Hallo everybody and ciao Rounik Back to this wonderfull forum after long time... I need to write a Polyrythmic Score in Logic. Let's say four tracks: 1. 3/2 2. 4/2 3. 6/2 4. 9/2 I can't find a way. Is there any? Thanks a lot for the attention Roberto

Ciao Roberto!! Unfortunately Logic's time signature is set for the project (or sections of the project). So you can for example have the first 4 bars at 3/2, then 4/2 and later 6/2, etc ...but you can't set one track to 3/2 while another track is simultaneously set at a signature of 4/2. Would it help to compose in sections and then line them up later so they match? Rounik

Thanks Rounik It's as I supposed. I'll try your idea, it's a possibility. Buona vita a tutti Roberto

Hope it works out Roberto. Let us know how you get on or if you discover any useful tips and tricks! We're all ears :) R

I will, Rounik. I promise you... Roberto

Hi, Here's one thing you can try... It won't be 100% straight-forward but then again it might be useful... Logic lets you have "time signature alternatives". So let's say you have four tracks of constant time signature throughout. Using your example of... 1. 3/2 2. 4/2 3. 6/2 4. 9/2 ...set Time Sig Alt 1 to be 3/2. Compose a part of your first track. Then change to Alt 2, set it to 4/2 and compose a section of the next instrument. Rinse, lather, repeat for the additional tracks. And as you need to review/edit/add to each part, change to the appropriate Time Sig alternative for that track. By switching to the different Alts you will be able to print out individual parts, each with their own sig. But as has already been mentioned, you won't be able to print out the score and have it reflect different sigs for each staff. As much as I love Logic's score editor, this isn't the kind of thing it's set up to do; part of the reason for this is that in Logic, bar lines are 'global'. And even though you can trick Logic into printing out different time signatures on each track and turn off the display of bar lines entirely, any custom-entered bar lines placed on a staff will appear on all others. So that makes it a moot point to learn those tricks. So to write the piece in Logic you'll have to deal with the chore of switching time sigs and then move to some other notation program to print out your score. (BTW, hello Rounik!)

Hi Sky And thanks a lot for your detailed answer. Unfortunately that's not the solution I need. First of all because I need an orchestral score and not only single parts, and than because would be nearly impossible for me to compose one "voice" at the time. I love Logic very much too, I guess it's the best software if I consider the relation between quality of sound and score notation. For this reason would be really interesting to have this improvement in the future. Polyrithmic music is extremely interesting, from 1400 to nowadays, and a lot of contemporary composers use it. So... come on...Apple, ... a little gift to us hard worker of music... Thanks again to you Sky and a special ciao! to my friend Rounik Roberto

You're welcome. (BTW, it's "Ski" with an "i"). :) There really is no perfect (or even 'good') solution in Logic. The only other workaround that comes to mind is to enter your score (or compose) with a time signature of "1/2". By using this technique you are, in effect, dealing with a time sig that's common to all parts. I'm not saying that it's going to be a convenient way to compose, but again, it's one of the few solutions you have in Logic. When you're done composing, export the MIDI file to (perhaps) Sibelius or Finale and do the final charts in there. And if you don't have or know either program, hire a Finale or Sibelius copyist to prepare the score and parts for you.

Hey Ski (with an "i") Welcome to the MPV forums! *bows* Out of interest would you recommend one over the other? (Sibelius vs Finale) Thanks Rounik

Thank you Rounik! (bows) I don't have a recommendation for one over the other. Most of the professional copyists I've hired over the years have been Finale users, and I'm fairly certain that Finale can support multiple time signatures on different staves.