1. If the Score Structure panel is not already visible on your screen, choose Score Structure Panel... from the Tools menu to make it visible.
2. If the Staff Hide/Show/Spacing pane (which contains the tabs: Staff Hide, Show, Spacing and Add) is not visible in the Score Structure Panel, select Staff Hide/Show/Spacing from the Available Panes pull-down menu at the top of the Score Structure Panel.
3. Choose between the four tabs in the Staff Hide/Show/Spacing pane to view controls for Staff Hide, Show, Spacing or Add.

Staff Hide Tab

The Staff Hide tab view is used to hide staves that you don't want displayed in system, and the next tab view (Show) is used to show previously hidden staves. Normally, this panel is used to hide empty staves if you want only the staves with music on them to appear in the score.

Hiding staves is best done after the score has been completed and the number of measures per system has been finalized.

To hide a staff:

1. Set whether you want to hide the staff only on the system that the Entry Cursor is on or on all subsequent systems (including the current system.)
2. Set the staff number by typing in the Staff Number text field or by using the slider. (The staff number is identified by the staff ID - a yellow number which appears at the right end of the staff.)
3. Click on the Hide Staff With: button.

Staff Show Tab

Staves can only be shown if they have previously been hidden. If you need to add a new staff to your score, use the Add Staff tab view in this pane.

To show a hidden staff:

1. Set whether you want to show the staff only on the system that the Entry Cursor is on or on all subsequent systems (including the current system.)
2. Set the staff number that the hidden staff should appear above by typing in the Staff Number text field or by using the slider. (The staff number is identified by the staff ID - a yellow number which appears at the right end of the staff.)
3. Set the characteristics for the brace and barlines on the staff to be shown - should a new brace or barline be created, or should the brace or barline be joined to the staff above or below.
4. Click on the Show Staff With: button.

If you are showing a staff that is below all staves in the system, enter a staff number greater than the number of staves in the system. In the example below, the third staff in the system (a percussion staff) was hidden. It is shown again by setting the staff number to 3, and indicating that it should have a new straight brace and a new barline.

If the settings had indicated that the new staff should have its barline and brace joined with the staff above, it would look like:

Staff Spacing Tab

The Staff Spacing tab view is used for changing the vertical distance between staves in the system. Although it is possible to manually adjust the vertical position of staves with the Staff Position buttons, the Staff Spacing pane gives you more control over the spacing and allows changes to be made for all systems on the page or throughout the entire score.

Staff spacing distances are set in the number of ledger lines between the bottom line of one staff and the top line of the staff below. A normal spacing is 7 or 8 ledger lines, with 6 or less being a close spacing and more than 10 being a wide spacing. When changing the spacing between staves, first set the distance (either by typing the value in the text field or using the slider), then set which staves you want affected, and whether you want staff positions adjusted only on the current system (i.e. the one that the Entry Cursor is on), only on the current page, or throughout the entire document. After setting these controls, click on the Change Staff Spacing button.

In the following examples, we begin with a system of 3 staves (with staff spacing set to 4 ledger lines.)

If we place the Entry Cursor on the top staff and set the new staff spacing to 6 ledger lines. The effect of the various options are:

1. Below This Staff Only option:
   

2. Between This Staff and Next option:
   

3. Between All Staves in System option:
   

The Below This System Only option creates space between the bottom of the current system and the top of the next system. The Between All Staves and Below System option sets the space between all the staves in the system and between the bottom of the system and the top of the next system.

An alternate method of adjusting staff spacing is to use the Staff Spacing panel which allows all staff spacing distances in the current system to be loaded and edited. This method is particularly useful for systems containing many staves.

Staff Add Tab

The Staff Add tab view is used to add more staves to your score. The new staff can either be inserted in the middle of a system or appended to the bottom of the system.

You should only add a new staff if you are adding a new instrument to the score, of if an exising instrument requires more staves than it currently has. If you have previously hidden a staff, use the Staff Show tab view in this pane to show the hidden staff rather than adding a new one.

To add a new staff to your score:

1. Set the number of lines and arrangement of staff lines using the Staff Type slider located in the bottom-left corner of the view - the staff type is displayed in the white rectangle.
2. Set whether the staff should appear only on the system that the Entry Cursor is on (This System Only) or on that system to the end of the score (All Subsequent Systems).
3. Set the initial clef that will be drawn on the staff by using the clef slider located in the top-left corner of the view.
4. Enter the staff labels (if needed) in the Main and/or Sec. text fields.
5. If you are appending a staff to the bottom of the system you can now click on the Append to System button. If you are inserting a staff in the middle of a system, set which staff ID the new staff should be placed above with the Above Staff ID slider or text field and click the Add Staff button.

In the example below, a new two line staff (with the main label "Perc" and a percussion clef) was inserted above staff ID 2. Notice that the new staff has an ID of 3 since it was the third staff to be added to the score (despite the fact that it appears above Staff ID 2.)

The font for the staff label is specified in the Preferences panel.

When a new staff is added it is possible to specify whether it will have a new brace or is joined to the brace group above or below, and likewise whether it will have a separate barline or whether the barline is joined to the staff above or below. These specifications must be set in the Staff Show tab view before the new staff is added. The relevant portions of the Staff Show tab view are shown below:

- Each staff has an ID number (which appears in a light colour at the right edge of the staff.) It is the Staff ID number which links staves from system to system and is used for part extraction. Always ensure that you are entering the correct instrumental part on the correct staff ID - especially if you have hidden staves on some systems. (For example, if the clarinet part is on Staff ID 4, then make sure that the clarinet's part is entered on Staff ID 4 on every system (regardless of how many staves are visible in the system). Using staff labels will help simplify this - since all staves with the same ID will have the same staff label. - Even though a staff may be added part way through the score, it is considered to exist throughout the entire score. It can be unhidden on earlier systems using the Staff Show tab view in this pane if needed.

Menu items

The pull down menu located at the top-right corner of this pane contains a menu item for showing or hiding the staff spacing panel.

Staff Spacing Panel..

Show the Staff Spacing panel with more comprehensive staff spacing options

See also

• Score Structure Panel
• Staff Spacing Panel
• NoteAbility menus

© Keith A. Hamel 1998-2005 - All Rights Reserved