Is possible to copy a page from other files?

Dorico
1

Hi There,
First thank you for this amazing software. Dorico still lag or crash many times in my case, but its workflow is saving me hours of work everyday regarding when I used to work in Finale. So, although I had to change my way of work regarding what I have been doing for ages, I’m soooo happy with it!

Paying attention to save more hours of work, there is a thing that I need to do every time from scratch, on each new song I do with Dorico, that maybe it will not be difficult to implement. Would it be able that you add in future versions the ability to import and export Master Pages?

I usually to create a first page in all my compositions with the title, composers, arranger (me), some instructions about the song, and the formation of the orchestra. Now with Dorico and their tokens, this works is amazingly easy to do. But, I have not found a way to import that page in my new songs.

I must say that I do not write directly in Dorico, but I work first in Logic Audio, and then I import the midi file in Dorico. It would be easy to create a blank Dorico page layout as a start point with that text page as first page, and then start writing in Dorico in the second page. But as I import the midifile, I have not found the way to copy that Text layout Page in the songs I import from a midifile.

Is there a way to copy a page from another Flow? Or to move that text page from another song to the new song?

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

2

The obvious solution is to set up one Dorico project the way you like it, save it somewhere safe, then import MIDI or MusicXML into a fresh duplicate of that one project.

This is a tried and tested method that many of us have been using for years.

3

Thanks for the update, but it’s not working in my case, so, I should been doing something wrong. Sorrym I’m pretty new to Dorico!

Te layout I’m using in my first page of text is not a master or default layout, nor even a custom layout, but a new non formated layout. I have just dropped some tokens, and some graphics.

In order to check what you have suggested me, I have made a copy of one of my projects, and then I have deleted all the music inside the project with the exception of said first page of text. After doing that, I have my first page of text, plus a second page with an empty bar (no music there) supposedly ready to import music into. The layout of that second page with no music is the Master Layout).

Then, I have imported (not loaded) a new midi file, and Dorico imported the music. But… In a NEW file next to my original project. So, now I have my first page of just text, a second page (master layout) with one empty bar, and all the instruments with its music of the new song since page 3 to page 18.

I have tried to convert my third page (first page of the imported midifile) in the new First Master Page chnaging its layout to be Master Layout, and then to change that blank page with its empty bar with the default layout, and I did it. But Dorico does not allow me to delete that second page, nor delete that first empty bar. It seems that they are not in the same flow, but they are.

Any ideas about what am I doing wrong?

Thanks in advance!

4

It sounds like your MIDI has indeed been imported into the original project, but as a new flow. You can delete the original flow (Flow 1?) from the bottom panel of Setup mode, which should leave your first page intact and shunt pages 3-18 forward, so that they become pages 2-17.

5

Welcome to the forum, aqui. I’m very pleased you’re finding Dorico is saving you time, though I’m sorry to hear it’s crashing for you. Could you please provide me with the Dorico Diagnostics.zip file produced by choosing Help > Create Diagnostic Report? It’ll be saved on your desktop.

For what it’s worth, we do of course plan to add support for importing and exporting master pages in the future.

6

Hi there,
yes, of course, now I’m scoring on the run, but when I find a while I will help you to find out what is going on. Iw ill be more than happy to do it. I think my problem is not actually related with Dorico, or at least partially. I think it has to do with the Core Audio in Mac, especially since I have introduced in my chain the new MTRX Unit and I had to update the HD Driver for ProTools Ultimate 2019.10. I’m using Dorico with no plugins at all anyway to avoid problems, I mean no components. But sometimes when I make changes in the PLAY mode, Dorico crash. Another times Dorico crash when I’m doing changes in the tokens in ENGRAVE Mode. It’s not always in the same screen, and maybe is because I’m using Logic Audio at the same time for reference, although when I open Logic I open it without the core audio driver. Whatever…

At any case, do not worry, the amount of time Dorico has saved to me compensate whatever crash. Not to mention that when Dorico crash, next time you open, it offers you the file before crash. So, your software is more than amazing, and I’m sure that in the future it would be more and more. I hope so!

Happy to know that you will introduce the ability to import / export master pages in the future.
Apart from that, and the ability to move a bar down or up in the ENGRAVE mode as I used to do In Finale, to be honest I have not missed nothing else working with Dorico.

The only thing I would definitely change in Dorico is the import process of midi files. Dorico does a good job, but I missed the possibility to control how the instruments are imported in the score like you can do in Finale. Many of the problem when you import a midi file would be avoided just amending things before Dorico imports the music. For example, in my import process there have been songs where the viola have been imported inside a piano staff, or a Pad in another clef, bad names with weird characters because the latin characters, things like that. Or there have been instruments where, do not ask me why, when you play there is a very low ghost note that is played since bar 1 till the end, non stop. Finally, I find out a way to avoid this, which is to change the instrument to another new sampler. Something weird… Normally happens in Pianos and Pads, but it happened to me in a French Horn as well. And another bug happens in the most part of Violas patches, that do not have volume regarding the other patches. The solution is to create a CC11 Expression event in the bar 1 who fix the volume for the Viola along the entire score.

The software has still bugs, and no worries, I will make a list for you of the things I have seen working with it.
But again, do not worry, it is a marvelous software!! You can be very proud of it.

Keep doing the good work!

7

Thanks Pianoleo as well.
I will try what you have suggested to me, and I will let you know if that way works for me or not.

Thank youuuu!!

8

Those low ghost notes you hear are likely key switches and need to be handled via an appropriate Expression Map.

9

Hi Derrek, thanks for your help in this!

Maybe you are right, but I only use key switches on Brass or Strings, never in a piano or pad when I program in Logic Audio.
So, it is strange that the import process of the midi file generates those key switches on those instruments only, right?

I have the same problem with the midi volume. I have always problems with the First Flute & Viola patches, and sometimes with First Violins. But I’m using Expression, Modulation, and lots of other controls on every instrument I’m importing in Dorico. Why only these instruments have problems with its midi volume which is very low? Weird! Actually, in the case of the Viola, only the Viola Solo patch works with no problem regarding the volume. Weird? hahaha…

At any case, I will check what you say. Although fortunately, I’m almost done with the Scores of these album, and tomorrow I’ll be already mixing, and I will not be returning to Dorico until 2-3 weeks, hehe…

But thank you anyway!