Right on time for Halloween, I have done something very spooky and perhaps committed a Dorico sin! I have swapped the “raise / lower pitch by step” keys to now just be normal up and down arrows (without the alt key modifier) - with the alt key now moving up/down to other staves (exact opposite of default).
With the recent introduction of the shadow note option, I have found I quite like this behavior. And I’ve never used Finale a day in my life!
I think I like that it’s more familiar to DAW piano rolls where most of them you move pitches up and down with plain arrows, and modifier keys to navigate through pitch selections. That’s exactly how it works in Cubase, for example. This makes moving between the two programs a little easier.
I find that I actually don’t move up and down staves (or between chord notes) with the same frequency that I do re-pitching single notes. That’s not to say I don’t do the former a lot, just that re-pitching notes on a single staff are in my view a much more frequent and common task.
I have read in other threads that the logic behind this decision was to keep modifier keys consistent with editing, and non-modifier commands consistent with navigation. For some reason my brain is ok with having them completely opposite for the horizontal editing/navigation commands! (I prefer alt+left/right to move note positions etc).
Curious if anyone else has had this experience, or if I’m the only monster in town?
I have kept the plain arrows for navigation, as I prefer to use a modifier for changing things. Helps keep me from making any more mistakes than I already do.
To get back on topic: I have lost count of the times I have thought about mapping the durations to the numpad as they were in Sibelius (or even worse, to remain on the top row, to those of MuseScore ). But in this case the angel and the devil on my shoulders agree to cut it out, albeit for different reasons:
Angel: You want to learn the software thoroughly!
Devil: Come on, we’re too lazy and that’s a good thing.
Yeah, maybe I would have made the move too if numpads wouldn’t be so out of fashion on today’s laptops. So I try to get used to the standard layout to be able to use Dorico without too many restrictions while on the go. I don’t know what my next laptop will be, and the most likely candidate is one that almost certainly won’t have a numpad.
Yeah, but this is the thing: Dorico was from very beginning conceptualized around an Apple non-touch laptop.
Dual screens, touch, graphics tablets, Stream Deck, mouse, numpad and other sundries available in high-powered desktop and studio environments became possible only after a while, since for those things to work efficiently, either Dorico’s underlying philosophy or software foundation (or both!) had to partially change and adapt.
For example, some of these principles had been internalized by users to the extent that mouse use was actively discouraged at a time as being “against the Dorico Way” by some…
The situation is much better now:
Multi-monitor is a godsend
Touch is still dismal on Windows (the reasons are out of the team’s control, however!)
I might post a video of me using a Wacom tablet to input notes, it works pretty well!
This is interesting. I have been with Dorico since version 2, but I can’t think of a time where a stream deck would not have been an option, but this may be because I did not regularly use Dorico that much before version 3.
At least they didn’t incorporate the touch bar of then’s MacBooks.
And this is what I love about the developing team. They have a clear concept, which in itself is logical and reasonably attuned to today’s creators’ use of ultrabooks or MacBooks, but they have been listening to their user base and been able to adapt to its diversity. (I also suspect that Dorico 6 would have been right around the corner by now if it wasn’t for the Finale earthquake sending in a lot of new users used to a completely different approach.)
Yeah, seems to be Microsoft’s notorious lack of perseverance in long-term establishing new concepts that have initially been a brilliant idea.
By the way you (or anyone with a laptop missing the numpad) might be interested in checking out the recently released Notation Express Keypad for Dorico. Paired with the Streamdeck App for Mobile, it’s basically a way to add a “numpad” to your laptop setup on the go with something you presumably have in your pocket. I’ve been loving it so far, and of course you can add/create custom macros on there too.
Just be sure to put your phone into Do Not Disturb mode to make sure you actually get any work done
Thanks, I do already own a Stream Deck XL for that end, but maybe I will give that mobile solution a try. After all, a stream deck is an additional bit of luggage while on the go.
How very interesting! I used to have a side gig in graphic design and did a lot of photoshop stuff in my day, where I had one of the medium-large wacom tablets. I never used it with notation, but I found it to be frustrating to use with DAWs since they are largely not supported (always found it very wonky for timeline navigation). I have since quit doing the design work and sold my wacom on eBay… but I’d definitely be interested in seeing how you use it in Dorico!
No, I meant using touch with Dorico on Windows is horrible…
Touch on Windows is great in general!
I don’t know, have Apple’s laptops grown touchscreens in the meantime?
Same with the XL. I actually use both (while at home with my desktop), as illustrated in the video, since the XL profile can be more focused on macros/filtering/dynamics etc, and the keypad version is all about note entry 24/7. So basically I’ve gone XXL now!
