How to copy music more efficiently

A couple times I have actually used markup in ForScore to add bar numbers to an old score. Certainly more tedious than using a pencil, but it was professional arranging work and I needed to be efficient at the computer. In lieu of bar numbers, for keeping in sync, one might copy just melody lines or other prominent parts first, to have a continuous thread of music. (But bar numbers are certainly better.)

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I have remapped the numpad to my liking, but maybe that’s not what you are asking?

I usually work with left hand on midikeyboard and right hand on numpad, but when I do the opposite I actually have created an extra “dotting” key for letter Y. Then I don’t have to stretch all the way down to the dot.

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Thanks everyone!

That’s exactly what I meant - right now I have the hand motion that’s way too wide and the “.” key looks too similar to “,” key right next to it, on my keyboard. Thanks. OK, I’ll try to remap it to something else.

So far I only used the mappings that others have suggested here, @dan_kreider for octave transposition and @benwiggy for filtering notes, IIRC. These are amazing but I don’t believe I actually had to find a replacement for any prior key commands, which is what makes me a bit worried.

I pencil bar numbers into the source score and mark my place in it carefully with a pencil or something. Do not neglect this. Losing one’s place is super easy and super time-consuming to fix: Dorico’s insert mode is your friend when it happens.

I do one melodic line at a time, then articulations in a 2nd pass, then dynamics, then lyrics, which in oratorios can be very tedious.

My piano keyboard skills are not up to scratch, so I enter from the computer keyboard. I keep earphones on when I do this so as to pick up mistakes and correct the octave, which as someone else remarked is wrong about half the time. I do wish Dorico could remember what I did last time about the octave of the 2nd note of a particular interval, because I end up making the same fix system after system. It is a simple typewriter chord to correct, but if you miss doing that there may be a lot to back and fix.

This technique works well for vocal music and ensembles of melodic instruments, and improves markedly with practice. Though I still don’t have the speed in Dorico that I had in Sibelius. When I lived in Holland, I was copyist for my choir, so I did it quite a lot.
I think for piano or guitar, or other instruments that need multiple voices, this would be a less good technique. I know it takes me simply ages to enter piano music, so I’m clearly doing it wrong, and I suspect for that a midi keyboard is probably far better. But I’m a bassoonist, so don’t take my word for it…

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One thing you can do right away to save time with the computer keyboard: Check out the modifier keys for changing the octave of the next note. On Mac it’s Control for the octave below the nearest and Shift-Option for above.

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Or remap octave up/down to the plus and minus keys on your number pad, if you have one. Makes short work of it.

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Yes - I’ve taken Dan’s key remap for octaves some time ago. It’s amazing and should be made the program default, in my opinion. Dan, have you also remapped the dot for the dotted notes by any chance ? :wink:

(Not Dan, but) I added that so early-on that I forgot I’d done it. I also kept the default period for small keyboards.

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Indeed. And the NumPad Enter for spacebar (for rests).

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Thank you for including the reference to the K&M 124 tabletop music stand. I have long found it clumsy to work from a floor-standing model and delight in my new ability to have a stand next to my laptop whenever I need it and to otherwise store it out of site virtually anywhere due to its compact dimensions when collapsed.

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