Hi all – the holiday season has begun (and in the US, Thanksgiving just passed) so I thought maybe it’d be a good time for those of us who are Finale refugees to post something that we’re really loving about Dorico, even if in other parts of the forum we’re going to talk about things we miss, things we wish were different, etc. Here, let’s just say things that we find so nice and wonderful.
I’ll start:
Slices – Like the old graphics tool only that it exports in color, w/ or w/o transparency options in PNG, and remembers its shape(s) for later.
Save to Audio – Yep, Finale had it, but this one supports mp3, different quality, and adjustable tail reverb!
The whole popover concept of not leaving the keyboard. I’ll someday be a meter popover master and praise that I’m sure, but at present everything about key changes and clef changes is just magical.
Chord entering + repeat - wow.
Engraving: system fill estimate – extremely useful!
These are just a few of the things that make me extremely happy to open up Dorico!
Speedy Entry (yes, Dorico has it-just use duration before pitch and it’s like Speedy Entry with the Caps Lock on, or use pitch before duration and it’s like Speedy Entry without Caps Lock)
Not having to input rests
Little need for plugins (the only .lua script I use is for artificial harmonics in strings at the fourth partial)
Ability to hit cmd-S to save while playback is occurring (Reason can do this too, but not Finale)
I can audition different playback tempi from the playback controls (this was broken in Finale since 3-4 years ago at least)
Most of the layout/spacing needs no input from me (nor any complicated/convoluted expensive plugin)
The R command to repeat a selection. As someone who composes minimalist music, this beats “paste multiple” or drag-copy in Finale
Count me in on all of the above, plus the incredibly kind and giving people on the Forum who have aided and assisted me in making the move to Dorico with such informative comments in such a patient manner.
Definitely the patience of the staff and expert users on the forum is one of the things I’m most grateful for. It might have been really easy for people (esp. non-equity partners) to be like, “Hey! we knew this amazing software before it was mainstream — go away!” but instead everyone’s been welcoming even in cases of significant disagreement. Thanks all!
Multiple flows in one file, without any workarounds.
The concept of text, music and graphic boxes
The more versatile MIDI remote control
I switched in August 2024, and just some months later, I really appreciate this very well crafted piece of software. Dorico is at a stage where Finale should have been since years, if development would have been properly continued. I am still missing the Lua scripting capabilities, but I stay positive and am looking forward for enhancements in this field.
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