Fingering input

Dorico
1

I am working on some piano sonatas for a publisher and they have lots of fingering. I know that at the moment the only way to enter fingering is by going into fingering mode, add the fingering and exit the mode again and then repeat this for every single note. Are there plans to make this easier so it will be possible to stay in fingering mode and progressing to previous and next notes fast?

2

That’s why I suggested a fingering input mode.

3

I am trying some things with other text objects, maybe it’s also possible to use the lyrics format for this and placing the objects above the staff. Not sure if it will give good results, but I need to be able to work faster when it comes to fingering input.

4

1+

5

Most definitely!

6

Poor Daniel probably rues the day they released fingering into the wild. He’s tried explaining the problem many times. I wonder if input “mode” vs just a pop over might be the answer. He has stated many times that Dorico doesn’t know what note to advance to.

Personally, I wonder why the same engine that allows us to use arrow keys to change what note is highlighted/selected to move around the score couldn’t be put to service for the fingering popover. Perhaps there could be an exception for this particular popover (with a menu toggle for this functionality) that would allow you to invoke it and it wouldn’t dismiss until you then hit escape.

7

I suppose in the same way that there are toggles to limit what it edited in engraving mode (note spacing, frames, etc.) there could be a similar concept in write mode for fingering that disables the cursor from moving to anything but notes, controllable with the arrow keys, where you could then move around and type numbers and hit enter… and then once you’ve made a series of edits you toggle off the fingering mode. This would allow the grander scheme of write/engrave/print modes to still remain untouched while keeping with the other “sub-modes” that exist in engraving mode via toggles, this time just in write mode instead. From a UI standpoint this would still be consistent.

8

Yes, I understand it must be frustrating for Daniel to get this question over and over again, and I do understand why it is as it is. When Fingering just came out I was very enthusiastic about it, but fingering the first part of a piano sonata took ages and I stopped using this feature because it’s simply too time consuming.

9

I think that the decision to make a piece of fingering text a property of a note is correct, since each fingering item relates directly to a specific note in the real world. I am sure that an easier method of input can be added to Dorico at some point. I’ve managed to use AutoHotKey to speed this up considerably on my PC (it behaves in a similar manner to lyric input) and I believe there are similar macro programs available for Mac.
Here is a link:

10

Looks good Kenneth, thanks!

One suggestion: when you post code, you can use the “code” button in the comment text editor. It works like this:

Hi
This is some code
/end

The nice thing about that is it’s easy to copy and paste the code with one click.

11

I had a thought earlier: it’s possible to select a passage/stave/flow, filter all the notes and chords and then turn on the Fingering toggle in the bottom panel of Write mode.

It might be worth doing that, then writing AHK scripts to type numbers into the box in the properties pane. I suspect this might be quicker than going via the popover, at least for single voice staves (e.g. not chords).

12

I’m not following your method. I tried what you’re suggesting: filter-select notes in a bar, and turn on the fingering toggle, but what next? Typing anything into the fingering box just places that fingering on all the notes in the bar.

13

Sorry, I missed a step:
Select all the notes
Turn on the fingering toggle
Deselect all the notes
Select the first
Setup macros to type numbers 1-5 straight into the fingering box in the bottom panel, rather than invoking the pop up.

It’s this last step that may save time over using macros to invoke the pop up, type the number, hit return.

14

Andre, I wrote a simple macro I’m now using for fingering. When a note is selected, you just press the desired finger number. It opens the popover, enters the number, closes the popover, and advances the cursor (similar to what Kenneth’s does).

It works quite well for me, and it advances as quickly as I can decide what I want to enter. It only works for single finger numbers, although it would be easy to expand that. Basically it’s a way to mimic “input mode” for now, until such time as it is implemented natively.

Here’s a short video showing it in action. Sorry for the lousy camera work. I was shooting on a phone and entering finger numbers at the same time! https://youtu.be/RlpdeqfUUnQ

Here’s the AHK code for it. I know you’re on Mac, but I imagine the language would be similar for KM. I used Ctrl-F1-F5, which I mapped onto my macro keypad.

^F1:: ;finger 1
send +{F}
send {1}
send {Enter}
sleep 300
send {Right}
return

^F2:: ;finger 2
send +{F}
send {2}
send {Enter}
sleep 300
send {Right}
return

^F3:: ;finger 3
send +{F}
send {3}
send {Enter}
sleep 300
send {Right}
return

^F4:: ;finger 4
send +{F}
send {4}
send {Enter}
sleep 300
send {Right}
return

^F5:: ;finger 5
send +{F}
send {5}
send {Enter}
sleep 300
send {Right}
return
15

Thanks a lot, Dan. I hardly know how to work with KM, but I have downloaded the demo and will see if I can get this to work. This would make it interesting again for me to use Fingering.