Multi-bar rests group two or more consecutive empty bars together into a single unit, reducing the horizontal space required and making such passages easier to read. They are also known as “multirests”.
Multi-bar rests commonly appear with the total number of bars’ rest written above the staff and a thick horizontal line positioned on the middle staff line, known as an “H-bar”. In some older published scores, multi-bar rests for up to nine bars are notated using a combination of double whole and whole rests.
Multi-bar rests are automatically split by items positioned within their range, such as system-attached text, rehearsal marks, and holds and pauses. However, if items are positioned at the start of the first bar in a multi-bar rest, that bar remains part of the subsequent multi-bar rest.
You can hide/show multi-bar rests in each layout independently in Dorico Pro, and you can hide/show bar number ranges below them.
By default, the multi-bar rest bar counts only appear once between the staves of grand staff instruments.
You can find options for the project-wide appearance, design, width, and content of multi-bar rests on the Rests page in Engraving Options.