TUTORIALS
#TipsTuesday
RESOURCES
A plethora of help, shortcuts, templates and more are also available in our Resources section.
ARTICLES
Tip: Using the Key Editor in Write mode on iPad
- The Key Editor is now available in Write mode.
- Make a selection in the notation and the Key Editor updates to show it.
- Edits to the notation are reflected in the Key Editor and vice versa.
- Switch the Key Editor to Played Durations to modify playback without affecting the notation.
- Tap the velocity lane to make edits to velocity.
Tip: Use drum pads to input percussion in Dorico for iPad
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- Make a selection on an untuned percussion staff to show drum pads.
- Enable note input and tap the pads to input notes.
- Click the Reorder Drum Pads button and move pads to your preferred positions.
- Add a space to achieve a specific layout.
Tip: Using the Repeat button in Dorico for iPad
- Make a selection, and tap the Repeat button to duplicate it.
- It works with multiple selections, making it easy to work with pattern-based passages.
- All music items in the selection are repeated.
- The selection can contain multiple staves.
- With a keyboard attached, use the shortcut R to repeat.
Tip: Make selections in Dorico for Ipad
- Tap an item to select it.
- Tap a beam to select all beamed notes.
- Tap an empty part of a bar to select all items in the bar.
- Tap and hold, then drag to select items.
- Use the button to Add to Selection.
- Use the button to Extend Selection.
- Use the System Track to select items across the system.
Tip: Edit notes using the overlay in Dorico for iPad
- Select one or more notes to show the Edit Notes Overlay.
- Transpose the selected notes up or down.
- Use the toggle to move pitch by octave, diatonic interval, or chromatic interval.
- Move notes rhythmically to the left or right.
- Lengthen or shorten notes according to the rhythmic grid value.
Tip: Input notes in Dorico for iPad
- Enable note input to show the caret and grid.
- Press the keys on the virtual keyboard to enter notes.
- Use the buttons in the panel’s toolbar to choose new note durations.
- There is no need to enter rests; simply use the advance button to move the caret forward by the selected duration.
- If you make a mistake, press the backspace button to clear the most recent inputted notes.
- Use the arrow buttons on the secondary toolbar to navigate the input grid.
- Play multiple notes at the same time on the virtual keyboard to input chords, or enable chord mode and use the advance button to move to the next rhythmic position.
Tip: Split slash regions for easier editing
- Slash regions are all one item. If you copy just a part of a slash region, it is all copied.
- You can split a slash region with the Scissors tool, or by pressing U.
- Abutting slash regions are different colours.
- Now you can copy just the portion you need.
Take your First Steps with our new guide for learning Dorico
We are pleased to announce the availability of a guide targeted at helping new Dorico users quickly understand the application’s key concepts and workflows. Titled First Steps, and written by our intrepid technical author, Lillie Harris, it will take you through a complete project from start to finish, reproducing a short piano miniature by the Croation composer Dora Pejačević, and follow this up with an extract of a song by Ma Rainey.
The guide covers everything from project setup, finding your way around Dorico’s project window and user interface, note input and editing, adding other notations such as slurs, ties, articulations, clefs, octave lines, and explains the core layout and formatting tools you need to produce perfect pages of music. After a few hours, you will have input a charming waltz, made it look great, and in the process you will have learned all of the fundamental concepts required to use Dorico successfully and efficiently.
At the conclusion of the Pejačević project, you can then proceed to learn about some more idiomatic notations, including lyrics, chord symbols, and writing for drum set. Even if you think that your own use of Dorico will be more in the realm of Ma Rainey’s blues than in Pejačević’s salon music, we nevertheless recommend that you work through the piano piece first, as that’s where all of the key concepts and workflows are introduced.
Currently, First Steps is only available in English, but it is in the process of being translated into German, French, Italian and Japanese, and those translations will be published as soon as possible.
If you’re looking for further helpful tools for learning and using Dorico more efficiently, the Resources page here on the blog is a veritable treasure trove of information, with links to all of the documentation published by Steinberg, plus third-party books, video courses, hand-outs, and much, much more. Finally, if you are experiencing any kind of difficulty with learning or using the software, please don’t hesitate to come to the Dorico forum and ask your question there: you will find a community of knowledgeable and helpful Dorico users from around the world, and several Dorico team members – including yours truly and Lillie – are frequent posters, too. If you have any feedback on the First Steps guide, please feel free to share it on the forum, or if you prefer, you can contact me directly.
Tip: Create slash notes using voices and regions
- Create a slash region using the Repeat Structures panel, or by typing “slash” into the Repeats popover (Shift+R).
- Create a slash voice from the Write menu, or with the key command Shift+Alt+V.
- Convert existing notes to a slash voice, using the Edit menu or context menu.