Tutorials – Dorico

Tip: Number together instruments of different transpositions

By default Dorico will number instruments of different transposition separately.
There is an Engraving Option — on the Staff Labels page — to number them together instead.
This also works in conjunction the option to group staff labels between staves.

It is possible to modify selected immediate dynamics by choosing different items in the Dynamics panel.
However, it can be convenient — especially for keyboard-centric users — to be able to do this using the keyboard.
Open Preferences, and choose the Key Commands page.
Search dynamic, and expand Note Editing.
Choose a key command for Increase Dynamic Intensity and another for Decrease Dynamic Intensity.
Now you can quickly modify dynamics in the score.
It even works on multiple selections.
We have not set a default shortcut as this command is not necessarily useful for every user, and would occupy space on the keyboard that could not then be reserved for other features.

Don’t waste time calculating how long notes need to be.
Make a selection of a note or notes you want to extend, and extend that selection to the rhythmic position at which you want the notes to end.
Select Write > Edit Duration > Extend to End of Selection.
This command makes it easy to set a selection of notes to be the same duration.

If you use a full-size computer keyboard, you can use the numeric keypad to control playback.
The Enter key starts and stop playback (0 — zero — also stops playback).
The + and – keys fast-forward and rewind.
The . (dot) key returns the playhead to the beginning of the flow.
These key commands match those of Steinberg’s DAW Cubase.

Sometimes it can help the music to look clearer and be easier to read if the number of bars on each system stays constant.
Dorico makes this easy to achieve by way of a Layout Option that lets you fix a number of bars per system.
Open Layout Options from anywhere in the program by pressing Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+L, and selecting Staves and Systems, Casting Off.
Enable the option for Fixed number of bars per system and set how many bars you would like to see.
There are other options including one to set how many systems should be shown on each page, which can help make spreads and booklets look more balanced.