When routing an instrument to a MIDI output in Play Mode, how do I input the channel number quickly?
If I type the channel number and click “Enter”, the playhead becomes active
If I type the channel number and click a left/right arrow, the number isn’t stored
If I click the little arrow to get from Channel 2 to Channel 16, I have to wait for Dorico to re-assign each channel as I click through them and it’s SLOW. I assume this is the default method but assigning Channel 16 this way takes literally forever.
This is so slow and painful, it’s infuriating - so I’m sure I’m not doing it right. And I can’t seem to find a fast and efficient way to do this. Help? Thanks!
Edit: I removed “Enter” as a key command for playback in Preferences. This allows me to speed this up, but I think this is a workaround, not a solution.
Well, it literally takes hours to route instruments for a large template - and that’s because Dorico takes its sweet time every step of the way.
It first assigns a MIDI port, so I have to wait for that to complete. Then it has to assign a MIDI channel, so I have to wait for that too. It has to de-active and re-activate the whole project in order to make changes active. And if I try to speed it up and click “Enter” a little too quickly, Dorico gets annoyed and breaks assignments without telling me.
Is this Windows 3.1? Why is it so slow? Why isn’t it possible to make the routing assignments first and then apply them in one step? Why is this instant in VEPro and so painful with Dorico?
Were this released as a feature of Cubase, all hell would break loose. And it would be well deserved.
It’s actually not too easy to change this, on the grounds that when we change the channel (or indeed the port or the VST plug-in) for a particular instrument, we have to update the playback data for the project, which involves synchronising Dorico’s idea of what’s going on with the audio engine.
Perhaps there will be a good way for us to improve this in future, but it’s not clear at the moment what that might be. I would recommend clicking in the MIDI channel spin box, entering the new channel via the keyboard, and then hitting Tab to get Dorico to apply the changes, rather than clicking the paddles repeatedly.
Thanks Daniel - I deleted my post because I didn’t want you to think I was bumping it but, my goodness, it is frustrating.
I am entering channel numbers using the method you describe but even then there’s a lag and the cursor blinks away in the channel number field. It doesn’t feel right.
A suggestion, if that’s OK. Rather than spin buttons, maybe the opportunity to pick a channel number between 1 and 16? IIRC that’s how quite a DAW’s do it. Stepping your way up and down a sequence isn’t the fastest way to get to a number
For years I’ve been critical of Dorico’s Play Page. Dorico 4 is most definitely a huge step in the right direction and issues like this are to be expected - it can’t all happen at once. I appreciate that there’s an underlying issue with how Dorico links with the Audio engine - maybe there’s value in looking at how Cubase links with (I assume) the same engine.
Although the audio engine used by Dorico is of course essentially the same as the one used by Cubase, Cubase is interfacing with it in a very different, more direct way than Dorico does. You can rest assured that we do think about these things, and that it’s a bit more complicated than, “Maybe Dorico can work the same way as Cubase”, unfortunately.
The disadvantage of using a drop-down containing a fixed list of 16 channels is that you then can’t use the keyboard to choose the channel, which seems like a step backwards.
I’m wondering then if it wouldn’t it be possible to separate the process into two steps: (a) making all of the routing assignments, and then (b) clicking OK to confirm/finalize, thus enabling Dorico to update the playback data.
