Changing an Instrument’s Clef in Edit Instruments Yields Unexpected Play Tab Behavior

Dorico
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1

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Create a new project with 1 player (for this example, I chose Flute, but I don’t think it matters)
  2. Go to the Play tab
  3. Switch to VST and MIDI
  4. Take note of what is currently loaded based on the Playback Template. Either leave it alone or change it to a different VSTi
  5. Go to Library > Instruments
  6. If it’s not already selected, find the instrument you have in your project
  7. Scroll down to Staves and Clefs > Clefs
  8. Change the clef for either the transposing or non-transposing layout
  9. Hit OK

Expected Behavior

Only the clef in the score should change.

Actual Behavior

The clef in the score changes, but a new VSTi is added based on the current Playback Template and the instrument is rerouted to this new VSTi (in some cases it is not rerouted – see video). In some cases I even see the track disappear.

Video

System Info

Dorico 5.1.81.2225
macOS Ventura 13.7.5

2

When you make an edit in the instrument editor, when you click OK to confirm that edit, what actually happens under the hood is that Dorico does the same operation as Change Instrument in the Players panel in Setup mode: the old instrument is removed from the player, and a new instrument with your edits is given to the player, all the music being moved across.

Because the instrument is a new one, Dorico has to create new playback assignments for it. So this behaviour is expected (at least by us!). You can reapply your playback template to remove any now-unused slots that belong to the old instrument before it was replaced with the new, edited one.

1 Like
3

Got it, thanks for the explanation!