Tutorials

Tip: Add harmony to a melodic line using Chord mode and Lock to Duration

Double-click the start of an existing melodic line of music.
Engage Chord mode and Lock to Duration both found in the Notes toolbox.
Chord mode can be engaged using the key command Q, and Lock to Duration using L.
Enter your harmony using either the computer keyboard or a MIDI keyboard.
Use Space to advance the caret; the new notes are aligned to the existing rhythms.

Use the Scissors tool to cut tie chains into separate notes.
During note input, use the Scissors tool to split notes at any position. Move to a position on the rhythmic grid using the left and right arrow keys and when you activate the Scissors tool all notes, chords and explicit rests at that point will be divided in two.
You also use the Scissors tool by pressing U.

In Write mode, make a selection containing notes of the same pitch, and press the Tie button in the Notes toolbox of the left side of the window to tie those notes together.
You can use the tie button during note input to create durations of any length, by toggling it on before you enter the note.
Notes do not need to be adjacent to be tied.
You can tie notes to other notes of the same pitch even if they are in a different voice or staff.
When you tie notes together, they will be combined into one note with a duration totalling the individual note lengths. Depending on the prevailing Notation Options, this may cause the newly-tied note to be rewritten (for example, a dotted quarter note tied to an eight note may end up being written as a single half note). In order to have control over the divisions in the tie chain, enable Force Durations in the Notes toolbox, or press O. If you wish to revert the tie chain to using the Notation Options, simply uncheck the Force Duration button.

From the Window menu, choose New Window, or press the key command Ctrl (Cmd on Mac) + Shift + T.
You can view a different layout in each new window.
You can work in Page View and Galley View at the same time.
When using additional monitors it can be useful to have a Dorico window open for the current project on each screen.
Each window can be set to a different mode, for example you can work in Write mode and Play mode at the same time.

With Insert mode, you can input notes before existing notes without overriding them.
The key command for Insert mode is ‘I’. This will toggle Insert mode on and off.
Insert mode allows you to push existing notes ahead at the same time as inputting new notes at their previous positions.
Insert mode works when editing as well, so deleting notes will also pull the following notes back into the resulting space.
Changing the durations of notes when Insert mode is enabled pushes and pulls all subsequent notes in that voice forwards and backwards, so again they are not overridden.

By default, Dorico will audition only the notes that are selected. This includes clicking with the mouse and navigating with the arrow keys on your computer keyboard.
In Dorico 2.2.20, you can choose to audition all notes in a chord when you select any of them, by setting a new preference.
The setting is found in the Preferences dialog, on the Note Input and Editing page.
Check Play all notes in chord when any is selected.
Apply and Close the dialog.
Now when you select any note in a chord, all notes in that chord will be auditioned. Notes in other voices will not audition.

Open the Key Signatures, Tonality Systems and Accidentals panel in Write mode.
Select a tonality system by clicking the menu button and choosing one from the list. Dorico ships with two equal temperament tonality systems; one for 12-EDO (which is the default), and one for 24-EDO. It is possible to define your own by pressing the New Tonality System button, after which it will appear in the list.
Input a key signature in the score at the point where you would like the tonality system to take effect from.
The Accidentals panel will update to show the available accidentals for the selected tonality system.
You can add as many tonality system changes to your flow as you like. Simply repeat the process at any point in the flow.

Right-click a player card in Setup mode and choose Combine Instruments into Kit. The Percussion Kit Editor opens automatically.
Drag the instruments to the positions you would like them to appear on a 5-line staff. You can set the stem direction and voice for each instrument.
Use the Add Existing Instrument From Player button in the editor action bar to add to the kit other unpitched percussion instruments currently held by other players.
The Remove Instrument From Kit button removes the instrument from the percussion kit so that it is a regular instrument held by that player. You can then drag the instrument to another player as desired.

Switch to Print mode.
Set your desired print options, such as page size.
You can set different options for different layouts. For example, choose how many copies of each layout you would like to print. Or perhaps you need to send the Full Score to an A3 printer, and all instrumental parts to an A4 printer.
You can even choose for some layouts to be exported as graphics. Perhaps you need to email a PDF part to some of your musicians.
Select all the relevant layouts and click Print and Export. All of the selected layouts will be sent to the chosen printer, or exported as a graphic, depending on your settings — all from one click.