reference.book Page 137 Monday, August 31, 2009 2:47 PM
2.17 Hairpins
2.17 Hairpins 2.21 Lines.
Creating and extending hairpins Select the note where you want the hairpin to begin and type H for a crescendo, or Shift-H for a diminuendo. As with other lines, you can extend and retract the right-hand end of the hairpin using Space and Shift-Space respectively. Use Alt+/ to move between a hairpin’s handles; you can use / (with Ctrl or for larger steps) to make fine adjustments to the position of each end of the hairpin. Hairpins often have an explicit dynamic at the left- or right-hand end, or both ends:
mf
p
Simply create the dynamic using Expression text, and Sibelius will automatically adjust the length of the hairpin to accommodate the dynamic. You can even drag a dynamic into the middle of a hairpin, and Sibelius automatically breaks the hairpin: p
f
ff
Hairpins can be angled by dragging either end of the hairpin, but it is generally recommended that hairpins should be horizontal wherever possible.
Types of hairpin Create Line also contains dashed, dotted and “from/to silence” hairpins, and Create Symbol contains suitable “exponential” symbols to add to the end of crescendos if required.
Hairpins over two systems When a hairpin is split over two systems, Sibelius draws the hairpin in two halves, the vertical position of each of which can be adjusted independently of the other.
Hairpin apertures By default, Sibelius makes the aperture (that is, the distance between the two lines at the open end of the hairpin) the same, regardless of the length of the hairpin. In some published music, however, the aperture of the hairpin widens slightly the longer the hairpin is, and Sibelius allows you to reproduce this appearance. You can adjust the aperture of all hairpins using the settings in House Style Engraving Rules, or an individual hairpin using the Lines panel of Properties – read on.
Adjusting hairpin apertures globally The Lines page of House Style Engraving Rules has the following options for hairpin apertures: 137
Notations
Hairpin is the colloquial term for a line that represents a gradual change of dynamic, typically over a relatively short space of time, while text such as cresc. or dim. is favored for changes of dynamic over longer time spans.