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4. Playback & video Because staff objects only apply to the instrument and voice(s) they’re attached to, it’s particularly noticeable in playback if dynamics are attached to the wrong staff, as the instruments will play with incorrect dynamics ( 8.7 Attachment). For instruments with multiple staves, such as keyboard instruments, see Instruments with multiple staves below. To change the staff to which a dynamic is attached, move it over the staff you want it to be attached to so that the gray attachment arrow jumps onto the new staff, and then reposition it to the correct location. (You can only change the attachment of an object in the full score: if you drag an object in a dynamic part, it won’t re-attach.) To change the voice(s) to which a dynamic applies, select it and click the voice buttons at the bottom of the Keypad (shortcut Alt+1/2/3/4 or 1/2/3/4 to assign it to another voice; Alt+5 or 5 makes the dynamic apply to all voices). If you want to make a dynamic apply to other combinations of voices, click the voice buttons at the bottom of the Keypad window ( 1.2 Keypad). Dynamics created using Expression text (see Expression on page 220) are interpreted according to the appropriate entry in the playback dictionary ( 4.9 Playback dictionary) – e.g. fff equates to the maximum dynamic. But this isn’t quite the end of the story – the actual playback dynamic of a note also depends on the level of Espressivo and any articulations (such as accents) present.
Hairpins When you input a hairpin, by default Sibelius automatically works out its end dynamic. If there’s an actual dynamic (e.g. ff) written at the right-hand end, it uses that; if no dynamic is specified, Sibelius increases or decreases the dynamic by one level (e.g. a crescendo hairpin that starts at a prevailing mp will go to mf, while a diminuendo hairpin that starts at a prevailing ff will go to f ). If you want to specify the end dynamic more precisely, either as an explicit dynamic or as a percentage change to the initial dynamic, select the hairpin whose end dynamic you want to change, and open the Playback panel of the Properties window (shortcut Ctrl+Alt+P or P). Change the drop-down from auto, which is the default, to choose a new percentage value, and whether that value is a percentage Change from the initial dynamic or a percentage of the Maximum velocity. If you specify a particular final dynamic for a hairpin in Properties, that dynamic will always be used, even if you add, remove or change an Expression text object at the end of the hairpin. In the real world, different kinds of instruments handle gradual changes of dynamic in different ways. Percussive instruments (such as piano, timpani, harp, etc.) can only change dynamic at the start of a note, while sustaining instruments (such as most wind, brass and string instruments) can change dynamic during the course of a note. Sibelius will play dynamics as realistically as your playback device will allow. For many playback devices, including the supplied Sibelius Sounds Essentials sample library, Sibelius will play a smooth change of dynamic over the duration of the hairpin, when written for instruments that make a sustaining sound (e.g. wind, brass, strings and singers). Other devices, including most MIDI sound modules and soundcards, are not set up this way, and on those devices, Sibelius can only specify the dynamic at the start of the note, and can’t vary the dynamic mid-note.
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