Does it seem to anyone else that it is actually quite absurd that inputting dotted note values should require turning the dotted value tool on and off? Dots have been an intrinsic part of our notational system since the 14th century and should really be integrated into any notational program as a fundamental element, not as an add-on.
Why isn’t the addition of the dot (or multiple dots) a local operation for each specific note or rest?
The computer notation system I have been using for the last 20 years (Score) lets me add as many dots as I need with an equal number of key-strokes. Dorico complicates the process in much the same way that Sibelius did.
I’ve made the investment in hoping to shift to Dorico, but what’s the point if the fundamental user interface for one of its main selling point – greater flexibility in handling more complex rhythm – is undercut by its clumsiness in handling something as basic and fundamental to musical notation as dots of addition?
You can toggle dot (or a number of dots) on while in note input, and any duration you pick will be dotted until you switch it off.
Outside note input (no caret, select mode), you can select notes and rests, and toggle the dot button on, or add more dots with Alt+.
If you do that in insert mode, subsequent notes will shuffle up, giving all selected notes the required rhythmic space to change their duration. If you leave insert mode off, then it will change duration only for those selected notes/rests that are not being overwritten by prior duration changes.
Play with that a bit more, curious to hear what it is you find difficult to achieve.
I’m currently just trying to find my way around Dorico and I’m struggling with inputting a dotted quarter note followed bu an eighth rest! I select a quarter note, select the dot and input. I get a quarter tied to an eighth. If I add another eighth note after this then Dorico changes the previous note into dotted one. If I want a rest after the dotted note I can’t work out how. It only seems to happen with dotted quarters. I’m I missing something?
Take a look through the options in Write > Notation Options to see how Dorico handles the notation of different note values in different time signatures.
Once you’ve found the settings that generally work for you, you can always override them on a case by case basis by using the Force Durations button (shortcut O, icon like a G clamp) in the note input toolbox to force Dorico to notate the note using the value you choose on the notes panel, but use this sparingly as it ties Dorico’s hands when renotating the music.
I found the same behavior surprising as well. I discovered from another thread that you can use the Force Duration (c-clamp) tool to cause Dorico to give the dotted note instead of converting it to a tied combo.
after 15 minutes of searching, i found the secret place in the options to fix this:
yes, i am resurrecting a very old post, but this is one of the first results in google for “dorico dotted notes” so i thought i should post the solution here.
It’s really difficult if you don’t want to learn the way the tool works. Once you understand how it works, it’s really easy, or requires force duration (because what you want to do might not follow the usual rules).
I suppose it’s a language specificity. In France we use «guillemets»… You need to accept that people around the world come here and help their fellow Doricians, from wherever they may come!
I don’t think @tbabcock123 is using “scare quotes,” merely referring back to the word easy in your prior post.
Perhaps you consider things easier in Finale because you have more experience in it. I know that was my case when I started Dorico, but I had read Daniel’s pre-release blogs and didn’t expect Dorico to be anything like Finale.
I haven’t the slightest interest in what you think I should accept, nor do I accept your vaguely demonizing premise that I am somehow opposed to global acts of benevolence. Expressions entered entre guillemets can and do often imply skepticism, of course.
At any rate, I’m through with this niggling.
