Here's a Speedy(ish) Entry alt-key "override" macro

[wing]

I created a macro using Keyboard Maestro (mac)* which I think many users might find helpful or interesting.

(First off, disclaimer: I have never used Finale)

With the huge new influx of requests around this Speedy Entry thing, I observed one of the common issues that Finale users complain about is the requirement to use a modifier key (alt) while pitching notes up and down inside of pitch-before-duration or P.B.D. mode, which is the next closest thing to Speedy Entry, minus a few perceived shortcomings.

Dorico treats up and down arrows as movement between staves, which is logical. But as @Frigolito suggested, what if there were a menu preference where users could temporarily override this to access normal up/down arrows only while in P.B.D. mode? Curious, I thought this might be a good task for Keyboard Maestro which is capable of doing temporary app key command overrides, using a different key command to toggle it on and off, so I can access up and down arrows to re-pitch notes while in this mode, without need to use the alt key.

First off, a simple side-by-side demo with and without the alt key immediately made clear to me why this is very popular with Finale users. All else being equal, the speed difference on this simple scale run is incredibly apparent:

(I made no speed changes or attempts to go slower in the first; it was to my own personal discovery that without the alt key it truly is significantly Speedy-er!)

For further illustration of how it works, watch this demo.

And finally, here is the Keyboard Maestro macro group:

DORICO Speedy(ish) Entry Override.zip (9.1 KB)

To install, with KM open simply double-click the file. Imported files are always disabled by default, so you’ll need to enable the macro group first.

In order to toggle the macro, I used a long shortcut I was sure would not conflict with anything else: shift+ctrl+opt+cmd+K… I chose this since ‘K’ is Dorico’s shortcut for P.B.D., making it easier for me to remember, and basically it’s mashing all the modifier keys together. When you toggle this shortcut, I made it so it pops up with a window AND displays in the menu bar - making it apparent you are in this override mode as a reminder (you’ll want to turn it off after so you can move freely between staves).

You can easily modify the name of the macro and the toggle shortcut to suit your own desires.

FINALLY, Some Caveats:

• As of now, this only works diatonically based on your key sig. It seems there is no way to access the Chromatic Up/Down re-pitching commands in Dorico, while in P.B.D. I can confirm this seems to be Dorico’s current behavior regardless, requiring you to manually add accidentals (be sure to have accidentals before duration enabled in your menu preferences).
• When in chord mode (‘Q’), you cannot use the Shift+I popover while in this to add intervals where you want; and you can’t simply add a new note relative to the lowest/previous one. Here, you have to use letter names, or, hit ‘Y’. This will add a G first in the middle of the staff, and as you add more 'Y’s it will consequently add a G at the next octave above, which you’d then have to manually pitch back down.

But, especially when working with single parts diatonically, I find this temporary solution to be highly effective, and extremely fast. I called it Speedy(ish) because I’m aware after learning from many of you that it’s not 100% the same thing (due to the limitations above); but I hope you can find it useful for now, at least as a holdover until the team implements a native solution in a future update.

*PC Users: You could likely achieve a similar thing with AutoHotKey.

[Mark_Johnson]

@wing

the speed difference on this simple scale run

Yes, but notice that alpha entry is even faster for that, with only 1 keystroke per note required instead of 2, and no octave switching needed. Same for most arpeggios.

[wing]

@Mark_Johnson

@wing

the speed difference on this simple scale run

Yes, but notice that alpha entry is even faster for that, with only 1 keystroke per note required instead of 2, and no octave switching needed. Same for most arpeggios.

Well yes and no. I have done a comparison of this run specifically, and in fact for a scale run such as that, comparing alpha to without the alt key – this is still significantly faster than letter names, by about twice as much. However, with the alt key, I discovered the alpha entry to be faster (and I’m very fast with letter names). If you have a mac and KM, I encourage you to try this for yourself to see.

Also I did not need to do any octave switching whatsoever, and the arrow/rhythm keystrokes were ‘played’ with two fingers at about the pace as one could play a fast musical passage of 16th notes in an upbeat tempo, actually, almost real-time of the scale run itself. In many ways I feel that is a lot faster than alpha entry from a standard computer keyboard (although midi keyboard entry would win by far).

To me personally, each method has its place.

For arpeggios (and block chords), I would totally prefer alpha entry. I mostly wanted to try this to see what it’s all about, and thought it might be helpful to share with others who are not so comfortable with alpha entry.

[wing]

Here is a comparison I had done doing alpha entry as fast as humanly possible, vs. P.B.D. using the alt-key override macro:

I was able to do ~5 octaves on the right in the same amount of time it normally takes me to do 2 octaves with alpha entry. And like I said, I’m pretty fast with alpha, but there was something about the other method which allows me to basically tap it out quickly like a drummer.