302: D.S. al Coda - making Sibelius play them back

Sibelius 3 and later automatically supports the playback of structures such as D.S. al Coda. If you require this functionality, we suggest that you upgrade to the latest version.

However, it is possible to achieve playback of certain complex repeat structures in Sibelius 2. The procedure below will not work in earlier versions of the software.

1. Switch on View > Hidden Objects
2. Choose Create > Text > Tempo, and create some text at the point where you want the segno symbol to appear; Control-click (Mac) or right-click (Windows) to enter the segno symbol from the word menu
3. Also using Tempo text, insert the Coda sign, and then add the appropriate Dal Segno or D.S. marking where required
4. At the beginning of the bar where the segno sign is placed, insert a start repeat bar by choosing Create > Barline > Start repeat
5. Select the repeat barline and choose Edit > Hide or Show > Hide
6. Now move to the point where you have entered the text Dal Segno or D.S. and insert an end repeat barline at the end of the bar by choosing Create > Barline > End repeat
7. Again, hide this repeat barline
8. Enter a first time bar from the Create > Line dialog, beginning at the Coda sign and ending at the text Dal Segno or D.S.; then hide this line by selecting it and choosing Edit > Hide or Show > Hide
9. Enter the word Coda in the bar after the text Dal Segno or D.S. and from the Create > Line dialog, insert a second time bar in the coda bar, then hide it
10. Now select the barline at the end of the bar before the beginning of the coda and choose Layout > Break > Split System
11. Finally, enter a fake barline, superimposed on the end repeat barline (just before the gap) by choosing the single vertical line from the Staff lines pane of the Create > Line dialog. Drag each end to the correct position to adjust the length.
12. Now switch off View > Hidden Objects and play your score!

A simple example score demonstrating this procedure can be downloaded here.

Related articles

• A9 - D.C., D.S., Coda - how to enter them in the score