Dragging notes in key editor oddity

Dorico
1

I want to move the notes of four chords with slight arpeggiation a little bit earlier, so that the top note of each chord lands on a beat. But when I try to drag them as a group, the result is that their start times line up exactly, cancelling the arpeggiation. See movie. Is there something I’m doing wrong? Thanks—Peter

2

If you use arperggio signs (shift-o arp) you can simply set the playback properties to start or end on the beat.

3

Great to know, thanks! Nevertheless, this issue could apply to non-arpeggiated chords. Do you know, is there a way to do what I’m trying to do here? (Drag a group of notes while retaining their relative start times?)

4

Sorry, the Key Editor is not something I use.

5

I’ve found the key editor a bit tedious with which to work. The only thing I use under the Key Editor is automation of a VST interface. I would echo the use of the playback properties as the best practice. This may be counterintuitive if coming from a DAW user background. The DAW aspect of Dorico is not as highly developed as, say, Cubase or Logic Pro even though it uses some of the same technology as Cubase.

6

Thanks—I do realize that. I use it in a very specific way: I adjust durations where needed and note velocities where needed. Then I export everything as separate audio tracks and bring it into my DAW where I have much better mixing tools. I also hope that Dorico keeps improving the key editor—it’s a very useful “transfer-to-DAW” prep tool. That said, what happens in the movie shouldn’t be happening—it negates the humanization factor.

7

Is there, perhaps, a snap-to-grid setting that changes arpeggio offsets when one drags them? (I’ve never investigated that possibility.)

8

When “played durations” are displayed, snap-to-grid should not be applicable. And in fact, the issue only comes up when you try to drag two notes that have same start time in written notation. You can move one note of a chord wherever you want without grid snap. Or you can move two notes at once without grid snap IF they’re far enough apart to not be considered a chord.