there is only a single Voice 1 without other voices, then the stem direction, as you noted, will change automatically according to the staff position, which is normal music notation practice. This breaks no rules. Once you add in Voice 2, all the stem-down notes in Voice 1 will automatically go stem-up, complying with the rule, which is only now invoked.
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A composer www.markisaacs.com www.facebook.com/markisaacsmusic Sibelius 6.2.0 build 88, Bob Zawalich plugins, Windows 10 64-bit, Intel Core i5 7400 Quad Core Processor (3GHz-3.5GHz 6MB), 8GB RAM, 27'' monitor, NotePerformer 3.3.2, Sibelius Sounds, Sibelius Sounds Essentials, Sibelius Gold (Kontakt), Garritan Personal Orchestra 3, Garritan Authorised Steinway, Bose Computer Music Monitor speakers, Focusrite Scarlett Solo Gen 3.
See attached screenshot. Voice 1 is blue, Voice 2 is green. Don't worry about stem directions until both voices are entered, Sibelius will probably get it right all by itself.
Selecting a passage then pressing Shift-V swaps Voices 1 and 2. This can be useful if things get in a muddle.
Many thanks to all for your help. To Mark: I'm really looking for the "teach a man to fish" solution, not the "give a man a fish" solution, so I'd really like to know how to do this myself. I've seen other online answers to this question that say to click on the note, and then adjust what is called its "X-dimension" under "Properties". But that option does not seem to exist in my version of Sibelius. Perhaps that was a feature that was added in later versions? Again, if someone knows how to do this in Sibelius 6 First I'd love to hear from you.
I think Sibelius 6 First was roughly equivalent functionally to the current Sibelius Artist, so I'm not surprised to learn it lacks a lot of the Properties (now Inspector) functions.
But I think the basic 4-voice functionality is pretty universal. The voice-allocation advice implicit in the attachment to my previous message should apply.
>> To Mark: I'm really looking for the "teach a man to fish" solution, not the "give a man a fish" solution, so I'd really like to know how to do this myself.
Isn't it Laurence who is the one who (in your words) "gave you a fish" in reworking your own musical example in his screenshot? I merely explained that the voices stem direction rule does not apply when there is only Voice 1 alone, in answer to a question you had raised re Sibelius' own behaviour.
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A composer www.markisaacs.com www.facebook.com/markisaacsmusic Sibelius 6.2.0 build 88, Bob Zawalich plugins, Windows 10 64-bit, Intel Core i5 7400 Quad Core Processor (3GHz-3.5GHz 6MB), 8GB RAM, 27'' monitor, NotePerformer 3.3.2, Sibelius Sounds, Sibelius Sounds Essentials, Sibelius Gold (Kontakt), Garritan Personal Orchestra 3, Garritan Authorised Steinway, Bose Computer Music Monitor speakers, Focusrite Scarlett Solo Gen 3.
Sorry, my mistake. I probably misidentified who sent the message in question by looking above it when I should have looked below or vice versa. First time user of this forum.