Books on Dorico

Dorico
1

For some reason (age?) I find it difficult to learn just from videos and wondered if anyone had come across any Dorico books worth reading, preferably print but PDF is OK. The Dorico manual is very good but not easy to flip through in PDF form.

Darren Jones’ Getting Started with Dorico 3.5 Paperback is the only paper book I can find. I liked his Cubase books but has anyone seen this one?

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2

There aren’t many books about Dorico. Beyond Darren’s book, there’s a PDF of the Operation Manual available here. Dan Kreider wrote a beginner’s guide for Dorico 2, now somewhat out of date but still useful and linked to in the FAQ thread.

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Thanks Daniel, Dan’s guide looks like a good place to start - plus the new features videos for 3.0 and 3.5. The popover pdf is very handy as well. Very impressed with 3.5 having just upgraded from Dorico 1.

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Certainly Dorico 3.5 has come an astonishingly long way since Dorico 1! Welcome back to the fold.

5

Thanks Daniel, it’s good to be back.

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I would also recommend reading through the features on Dorico on the https://www.scoringnotes.com/ website. Their reviews are detailed and really useful.

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7

John Barron’s Getting Started with Note Input is a pretty good place to start as well.

8

Besides Dan Kreider’s book (which I find especially good for leading the user into “thinking Dorico’s way” rather than holding on to assumptions from other music software) I have also found Daniel Spreadbury’s tutorial “Typesetting Choral Preces and Responses in Dorico” exceedingly helpful, after a week or two of familiarizing oneself with the basics and gaining a little fluency. It really does walk the user step by step through creating a multi-page piece of the type described, including the layout issues. Even though I’m never going to need an evensong service, following all its steps gave me a big step forward in understanding.

Are there other similarly detailed tutorials available? (Darren Jones’s book has two, I know, though they’re on more of a beginner’s level than this.)

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I usually prefer reading too, but Anthony Hugh’s video tutorials are pretty concise for a number of topics and a picture does help a lot.

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I also find it quite difficult to learn from videos - again, perhaps, due to age. I don’t suppose Daniel has a book in progress? BTW, an internet search doesn’t throw up ANY books about Dorico, other than Darren’s effort.

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That’s correct, other than Darren’s book and my introductory guide, I’m not presently aware of any other books on Dorico.

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Have your read Dan Kreider’s Guide for Beginners? It’s free, and although it was written for 2.2, very usable and valuable.
And please, don’t wait to be frustrated to ask for help on the forum, we’re happy to help.
And I see Dan has beat me to it!

13

John Barron put together a resources page, here, including the “getting started with note input” tutorial mentioned earlier.

We are also improving the previous section of the manual aimed at new users, which we hope to share relatively soon.

Edit, Sept 2021: The aforementioned being-improved-section for new users is now available, it’s called First Steps and is available as a PDF and webhelp (just like the manual). There are also supporting resources available to download.

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14

While not a book specifically, you may find these illustrated written transcriptions of a number of the official Dorico tutorial videos by Anthony Hughes helpful: OF NOTE / Dorico

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15

Thanks all, this is really useful. Apologies, I’ve been away from the forum for a while because of health problems but all is well now and I’m back to using Dorico.

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Sorry to hear you’ve been unwell, Chris, and I hope you’re fighting fit again now.

17

Thanks Daniel, all is well now - it’s great to be back using Dorico.

18

Thank you all for your help.