Assign notes to voices and staffs

For staff styles with multiple staffs or voices, you can control which staff or voice a note is displayed on. You can assign notes to voices by defining a split point, or by assigning each voice to a separate MIDI channel.

When you use a split point to separate voices, the split point and all notes above it are displayed on the upper voice, while all notes below the split point are displayed on the lower voice. This is useful when there is a clear division in pitch between the two voices; for example, in a piano staff style when each hand plays in only one clef (treble or bass).

In cases where the division between voices needs to be more flexible, you can separate voices by assigning each voice to a different MIDI channel. This allows voices to cross while still being displayed independently. Notes not assigned to any MIDI channel are not displayed, allowing you to “hide” notes from display (such as improvised parts or trill notes, for example). This does not affect playback, but only the display of notes in the score (the playback channel is determined by the setting in the Track inspector).

If you record polyphonic voices separately in real time, you can set your keyboard or MIDI controller to the appropriate MIDI channel for each voice when you record, saving you from having to edit the channels afterward.

You can automatically split notes between two voices using the “Auto split notes in multi staff chord styles” Score preference. By turning on this preference, notes you play using a polyphonic staff style are automatically assigned MIDI channels matching the staff style’s voice assignments. Notes at, and above, the split point are assigned the channel of the first voice. Notes below are assigned the second voice’s channel. This creates a usable voice assignment, which you can edit later.

Using the Voice Separation tool, you can draw a separation line between notes on a staff to assign them to the predefined MIDI channels of the voices.