# How does divisi/part writing work in Staffpad for paid libraries?



## yiph2 (Mar 28, 2021)

Is it possible to have 2 horn patches (say in Berlin Brass) playing in the same stave with two notes? Or if not will the patch loaded play legato on both voices? Thanks


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## MadLad (Mar 28, 2021)

Berlin Brass has 4 different horns and one 4 horns unisono vst. I always use the four individual horns. You can also let them play unisono and the effect is almost the same as if you use the actual 4 horns unisono vst.

The cool thing about berlin brass is that the four individual horns all sound slightly different. If you want a nice melodic line in the upper register use horns 1 and 2. Horn 4 can play beautiful sounding lines in the lower register and Horn 3 has that extra oomph you need for powerful passages.

I used to just write 2 horns in one staff for convenience but since Berlin Brass I actually use four staffs for every horn now. Trumpets and Trombones and also all the woodwinds work the same way. I love that because it allows you to use every instrument for nice melodies or accompaniment depending on which one you choose.

EDIT: You can also write more than one note in the solo horns and they will be played as if it were two horns. If you write them in two different layers one can also play legato the other staccato. But I still prefer different staffs because you can control volume and expression individually, then. You don't even need to add another staff. If you want, let's say, have four voices with horn 1, 2 and two Horn 3s you can just change Horn 4 to Horn 3 for that specific part and change it back after that.


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## rsg22 (Mar 28, 2021)

In general, you can write up to four independent voices per staff:









Multiple Voices


Voices allow you to write up to 4 independent parts on one staff. Most of the time, music is written in voice 1, and the stem directions will change based on their pitch and position within the sta...




staffpad.zendesk.com


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## yiph2 (Mar 28, 2021)

MadLad said:


> Berlin Brass has 4 different horns and one 4 horns unisono vst. I always use the four individual horns. You can also let them play unisono and the effect is almost the same as if you use the actual 4 horns unisono vst.
> 
> The cool thing about berlin brass is that the four individual horns all sound slightly different. If you want a nice melodic line in the upper register use horns 1 and 2. Horn 4 can play beautiful sounding lines in the lower register and Horn 3 has that extra oomph you need for powerful passages.
> 
> ...


Thanks! Yes I usually write 2 horns in 1 stave as it looks much neater however maybe I should consider doing it your way. Hopefully in an update we can change automation for different voices in the same stave. Or if its possible to load 2 different patches in 1 stave (is that possible now?)


rsg22 said:


> In general, you can write up to four independent voices per staff:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yes, I am using that now with the stock libraries, but I wanted to know if it was still possible to use that with solo patches


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## MadLad (Mar 28, 2021)

yiph2 said:


> Thanks! Yes I usually write 2 horns in 1 stave as it looks much neater however maybe I should consider doing it your way. Hopefully in an update we can change automation for different voices in the same stave. Or if its possible to load 2 different patches in 1 stave (is that possible now?)


It would be cool but I don't think they will do that in the near future. Not even in Finale is it possible to change automation for different layers in one staff. If they did in Staffpad that would certainly give them an advantage over Finale.

I just keep writing the horns in individual staffs. However, if at the end you want to present your score to someone it's actually very easy to just copy all the content of horn 2 as second layer in horn 1, anyway.


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## Martin S (Jul 17, 2021)

What about divisi in the strings? Say, if I have a part in 2nd violins or Violas that plays divisi. I know I can write 2 voices and/or use divisi staffs, but will the playback also split the section (true divisi), i.e. 8 players become 4+4 ? I’ve searched the manual but it’s not really clear if the playback is affected..


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## MadLad (Jul 17, 2021)

As far as I know the 8 Violas will become 8+8 violas in divisi sections. It's best if you write those as actual divisi instead of writing two voices in one staff. I'm pretty sure (at least with Berlin Strings) it will play it as double stops otherwise which can sound strange.


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## Martin S (Jul 17, 2021)

MadLad said:


> As far as I know the 8 Violas will become 8+8 violas in divisi sections. It's best if you write those as actual divisi instead of writing two voices in one staff. I'm pretty sure (at least with Berlin Strings) it will play it as double stops otherwise which can sound strange.


Thanks a lot. Yes, double stops is not the sound I’m after in this particular case, so divisi staffs will have to do


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