If I already have Cubase 10, do I need Dorico Elements 2? Cubase already has a fair musical notation capability. What does Dorico Elements 2 do that Cubase 10 Notation does not do just as well? Thanks.
It’s a completely different notation engine, so it’s not necessarily a question of “what can it do”, but rather “what can it do, well, and prettily”.
I have a stack of manuscript paper and a 2B pencil. There isn’t much that I can’t notate with those tools, but Dorico is quicker and neater.
While I’m someone who has used Cubase’s score editor for years and years, and find it eminently capable, Dorico only does one thing, music notation, and does it with a focus on beautiful engraving and publishing. Cubase does approximately 2.75 billion things. So the answer is: It depends. You don’t say which level of Cubase you have, but only Pro has the full-fledged score editor.
Fortunately you can download trials and experiment for yourself.
Thanks for the responses. I have decided to wait. I only want to experiment with writing musical notation. A learning process. I think Dorico, even Elements, is beyond my needs and knowledge/capabilities, seems much more complicated than Cubase score editor, and on the other hand, it only allows for 12 instruments, and seems, as is suggested, more a publishing program than a composition program. Thanks again for taking the time to help me decide.
Actually Dorico is a much better “composition program” than most other notation based programs, but the key word there is “notation”. It is perfectly possible to compose good music in program like Cubase without ever using notation at all. It wouldn’t make sense to try to do that in Dorico, or in Finale, Sibelius, Musescore, or other notation-based software.
The DAW folks always want better notation while the notation camp wants more (or all) DAW features. No one has really cracked that nut but applications that interact with each other are a good start.
I think Rob’s comment above should be carved in stone and erected over the front entrance of Dorico headquarters, wherever that is. It’s absolutely accurate, very well said, and contains a truth that every potential customer should take to heart.
I have never used a DAW, and have only marginal curiosity about how they work-- not enough to get even a trial version of Cubase or any other similar software. For me, Dorico IS a compositional tool, but only because I think of music in terms of the notes, not just the sounds. (I learned to read music at age five, before learning to read English.) If I thought of music ONLY in terms of the sounds, Cubase would probably be entirely sufficient.
I would not hesitate for a second to buy Dorico, If they would offer integration with Cubase (for Cubase owners).