In most jazz scores, the drum kit part is not written out in full. Instead, the part usually contains slash marks (indicating that the drummer should play time), with important ensemble figures cued above the staff.

Use the following steps to combine this slashes-with-cues drum notation with invisible notes used only for playback purposes, so that the drum part appears correctly in the score and also plays back correctly. (Note that these instructions assume you intend to reserve Layer 4 for cue notes.)

To create slashes-with-cues drum notation

1. Enter the playback notes. You can enter these notes manually, or (if you are using one of the GM Drum Kits) using the Drum Groove plug-in to automatically generate a drum part. You can use Layers 1, 2, and 3 for the playback notes - we will use Layer 4 for the cues.

Note. If you use the Drum Groove plug-in, be sure to check the ScoreManager afterwards to ensure that it has not modified the Channel assignment for your Drum Kit staff. The Drum Groove plug-in also creates a hidden expression - "HP off" - that disables Human Playback. You may want to delete this expression. Instead of turning Human Playback off completely, tell Human Playback to incorporate all User MIDI Data by choosing the appropriate settings in the MIDI Data pane of the Human Playback Preferences dialog box.

2. Once the playback notes have been entered, select the Staff tool . The Staff menu appears.
3. Choose Staff > Define Staff Styles.
4. In the Staff Styles dialog box, click New. We are going to create a new staff style that displays slashes in the drum staff but also shows notes in layer 4 that we will use for cue notes.
5. Name the Staff Style so you can identify it later. "01a. Slash Notation: show notes" or something similar.
6. Click the Select button to the right of Alternate Notation.
7. In the Alternate Notation dialog box, ensure the following options are selected: Slash Notation, Show Items Attached to Notes, Show Notes in Other Layers, and Show Items Attached to Notes in Other Layers.
8. Click OK twice to save your new Staff Style.
9. Apply this newly created Staff Style to every measure in your drum part where you want slashes to appear.
10. Choose Document > Document Options > Layers.
11. Choose Settings For > Layer 4. Then configure the remaining options as follows:

11. Switch to Layer 4 and enter the cue notes in the Drum Set staff. Typically, these cue notes appear as regular noteheads on a single line or space above the staff, and match the rhythms of important ensemble figures (see the example at the beginning of this section).

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