Dynamics and hairpins

Here’s how to create dynamic markings and hairpins (also known as crescendo/decrescendo markings) using the Soundslice editor.

Adding a dynamic marking

1. Select the note at which the dynamic should be positioned.
2. In editor’s top panel, open the “Dynamics” section and click your desired dynamic:

Removing a dynamic marking

1. Click the note that’s associated with the dynamic.
2. You’ll see the dynamic icon in the current notations section. Click that icon to remove the dynamic.

Adding a hairpin

1. Select the note(s) that should be within the hairpin.
2. In editor’s top panel, open the “Dynamics” section and click the appropriate icon: “Toggle open hairpin” or “Toggle closed hairpin” . Or search the editor for “hairpin.”

Removing a hairpin

1. Select one of the notes in the hairpin.
2. You’ll see the hairpin icon ( or ) in the current notations section. Click that icon to remove the hairpin.

Resizing a hairpin

It’s not currently possible to resize a hairpin by dragging its edges. To resize an existing hairpin, remove the hairpin and create a new one.

Positioning

Dynamics are automatically positioned either above or below the staff, according to these rules:

• If the instrument has lyrics, the dynamics go above the staff.
• If the instrument is a grand staff, the dynamics go between the two staves.
• If the bar has multiple voices, the dynamics go either above or below the staff, depending on the voice.
• Otherwise, the dynamics go below the staff.

There’s no way to manually control the positioning of dynamics or hairpins. This is something we might add in the future.

Hairpins that span systems

If you have a hairpin that spans multiple bars, it might be split across two systems — depending on your screen size and zoom level. You don’t need to do anything special in this case; Soundslice will automatically split the hairpin into two separate hairpins, making sure to render the second one with an “open” start, to communicate that it’s a continuation from the previous system.

Interaction between dynamics and hairpins

It’s very common for a hairpin to start and/or end at a dynamic marking:

Soundslice will automatically detect this and position the dynamics so that they’re perfectly centered with respect to the hairpin.

If the dynamics aren’t centered in your slice, it’s likely that the hairpin and dynamic aren’t associated with exactly the same rhythmic position.

Do dynamics affect synthetic playback?

No, dynamic markings don’t affect our synthetic playback. We highly recommend adding a real recording to your slice.