When I recommend Dorico to my friends, I’m thinking of telling them that they can start cheaply because the sound source includes iconica sketch. I also have Cubase, but can I use iconica sketch with just Dorico? I tried it in my environment, and when I assigned the strings, it became staccato. How do I switch to a long tone? I personally use noteperformer, so it’s not a problem, but what if I don’t have noteperformer?
In a DAW you won’t have the niceties of Dorico or NP inferring articulations from the score. In Cubase, you’ll need to load the expression map and set the articulations yourself. See the documentation for using expression maps and Iconica, as it’s too big and involved for a comment.
Can Dorico do articulations automatically without using np? The main reason for using noteperformer and the playback engine is to have it do articulations for strings etc. according to the score!
Dealing with articulations is easier in Dorico than a DAW. When you place a staccato on a note, that note now has the attribute of being staccato. When Dorico sends the playback data for that note to NotePerformer, NP uses the NPPE to translate that information to the appropriate patch in the sound library. Since every library works differently, every library needs its own NPPE.
If, instead of NP, you’re using Iconica, you need to load an expression map to do the translation that the NPPE was doing in the prior example. Steinberg provides an expression map for Iconica. Many library makers provide Dorico expression maps for their libraries. For example, Vienna provides an expression map for their Synchron series, but not their older VI series. You can also create your own expression maps to suits your needs.
If you use np and the playback engine, it will choose the appropriate articulation for short notes and the appropriate articulation for long notes. The user does not have to specify it, and of course staccato etc. is specified in the music score. If there is no np, you would have to give instructions such as “this articulation should be used from here to here”. It would be the same even if there is an articulation map. The fact that it can be done just by writing it in the music score makes np and the playback engine worth it!