[FR] Time-stretching groups of notes, anchoring notes and CC data

Dorico
1

Hi,

A couple things I’m missing while moving my workflow from Logic to Dorico:

  • Time-stretching of a group of notes, to create more realistic microvariations. In Logic I can select a group of notes, and stretch them to compress or expand their collective duration. It’s great to create effect of rubato or ritardando, very important to make a passage sound realistic.

  • Anchoring of notes and CC data in the Play page. When moving the played notes, it would be nice to have the corresponding CC data (volume, attack speed) move with them, so that they are always in synch.

Paolo

2

Thanks for the feedback, Paolo. These are the kinds of things that we may well develop in future versions of the software.

3

Just to show a practical example of an operation that I would have needed these days, here is an example of how it would work in Logic:

What would happen is that, while the written notes remain the same, played notes would have the first note on the strong beat accented and kept for a longer time, and the others made proportionally faster than written, to reach the next strong beat in time.

The example is from Rachmaninov’s Second Concerto. You can listen to this type of behaviour just at the beginning or the arpeggiato piano accompaniment, as heard in many recordings.

Paolo

4

When I was sixteen it was this work that moved me from liking classical music to loving it, a love that has become lifelong.

5

…and a great notation challenge! Behind the linear-looking score, one meets several challenges. All made to make the score look cleaner and less intimidating.

Paolo

6

By the way, I simulated the time stretch I wanted with tempo changes. Not the same, but in the end it can likely work:

Paolo

7

I think that flexibility has always been achieved, whether performers wrote it down or not.

8

A limitation of using tempo changes instead of moving notes, is that you can’t have hand independence, as you would need in a piano piece by Chopin or Scriabin. In some cases, being able to time-stretch a passage would be the only solution.

Paolo

9

I’m also moving my workflow from Logic to Dorico - thank god for that! I agree with what you say above as workflow improvements, and in general I’m finding myself working a lot with note durations by hand. More Dorico help here would be a time saver, for example the Playback Options Overrides are on a per expression basis - making them a per switch basis would do it. I’m not seeing the need to modify them for the expression and keep wishing it was per switch (e.g. natural notes should be shortened a bit for horn players.)