harp notation question (glissando and rests)

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MichelRE
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harp notation question (glissando and rests)

Post by MichelRE »

for anyone who has written extensively for harp, I have a question:

this is VERY basic writing, I just don't know the details of the notation.

when notating a gliss that crosses from one staff into the other, do you remove the rests from opposite staves?

in the image posted, would I remove both the upper rest on the first three beats, and the lower rest on the last two beats?

Or would I leave a single matching rest on the final beat of the lower staff? (matching the one in the treble clef staff)

in other words, do I take the whole glissando as a single graphical unit, that happens to cover two staves? rests before would be on both staves? rests after on both staves?

OR do I consider which hand is playing the glissando and use THAT to decide where the rests go?

EDIT:
a bonus question: that hairpin, would I be better off placing the starting dynamic beneath the lower staff, the the final dynamic beneath the upper staff, with the hairpin diagonally across the staff?
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MichelRE
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Re: harp notation question (glissando and rests)

Post by MichelRE »

by the by, Gould doesn't say anything about rests and which should be included in what spaces.
She's actually inconsistent in her notation, with one example covering two measures, the whole measure rest in the upper staff being removed in the 1st measure, but the whole measure rest in the lower staff left in in the 2nd measure (page358).

This is one spot that Gould really needs a new edition of her book, with FAR more information than she has provided. She concentrates too much on the instrument and its playing techniques, and not quite enough on the actual methods of standard notation.

(this is one complaint I have of Gould's book, it awkwardly straddles the line between an orchestration text and one on engraving/notation, including too much "performing" information at times, and not enough of the nitty-gritty of correct notation)
Callasmaniac
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Re: harp notation question (glissando and rests)

Post by Callasmaniac »

Your notation is OK. Most harpists will play the glissando with right hand and play the last note with left (for safety). This order may change what happens before/after, though. And they don't mind if there are rests or not -it doesn't change the way the will play. You can change the last note to half note; it encourages the harpist to "let ring" the glissando.
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David Ward
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Re: harp notation question (glissando and rests)

Post by David Ward »

My own practice (and I have written harp parts in many pieces) in this situation is to have the same rests in both staves and only to have rests for when the harp is not playing in either. I don't know whether or not this is correct; but it works.

I think the hairpin and dynamics are OK, but it's not the only way to do it.
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MichelRE
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Re: harp notation question (glissando and rests)

Post by MichelRE »

for the hairpin, I am VERY open to alternate suggestions
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OCTO
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Re: harp notation question (glissando and rests)

Post by OCTO »

MichelRE wrote: 30 Apr 2023, 17:43 for the hairpin, I am VERY open to alternate suggestions
Can Dorico create a white background to cover the hairpin?

Remember that it is allowed, i special circumstances, to use "hairpin on staff". Maybe try that option?
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MichelRE
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Re: harp notation question (glissando and rests)

Post by MichelRE »

Octo, no, for the time being, hairpins do not have a mask feature for erasing background elements.

I wonder, would crossing a bunch of lines (the staff) be a better solution than crossing a single line (the glissando line)?

In a piano piece I engraved I did cross a staff with a hairpin, but it was a particular situation where the density and particular layout of the material above the hairpin completely precluded having the hairpin between staves, or completely below the lower staff or even above the upper staff.

here my only question is, would it be best to have the initial and ending dynamics be closer to the noteheads?
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