Very often I want to select a bunch of music for copying/moving, but I ONLY want the music itself, not the dynamics, pedal markings, text, etc. A Filter is the natural way to make this selection in Dorico. I see filters for “Notes and Chords” and a separate one for “Rests”, but I really want to select both of those things. Since I can’t select rests, for example, I can’t select some music, filter for Notes and Chords, and then Press “R” to repeat it if there’s a rest before the repeat should occur. It would be nice to select both simultaneously, unless I am missing something that already allows this.
I suggest you explore how filter>deselect only works.
Select the stuff you want to repeat. Deselect the stuff you don’t want to include (eg all dynamics, playing techniques, text etc.) and you are left with a selection that can be repeated (R) or pasted anywhere (alt-click).
I understand how Deselect works, and it does technically work to get the exact selection one wants. But I work with shortcuts where one button press does the thing I need (since I do it dozens/hundreds of times per project), so I can’t be looking through each selection to determine exactly what I want to “deselect” in each instance, as that would defeat the purpose. By that time, I could’ve simply selected everything without any filter, then pasted/repeated it, and manually deleted all the things I didn’t want in the first place.
As an alternative to what @Janus replied with, you wouldn’t need to select rests preceding the music. You would just need to paste the music where you want it to start in the target measure. This can be easily and accurately done. If, for example the music starts on the 2nd half of the 2nd beat, you could simply start note input for that measure, type 5 (eighth note), type space bar 3 times, then paste. Remember, with Dorico, rests aren’t really a “thing” as much as they are places void of music. Sort of like “dark matter”!
1 Like
(Gazumped by @musicmaven1!)
And it’s even quicker if you have set shortcuts to control grid spacing (eg ctrl-6 for crotchets, ctrl-5 for quavers etc.))
Personally, I find filter notes & rests followed by alt-click at the approximate grid position works perfectly, and is easily adjusted by alt-left/right if you guess wrong.
1 Like
All great ideas, which highlights the incredible flexibility of this amazing program!
And thanks… I just learned a new word! 
1 Like
Remember, with Dorico, rests aren’t really a “thing” as much as they are places void of music. Sort of like “dark matter”!
It does let you filter for rests already - I just want a combo of rests + notes.
I do tend to filter Notes and Chords and then alt-right-click where I want the thing to be copied. But it’s an extra set of steps when you want to repeat something by pressing “R”, because you have to repeat it once using the alt-right-click method, then select that repetition and press “R” to get the desired number of repeats.
1 Like
Forget using R - just use alt-click repeatedly. It’s the same number of clicks!
I’m not sure I understand, because if you are saying that once you paste it you have to re-select the material in order to copy again to a new place, that is incorrect. The information (notes, rests) is retained in memory, ready to be pasted as many times as you wish and wherever you wish. Have you tried it? And if the repetitions are right after each other, all you have to do is paste once, then hit R as many times as you need. No re-selecting is needed.
Or even quicker: copy the material you want to repeat, then select the entire region you want it to fill. Dorico will paste it as many times as needed to fill the selected range.
I think OPs request is understandable and I share the request.
Imagine having two bars which you want to repeat. If the second bar is fully filled, i can quickly press cmd-shift-F, N, R to filter notes and repeat the section. I can do everything with my left hand, very quickly and no need to use the key arrows to go to a grid position or to move my mouse.
If the second bar is not fully filled, the music wouldn’t repeat in bar 3, but somewhere in bar 2, which means I have to fix a mess.
It’s also annoying to have to think about whether the ending bar is now filled or not (and sometimes it’s off screen, so you have to go back and check) and adjust your copying method accordingly.
R is such a useful tool, let’s not throw it under the bus!
1 Like
I use these features every day for hours on end. Yes I’ve tried it. This whole sub-discussion was based on having a section of music that you want to repeat, but that ends with rests, so you can’t use “R” immediately.
Here is what I would like:
Step 1: Highlight large amount of music to repeat.
Step 2: Press shortcut key to filter Notes AND Rests
Step 3: Press “R” to repeat as many times as necessary.
Here is the current method (again, assuming the music you want to repeat ends with rests):
Step 1: Highlight large amount of music to repeat
Step 2: Press shortcut key to filter only notes
Step 3: Use Alt-Click to copy the music once to wherever it should start the first repetition
Step 3B: if you fail to click at the right spot (happens often when using smaller grid units) you must now adjust the entire passage manually using the arrow keys)
Step 4: Reselect the newly pasted 1st repetition (since only the notes are highlighted, not the rests, you must now select the rests at the end of the repeated fragment to use “R” to correctly repeat it again)
Step 5: Press R to repeat as many times as necessary
Hope this helps clarify the situation
I’m sorry, but absent a picture showing your precise circumstances, I’m struggling to understand.
And there are many ways to skin this particular cat.
If you need to add rests at the end, you could just make the selection, R to repeat it, then alt-right to add the missing rests (rinse and repeat).
Or, once you have your selection (with end rests), you could of course ctrl-c, select the target bars and paste. It will repeat as many times as it can.
etc. etc.
You can also do this:
Step 1: Highlight large amount of music to repeat
Step 2: Press shortcut key to filter only notes
Step 3: If necessary, Ctrl-click the last rest in the region you want to copy to add it to the selection. (So now you have the music, plus the final rest that completes the bar)
Step 4: RRRRRR
Not quite as fast as a possible filter notes & rests option, but still fast and no issues with misaligning an Alt-click.
2 Likes
It would be sexy though to be able to customize filter combinations somehow…
B.
I agree. But the real pain currently is having to go back multiple times to toggle the select/deselect.
I want to repeat these two bars without the dynamic. The easiest would be to filter for notes AND restst, and hit R.
Then I can also just ctrl-click to unselect elements like dynamics.
It’s not that it’s not possible, it’s just that filtering for notes and rests would be actually helpful in a lot of ways.
1 Like
Don’t forget that filtering works in a positive or a negative way. You can filter out dynamics 
now what?
I disagree. Select the 2 bars including the rests. R to repeat. Select the redundant dynamic and delete.
For your 2nd example I’d select the bars, filter> notes and chords and alt-click to copy it. If I miss the position alt-left/right will realign things.
All these examples are situation specific so different strategies will be needed.