Positions of jazz articulations

In Dorico Pro, jazz articulations are automatically positioned relative to the noteheads to which they apply, with any other notations on those notes, such as rhythm dots, accidentals, and back notes, automatically considered.

When multiple notes in a chord have a jazz articulation, Dorico Pro considers the best way to align them based on how close to the noteheads they can be positioned and how many jazz articulations to show in total. Dorico Pro allows a maximum of one jazz articulation per space, meaning fewer jazz articulations than noteheads are sometimes shown on cluster chords.

They are positioned by default according to your settings in Engraving Options. You can change the default positions of all jazz articulations project-wide relative to other jazz articulations and to noteheads on the Jazz Articulations page in Engraving Options.

In Engrave mode, each smooth jazz articulation has two square handles, one at the start and one at the end. You can move these handles to adjust the graphical position, length, and angle of jazz articulations. You can also move whole individual jazz articulations graphically.

Figure 1. Handles on a smooth doit in Engrave mode
Note
  • You cannot move jazz articulations rhythmically. If you want to change the notes to which jazz articulations apply, you must delete them from their original notes and input new jazz articulations on the new notes.

  • The following properties in the Jazz Articulations group of the Properties panel are activated automatically when you move the corresponding smooth jazz articulation handle:

    • In far offset moves the start handle of jazz articulations shown before notes; that is, the handle further from the note. X moves them horizontally, Y moves them vertically.

    • In offset moves the end handle of jazz articulations shown before notes; that is, the handle closer to the note. X moves them horizontally, Y moves them vertically.

    • Out offset moves the start handle of jazz articulations shown after notes; that is, the handle closer to the note. X moves them horizontally, Y moves them vertically.

    • Out far offset moves the end handle of jazz articulations shown after notes; that is, the handle further from the note. X moves them horizontally, Y moves them vertically.