Deleting notes

Dumb question alert…
How can I delete a note and have the following notes in the same bar move backwards?

Deleting is very odd generally. I input a note, decide against it, push delete. The note stays but the previous note goes - not intuitive.

Hi Steve !
I understand what you want is to delete, with the insert mode on. To enable insert mode, while in Write mode (Cmd/ctl-2), just type i (or press the icon just under grace notes on the left panel). Then if you delete a note, everything written after will move backwards. And you can add notes between already written notes without overwriting them.

Whatever you delete is selected (orange). And indeed, if you want to delete the last note you’ve input, but it is not the one in orange, my advice would be to use “cancel” :wink:
Hope it helps !

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Cheers Marc!

By ‘cancel’ do you mean ‘undo’. This is mostly what I do, but over barlines Dorico takes a few ‘undos’ to remove the last thing.

Sorry, you are right ! Undoing in Dorico can seem a little bit strange but I got used to it. Every step can be undone, actually. For instance, you want to input a crotchet. But you realize you need a 16th instead. Oh, no, a minim. What the hell ? I NEED a crotchet ! You input it. And you are not happy with that, you should have gone for the minim. Undo twice and you will find yourself in the position of inputting a minim. If you undo once more, the 16th will be the rythmic value selected. Strange but useful once you know it !
Sorry for the mistakes I make in english :wink:

I can see what Dorico is doing, but it turns a typo into a five-second event. The vast majority of my copying work has to be done fast, usually inputing parts quicker than it would take to play them. I love the popovers and a stack of other Dorico ideas, but input is slow in ways that I don’t think will speed up. The ethos of the program could be to allow different methods.

I have seen a thread about inputing speed… The forum user gives some advice to D’s team about a way to go faster, and they listen to him, there should probably be some progress on that matter.

If you have ideas about how inputing could be better, share them, we will all benefit from that !

Without a midi keyboard the fastest way I’ve found is to use the up/down arrow keys to select pitch (caret moves up and down), number key (for length) actually displays the note, then accents, slurs etc appear as you add them onto the note. Much less to hold in memory.

I would also like the option of using d f g h j k l for C D E F G A B (on mac keyboard as a piano…accidentals follow key sig.).
I really hate pushing say ‘B’ in the key of Bb. Goes against years of experience.

When deleting notes, is there a way to make the barlines “moving left” with the notes?

Actually, all the barlines stay in their original tempo places, and Dorico automatically add slurs on notes that have been moved left and are now in between 2 measures. This is annoying because we have to remove and recreate all the following barlines each time I have to delete (or insert) a note.

Edit: and I have the same issues with elements like Fermatas.

How many notes are you deleting?
Are you deleting entire stacks of notes from the system?

Perhaps what you need to do is split the measure into two smaller measures and then to delete the (small) measure containing the notes you do not want using the system track.

Just one or a few notes, not the entire stack.
Thank you, your trick is working.

However, this might be a bug since when deleting something (in insert mode), all the barlines and stuff like fermatas are all shift from their original notes and positions.

It’s intended that notation items and barlines don’t move when notes move. This introduction to the concept of rhythmic position might be helpful to you - things in Dorico exist at a position, such as 24 beats into the flow, and are mostly not attached to notes. This means you can change the time signature and notes are automatically re-beamed etc if necessary, ensuring correct notation.

If you want to remove beats from a bar, I would recommend changing the time signature as many times as you need - Dorico will then put barlines in the correct places according to the current time signature automatically. Barlines follow the time signature, not a position relative to surrounding notes - I like to think of the time signature and barlines as a “cookie cutter” that you overlay onto your music; the music has a solid shape (one note starts 2 beats after the first, for example) and the barlines are your way of organising the music.

Are you sure you want to delete the notes in Insert mode then rather than erasing the notes with Insert turned off and leaving rests in their place? Then the bar lines etc. should not move.

Yes I’m sure I want to delete (and insert) the notes in Insert mode! I’m copying a lot of music with their lyrics, which often need to be adjusted (or translated). Except the chorus, theses music sheets generally don’t have a specific rhythmic signature, they are composed in “timeless” mode, with measures having irregular length.

I tried to explicitly define the “X” time signature, but it still behaves the same when I insert or delete notes. Derrek, even if it’s not ideal, fortunately your trick is working (split the measure into two smaller measures and then to delete the small measure), and it saves me a lot of time when I have to delete notes in the middle of a part.

Lillie, indeed the concept of rhythmic position is very interesting and a nice feature in timed sheets! Perhaps it could behave differently on timeless measure having irregular length? Maybe a feature request?

Thank you two for your help!