TUTORIALS
Tip: Create your own playing techniques
- Use the Playing Techniques panel to open the editor and create your own playing technique.
- Playing techniques can be either symbols or text. Use any Paragraph Style to set the format of text.
- Set a continuation line, using a Dorico default or a line you have created yourself.
- Choose a shorthand to use in the popover.
- In the editor, Save as Default to save the playing technique to your User Library, and use it again in future projects.
Tip: Add multiple instruments with the ensemble builder
- Press the Add Ensemble button, or type Shift+E. Type the instruments you wish to create, typing a comma after each one, and press Add.
- Dorico recognises orchestral shorthand to identify instruments, and you can specify how many of each instrument to add.
- Press Tab to ‘bank’ the current instruments and clear search field, then continue adding more.
- You can add entire orchestral sections at once, and even use numeric shorthand (e.g. 2222 for double woodwind).
- Double-click instruments in the list to switch between creating them as single or section players.
- Save your custom ensemble, giving it a name and category. It will now be searchable in the Build tab, and available in the Choose tab.
Tip: Quickly filter notes in a specific voice
- To select all notes in a specific voice across a selection, press J to open the Jump Bar and search for the filter commands.
- There are filters available for each up- and down-stem voice.
- Find a command in the Jump Bar even faster by typing just the first letter of each word.
Tip: Show player names instead of instrument names
- Sometimes you may need to use different staff labels in your score than the default instrument names. For example, you may wish to label a multi-instrument percussion staff simply as ‘Percussion’. Or, in dramatical pieces, you may wish to identify character parts rather than using Soprano, Mezzo-soprano and so on.
- In Setup mode, give your players the names you wish to identify them with in the music.
- In Layout Options, choose Staves and Systems and check the relevant players to show their player names instead of instrument names.
Tip: Customise playback of dynamic markings
- It is possible to edit the playback of dynamic markings.
- The Dynamic Editor is found in the lower zone, as part of the Key Editor.
- The editor shows the profile of dynamic markings using green envelopes.
- Drag the handles to change the intensity and duration of dynamic markings.
- This affects the playback of dynamics.