While in note input mode, there are two keyboard shortcuts for octave selection (since Dorico will logically default to the nearest note, though that might not be what you want). That is, during input ctrl+[pitch] lowers it by an octave, and opt+shift+[pitch] raises it by an octave.
I want to change these to match some other shortcuts within my workflow in Dorico and in Cubase, where I use ctrl for upward functions, and opt/alt for downward functions. However I cannot find what this modifier combination is called within the key commands menu. Is it possible to change? At the very least I wish they shared a key in common, like ctrl and ctrl+shift, just to make it a bit easier to remember.
You can create the shortcut you need, provided the combination is free (the tool in the Preferences will tell you if it is not available). And there are ways to delete a default shortcut to create your own by “hacking” the keycommands_xx.json file, you’ll find plenty of threads about that in the forum, but keep in mind the default shortcuts in Dorico have been carefully thought of, so I wouldn’t recommend changing them. My 2c
Granted, I have added NUM- and NUM+ to lower or raise by an octave
If I am entering notes from the typing keyboard, I find it easier to add the note and then use CTRL/CMD + ALT/OPT + Up/Down Arrow Keys to skip an octave. To me these very logical key combinations are just as easy to use just after entering the pitch as would be the key combo for skipping the octave before pitch entry, and I find them easier to recall.
(If that strikes me as too inconvenient on any day of the week, I can press one button to turn on my MIDI keyboard.)
Yep, as a long-time Dorico user that’s how I’ve been doing it all along. Only recently discovered that you can do it at pitch input, and as I’m working on transcribing a cello piece which has a ton of string-skipping octaves on 8th notes, I feel like it’s helpful to assign the octave before pitch so I can do it in one fell swoop. I still normally do it the other way as you describe, but there’s a time and place for both methods - and yes, when I can, I also simply use a midi keyboard – variety is the spice of life!
Yes, I’m aware of the method of typing a shortcut to see if it’s free or not, and I went to try that initially – however that’s when I realized this one is a special case, because it’s more of a modifier shortcut which is incomplete - because it is only one-half of the combo which the other half being the keyboard letters A-G.
As it turns out, you can still try this technique, but it’s context-specific on noteinput. For example if I want to try A an octave lower, I found that it says: “NoteInput.Pitch?Pitch=A&Down=true”. However, I’m not finding this exact context or string available within the standard key commands menu. So I guess that’s where the json hack suggestion will come into play?
I’ve been using Dorico a few years and have changed a few shortcuts to kind of meet me in the middle with my Cubase shortcuts. Nothing crazy but it’s been working well for me. I would find changing this octave thing to be a little better for how my brain works. On a mac keyboard the “ctrl” key has a caret symbol like ^ pointing upward, and the opt key has the symbol ⌥ which in some way I view as pointing downward, vaguely so anyway. Therefore I have found it helpful with my other shortcuts to make it easier to remember direction. I find Dorico using ctrl for down and alt+shift for up is more or less randomly chosen from what is available to use in context. If it were me, even ctrl+shift would’ve made more sense for up. Either way I feel comfy hacking it to taste
I’m sorry, I realized later that my advice was flawed because I did not understand you were trying to give the “other octave” while in note entry mode, my advice stands more as an addition to the cmd-shift-up/down that can be used on any selected note.
I’m afraid this one is more tricky. AFAIK, there is an underlying bug since Dorico 1 that prevents German users to access the B from the octave below. If changes in this matter were simple, this bug would have been corrected a long time ago!
Ah ha, yeah, I just checked out the .json file in question and it appears there is nothing for “NoteInput.Pitch?Pitch=[A]&Down=true”, so I’m guessing it can’t be fixed.
To be fair I use the normal octave shifting method after pitch in most cases, but I have found when doing a piece where fast notes are alternating back and forth in separate octaves, it’s a little bit faster doing it at the same time as pitch input rather than adjusting after the fact. However in a world where there’s a million modifier key combinations across different daily applications (not just music but even in finder, email, browsers) sometimes it becomes a brain twist remembering which combination to use – which is why I try to at least create a consistency with other apps and use visual cues to make that task just a little bit easier.
Oh well, maybe in a future update we can gain access to modifier keys from key commands! There’s a possibility I could use Keyboard Maestro to create a temporary workaround, but I’m not sure if I will go that far for this.
