Is this a bug or a change in the way dynamics are entered in Dorico? If it’s a change, it’s very annoying, let me tell you. Seems like a bug to me, though.
Here’s how to reproduce the issue:
Create a new file and add any instrument
Write some notes, say 4 crotchets
Select the notes and add a hairpin
Select the first note, invoke the popover for dynamics and enter a dynamic
Expected behavior: the dynamic appears under the first note
Actual result: the dynamic is created after the hairpin
I hope I’m not repeating any previous report. For the record, I searched the forum but couldn’t find any post describing this issue.
I noticed this behavior, I agree it’s quite strange, at least it’s counter-intuitive. Of course, the “proper” workflow would be to invoke the dynamics popover when all the notes are selected and input “dynamic” “hairpin” enter (without the quotation marks, for instance mp<) but in a real world, it’s quite common to use the hairpin keystroke and realize later that there’s a dynamic missing. I’m quite confident that the team knows about this one, and for a long time now!
Thanks, Jan! Interesting to know that works. That’s for entering dynamics that apply to a specific voice. Unfortunately, that won’t work in my case because I’m writing a piano piece and using several voices. I’ll just have to deal with the issue until it’s resolved in a future update.
Yes, totally counter-intuitive. In fact, I usually enter hairpins first and then decide the dynamics, so this bug is particularly annoying to me. I hope you’re right the team already knows about it.
An improvement? Why would it be an improvement to have a dynamic appear in a place other than the one selected by the user?
I’ve even come across a slightly different case where the dynamic appears twice, both at the beginning and at the end of the hairpin.
And then there’s what Jan says, which I can confirm, that the dynamic appears in the right place if created with Alt + Enter, which is a command to create a dynamic for a specific voice. If this is a new behavior, shouldn’t it be consistent across different input methods?
Finally, I also searched the “version history” document and couldn’t find anything about a new behavior for dynamic input.
Until someone on the team says this is a new behavior and explains the logic behind it (which I can’t imagine by the way), I’ll continue to believe it’s a bug.
P.S.: for anyone interested on the other case, just do the following: fill two bars with crotchets, create two hairpins, one for the first bar and one for the second bar, now select the first crotchet of the second bar and enter a dynamic. Result: the dynamic appears at both ends of the second hairpin. Interestingly, the first dynamic is grouped with the first hairpin and the second with the second hairpin.
You’ve got the wrong end of the stick. Dan’s clarifying that what you’re asking for is a desired improvement, but that the current behaviour is not a bug (given that the software is working as the developers designed it to work). There’s nothing new about the current behaviour.
But this is not the way Dorico behaved in previous versions. I am absolutely sure. I have been using it since version one and my workflow has not changed. This behavior started with the latest version. In previous versions I was able to enter a dynamic after a hairpin and expect it to appear in the right place, I have no doubts about it. In fact, a proof of what I’m saying is that the dynamic appears in the right place if you use Alt + Enter.
But this is not the way Dorico behaved in previous versions. I am absolutely sure. I have been using it since version one and my workflow has not changed. This behavior started with the latest version. In previous versions I was able to enter a dynamic after a hairpin and expect it to appear in the right place, I have no doubts about it. In fact, a proof of what I’m saying is that the dynamic appears in the right place if you use Alt + Enter.
I confirm, that also to me this behaviour seems new with Dorico 3
I’m sorry; I misunderstood the fact that there is a change between the way that Dorico 2 handles this and the way that Dorico 3 handles this. One way to bypass this problem is to select and edit the existing hairpin (via the popover) rather than invoking the popover from a selected note.