Sometimes when I’m working on a score, I’m just at my kitchen table with my laptop. I really wish Dorico could recognize and use a MIDI device (e.g., a portable controller) when plugged in, instead of only at startup, so I didn’t have to quit and re-launch Dorico for a 2-minute edit.
Paul’s the man here, but here’s my uneducated guess: part of the problem is that the GUI for easily controlling input and output still isn’t here. I’m fairly sure that when it is, we’ll be able to force Dorico to re-scan for available devices, at least.
+1
I’d also like better behaviour from Dorico when I’ve got it loaded but it’s in the background while I’m using other programs that involve using the keyboard - for example playing back music while reading it on Kindle. Ideally I’d like it to be silent, but I’m not aware of any programs that manage that. At the moment I’m getting delayed and erratic bursts of notes and the only way out of it is either to unload Dorico, mute it or - what I usually do, bring it up on the screen next to Kindle. Basically, if it has focus, it behaves itself. If it’s in the background, it misbehaves.
David, have you tried disabling App Nap? It might be that when Dorico’s In the background OSX is not giving it enough processing capacity to do what you want it to do…
Thanks for the reply, Leo. Unfortunately there’s no checkbox (Finder/Get Info) for Dorico or, as far as I can see any other programs, including Logic to prevent App Nap. Maybe my elderly Mac Pro is the issue but there’s more than enough RAM there so it shouldn’t be a problem.
[Slightly OT] On a Mac MIDIEcho offers control over attached MIDI devices.
Not what’s being asked for here - but I’ve been using it for some time; it does what it says it should very well.
Actually David, it’s not your machine at all. It’s High Sierra. A cursory Google tells me that Apple removed the “prevent app nap” option a couple of years ago, and app nap is now “managed” automatically. This might be causing your problem but I don’t know what the fix is.
Not sure if this post from Daniel may have been referring specifically to the one MIDI device that I asked him about; but I took it to mean all such devices on the USB bus, connection changes to which which Dorico - again my take on it - is as yet unable to detect.