Handling MusicXML file in Dorico

Hi there,
I sent a case with original MusicXML, and mp3 outputs from MuseScore as well as Dorico (playback with NotePerformer) to both Wallander Instruments and Steinberg. I heard back 3 times so far from Wallander, but not once from Steinberg. I’m thinking may be I didn’t use the right email address for Steinberg tech support. My case is that the original piece (Caravan by Duke Ellington) that I got the MusicXML version has a usual standard jazz swing percussion using brush 1/8 beat accented on beat 2 and 4. In MuseScore playback it plays just fine for recognizing the brush, plays 1/8, and accented 2 and 4, and 1 and 3 are played very soft but in Dorico using Note Performer, it plays all beats loud equally and also it uses stick instead of brush. WI told me about that part that Note Performer defaults to stick, which is a quick fix in Note Performer mixer, but regarding loosing the swing and accented 2nd and 4th beat, I need more clarification from Dorico team. WI rep said loosing the accented 2nd and 4th beat is not from Note Performer. It is the way Dorico handles Music XML so it can’t recognize the accented beats in the drum. Also he said Dorico can’t handle different velocities for the same drum note (I’m hoping they just didn’t know enough about Dorico). This is quite a surprise to me. Handling accented beats in drum is quite rudimentary. Many times in drum we only play on snare and we create a pattern just by accenting certain beats. I am hoping the issue is not lack of enough features in Dorico but just the way MusicXML is translated, and if this is the case, I like to know A- what is exactly happening in this translation and how I can manually fix it (hopefully not too tedious), and B- if Steinberg has a plan to improve in MusicXML translation in Dorico.
It seems the attachment feature in this forum is not dealing with all files but perhaps only the image files. Naturally Dorico team need to do the MusicXML import to Dorico to test it and have more insight about it. You can also import it to MuseScore (which is a free software) so you can witness how it plays well in Musescore. I can submit the mp3 result of Dorico and MuseScore as well. Please let me know how I can submit those files to Dorico team.
Thanks a lot,
Arya

Hi Arya.
If you want to attach a dorico file, change the suffix to .zip
You can select the template to silent before saving and doing that .zip thing, to keep the size very low.
I think you should get some answers here, the team is really very active on feedback.
Marc

Hi there,
Thanks for the tip to zip the file. I just compressed Caravan.musicXML file so it requires to be unzipped by Dorico tech team. Please import it to Dorico and hopefully you can manage importing it to MuseScore and compare the way the drum is represented. Especially if you have Note Performer, then you can exactly see what my issue is.
If you also need mp3 output from Dorico and / or MuseScore, please let me know, and let me know how I can do it. I guess I can just make it very short like 10 seconds and zip those as well.
Thanks again,
Arya
Caravan_a_jazz_band.musicxml.zip (180 KB)

To make Dorico play back with swing, go to the Timing page of Play > Playback Options and choose the desired rhythmic feel from there. If you need to switch from e.g. swing to straight and back again, type e.g. “Medium Swing” or “Straight” into the Shift+T (tempo) popover, and that will prompt Dorico to change the rhythmic feel at that point.

The only control over beat stress in playback that Dorico provides is on the Dynamics page of Playback Options: the dialog makes it appear that you can control the downbeat and other beats of the bar separately, but in fact you cannot at the moment. The amount of stress specified there will be provided on every beat, not only on the downbeat. Otherwise for notes marked with no dynamics Dorico will play them at the same dynamic, barring the minor variations brought about by the Humanize option, also found on that page in the dialog.

Thanks for the reply. I definitely need that stress variation over the beats as soon as possible. Would you please add it to the list of things to be developed soon? I was told that next version of Dorico is not going to be 2.x but rather 3.0. Is that right? I just bought Dorico 2.2.1 and the thought of paying extra again for the next improved version is not a very good feeling! Do you thing those who purchased the software recently can benefit with a free upgrade? Would that be sometime in 2019?
Thanks.

I’m afraid I can’t make any promises about when specific features will be added, and our standard policy for free updates is that only customers who first activate the previous version within four weeks of the release of the new version are eligible for a free update (this is something we call a “grace period update”). I’m sorry that you’re left with a bad feeling. This is of course why we make available a 30-day trial version of the software, so that you can try before you buy and be sure that the current version meets your needs. I hope that despite your disappointment about drum playback you will find lots of other things in Dorico to make you happy.

I was just watching this video: Adjusting Relative Volumes of different percussion elements - Dorico - Steinberg Forums
John Barron mentioned that by designating some notes of the beat to ghost notes, it plays them softer. Is that true? Even if I can distinguish some notes of snare drum to be more intensified and some softer (2 different levels of intensity) I can manage to make my rhythm feel decent. Also he mentioned how there can be another snare drum introduced to the kit and allocating stem up vs. stem down on the same note and designating it to a different note on the midi keyboard, so if I designate a soft snare drum to stem down vs. a hard snare drum to stem up, then that way I can create another two variations of intensity so will be a total of 4 intensity possibilities. I appreciate your comment. Thanks.

Yes, you can assign a note on a percussion staff to be a ghost note by selecting it and activating the ‘Ghost note’ property. Ghost notes are played at 50% of the prevailing dynamic; at the moment there is no control over the amount of dynamic reduction.