On 12/1/2016 8:40 PM, Steve Parker wrote: > I’ve spent a few hours playing with the Dorico trial. > The workflow seems terrible.. > Can anyone answer some basic things? (I’ve rtfm…) > How can I add bars? > Can I use the arrow keys to input notes rather than a, b, c etc? > I was really hoping that Dorico would be open and modeless, in the sense that > if I grab something, I should be able to move it. > That doesn’t even seem to be the case with basic text. > How do (easily) move a bar from one system to the next. Things like this (I > thought) had been solved simply by Finale and Sibelius already. Dorico seems > to be re-inventing the wheel for the hell of it (or patent avoidance..?). > > In general, is there some way to create a layout of systems and bars and > *then* add the notes? > > If you can help, maybe reply off list. This is in no way urgent! >
To add bars once you've entered a time signature, in "Write" mode hit shift-B then enter a + sign plus the number of bars you want to enter. Easier than either Finale or Sibelius where you have to use a menu or ribbon to get to the option to add more measures. The workflow is different. I don't think it's terrible, but it's certainly something which requires people using Dorico to approach it as a brand-new program and try to learn it from the ground up rather than try to apply Sibelius or Finale workflows to it. You can't use arrow keys in combination with numeric keys to enter notes like you can in Finale. You can't do that in Sibelius either. In Dorico you use number keys to select the duration and then a letter key to select the pitch. That's the same as with Sibelius although which number key relates to which note is different from either Finale or Sibelius. In Dorico you can simply select the duration with the number key or click on a palette (like Simple Entry in Finale) and then click on the line/space where you want the note to appear so you don't need to use the alpha keys to set the pitch. And you can also use midi keyboard entry. To move a measure to the next system, click the something in the measure you want to be the first one on the next system (I find it easy to remember to click the barline that ends the measure) and hit shift-S. This is different from either Sibelius or Finale where you click the barline at the end of the measure you want to remain on the current system and hit enter and the next measure moves to the next system. Dorico's developers have tried to create a program which will be good for composers to compose at as well as for engravers to create elegant output for publication. And they felt the best way to accomplish that is to separate what they felt were the five basic aspects to creating a score into separate "modes." So they have Setup, Write, Engrave, Play and Print as separate modes. Just as a composer would start by deciding what instruments/singers to write for and start out by creating a blank score, then would write the music without worrying about how the final layout would look when it was printed, then worry about how the layout would look for the printed version, then finally worry about the printing details when it was time to print. And getting playback correct for demos etc. has always been a hassle in Finale and Sibelius, so they broke the playback aspect out into its own separate mode. The reason you can't move text while in Write mode is because the location of things as they will finally appear on the printed page isn't important when creating music. We've all been forced to think of layout issues while working in Finale's or Sibelius's "Page" mode so that often the way things look on the page distracts us from simply getting the music into the program. Dorico separates those issues and users have to learn not to worry about page layout issues while entering the music. Interestingly enough, while in Dorico's "Engrave" mode where the user can worry about the page layout issues, it's very easy to get back into "Write" mode simply by double-clicking in a measure. You can playback the score in any of the five modes if you wish because the playback controls are always visible onscreen. It is possible to create your layout first and then enter the notes if you wish. Or you can simply start entering notes (in the Write mode) without even entering a time signature or key signature -- just start getting your thoughts down and then worry about meter and key later. Dorico will reflow the music and adjust the accidentals to fit meter and key once you have decided those. Or you can set them up before entering any music. For playback, Dorico makes it so much easier than either Sibelius or Finale to get into the nitty-gritty of whatever VSL softsynth a user wants to use so it can be tweaked to get the best playback. Dorico will work with most VST3 softsynths and will work with some VST2 softsynths although getting them to work with Dorico is somewhat arcane. There is no useful manual at the moment for Dorico -- the built-in help is not all that helpful, but improvements in both are on the way. There is a great forum at steinberg.net which has members of the development team very actively helping users to solve problems and discover new things. I spend 10-20 minutes at the forum every day, which is time I would have been spending reading the manual anyway. And they are quick to respond and by now many users are helping other users as we all discover things about the program which others haven't discovered yet. While I am very enthusiastic about Dorico I don't expect it will be everybody's notation-software cup of tea. However I urge anybody who does try Dorico to *not* expect it to be a "new and improved Finale" or "new and improved Sibelius." Dorico is very much its own program and as such it is important for everybody to approach it as a brand new product and learn how to work with it. I recall when I first bought Sibelius in a cross-grade deal (version 2.11 for windows) I was so frustrated by it because it didn't do things like Finale did. And I barely used it, although I did keep upgrading it until finally with version 5 I told myself to simply sit down with the manual from the very beginning, do their tutorials, start with very simple projects and gradually increase their complexity. Now I start all my new projects in Sibelius because I like its workflow better than Finale's. Unlike Dennis I don't find the USB dongle or the soft eLicenser software to be a problem. Reactivating the software after a disaster is very easy (I've done it) and only takes a moment or two online, no contact with steinberg tech support necessary, easier even than trying to get through to Finale or Sibelius tech support to reactivate a new installation if your old motherboard or notebook died and you weren't able to deactivate an old installation before creating a new one. Dorico is still very much a version 1.0 product, but in the time since the initial release near the end of October, they have already released a major update at the end of November (same time they released the free demo version) with another update promised by the end of this year. Steinberg is very much committed to Dorico, having allowed the team three years (I can't recall if it was 3 or 4, but it was a significant amount of time) to get the first version out the door and supporting the rapid release of updates as bugs are resolved and new features are added. Dorico now supports Expression Maps which are a Cubase feature that allows the user (or a professional from any of the softsynth companies) to define exactly what happens sound-wise for any of the commands a person would want to have affect playback. Things like staccato, legato, accents, etc. can be adjusted to the user's standards easily. Already-existing Expression Maps from Cubase (there are some freely downloadable for major softsynths) can be downloaded and imported into Dorico. So don't write Dorico off just because it's not a better Finale or better Sibelius -- give it a test on its own merits and see if you like it. Just as there are Finale users who swear at Sibelius and Sibelius users who swear at Finale when they try to use the competing software, there will be people who swear at Dorico because it's not in their comfort zone. We all just need to have flexible comfort zones -- I can work well in both Finale and Sibelius (and am fairly fluent in MuseScore) and am working to be just as much at home in Dorico. Once they get the manual completed and offer tutorial projects to help new users get comfortable with the software it will be much easier for new users. -- ***** David H. Bailey dhbaile...@comcast.net http://www.davidbaileymusicstudio.com _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu https://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale To unsubscribe from finale send a message to: finale-unsubscr...@shsu.edu
