Adding dynamics and hairpins

The Dynamics tab (F2) covers two different kinds of mark: a dynamic level, set directly on one note, and a hairpin or text crescendo, which stretches across a passage as a spanner.

Setting a dynamic level

Select a note and press a key on the Dynamics palette — pp through fff, sfz, and a further set of combinations (sfp, rfz, and so on) under the 0 overflow submenu. Each replaces whatever dynamic was already on that note; there’s no need to clear the old one first.

Hairpins and text crescendos

C (crescendo hairpin), D (decrescendo hairpin), O (text “cresc.”), and P (text “dim.”) are spanners, not direct marks — they need a start and an end point the same way a slur does. See Creating spanners for the shared mechanic: a range already selected applies one immediately, end to end; a single note selected lets you pick the end point with a live preview.

Flipping above or below the staff

X moves the selected note’s dynamic mark to the other side of the staff. If the note carries more than one flippable thing — its own dynamic mark and a hairpin starting there, say — X opens a small menu first so you can pick which one moves; with only one, it flips right away. Press X again to hand the mark back to the instrument’s own default side rather than pinning the opposite one, so a mark only carries your override while you actually disagree with the default. Select a range first and X flips every dynamic mark and hairpin the range covers, each from its own side.

Clearing

Setting a dynamic to the same value it already has removes it. For a hairpin or text spanner, select its start note and press its own key again. To remove the dynamic mark and any spanner starting on a note together, search “Clear Dynamics” in the command palette (^K) — it no longer has its own keyboard shortcut, since X now flips.

Tips

• Reach for a direct mark (pp, mf, …) for a single moment’s loudness, and a hairpin or text spanner for a change across several notes.