Can you open two or more projects at the same time - for copy/cut and paste

Dorico
1

Hello. Simple question. Can I open more than one project at a time, to enable copy/cut and paste between them ?

2

Yes, you can.

Jesper

3

Yes of course, like any app! But surely this is something you could easily test for yourself?

One word of warning is that Dorico will reload all the instrument samples each time you switch focus from one project window to another project’s window. This can get a bit tedious. It is possible, I think, to disable the audio in one project, using the ‘power’ button in the top right.

4

I have done some tests with ‘disabling’ the VST power button for these situations. Even though the instrument doesn’t play, it does still load, which as you say, can be a bit tedious. It would be nice for this not to happen, but I’m not sure that Dorico will be able to do this. If you are using VEPro from VSL, you can at least ‘decouple’ your instances and they won’t reload each time, but for VST’s directly inside Dorico, they always reload I believe. In my case, I find it happens with the Garritan CFX Piano which I use as my default piano. I will sometimes simply delete the CFX VST and use the smaller footprint Halion piano when doing lot’s of copy and pasting between projects.

5

You could load the Silence PT while doing the copy/paste stuff.

Jesper

6

Thank you , but I am not using an app, and there are no videos where such a possibility is shown to be possible, hence the seemingly simple question.

I am thinking of using one project for musical ideas, with a number of flows as needed, and another project which will be the main emphasis , picking up ideas from the first project if they become part of the main music. It will enable me to add ideas, themes, etc, and later possibly use them in the main work.

7

You’re not using Dorico?

You could just keep all the music in separate flows in one project, and only have some Flows in your Final Layout.

8

Of course I am using Dorico on a laptop under W10

9

Sorry, I must be misunderstanding. Why then can you not attempt opening two documents?

10

Thanks - I am concerned that, as a Project is such a major part of Dorico, I do not know if it is possible to open two (or more, as needed) Projects at the same time, in order to cut ,copy or paste between them.
Perhaps I am thinking in non-Dorico terms, but if I have a project whose main role is to store musical ideas, themes, etc, I would then be able to use it as a resource to add these ideas as appropriate in my main project - a bit like the idea that is used by Sibelius for this kind of option.

My problem (apart from worrying about making Dorico possibly crash or something) is that I cannot find any references to see if this approach is possible, including the videos from Dorico

11

There’s an “Open” command in the File menu. Give it a try! Dorico is making backups and autosave versions, so you need not fear any crashes, which are unlikely. Don’t be afraid to experiment.

You might find it easier to have an “Ideas” Flow within the same project for this use, though.

12

I would say it depends a little on exactly what you’re trying to do but I agree that a sort of sketchpad (preferably better than the one in Sibelius) would be quite a nice feature in Dorico. In the meantime, I’d probably simply create a new flow in the same project simply for these sketches which means you don’t need to worry about switching projects. You can easily move the flow to the end so it doesn’t interfere with completed music and once everything has taken shape then simply delete it.

13

…or just unassign it from your print layouts.
That way if you ever decide to revise the piece, or want to recycle material, it’s still somewhere.

14

indeed --makes sense as well!

15
  1. Select File > Import > Tracks from Project .
  2. In the file dialog, select a project file and click Open.
  3. In the Import column of the Import Options dialog, select the tracks that you want to import or click Select All.
  4. In the Destination column, select one of the following options for each track that you want to import :
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16

This is the Dorico forum. This answer does not relate to Dorico menus or dialogs.

17

Which brings me back to where I started - can I open two or more projects at the same time ?

18

@jesele answered that question six minutes after you posed it.

To go into fractionally more detail: go to the File menu and click Open. Then locate the file you want and open it. Wait for the Play button (top right corner) to turn green before you start trying to interact with the file for playback purposes.

19

Thank you. How do I do it please ?

20

@pianoleo has replied to you above and described how to open projects - this works whether or not another project is already open.

If you want to follow @jesele’s advice about applying the Silence playback template to minimise computing effort put to loading and reloading sounds when you switch between 2 open projects, see here.

1 Like