MusicXML Export Bug – m7(b5) Chord Symbols

Dorico
1

Hi everyone,
I’d like to kindly report (and ask the development team to take a look at) a persistent issue with MusicXML export in Dorico 6 Pro.

When I enter a chord such as m7(b5) – for example Gm7(b5) – the exported MusicXML file only shows Gm7, without the “flat fifth” indication.
I’ve tested this both with the standard Dorico symbols (ø7 / half-diminished) and custom text versions, so it doesn’t seem to be a formatting issue but rather a missing “half-diminished” chord type in the <kind> tag of the XML.

I realize this is a technical detail, but for those of us who work with cross-software workflows (Dorico → Soundslice, MuseScore, etc.), this harmonic information is quite important.
It would be extremely helpful if this could be addressed in an upcoming update.

Many thanks for your attention and for the great ongoing work on Dorico! 🙏 Franz

2

I think this is going to depend on what program you import the exported xml file into. I just tried it with the latest version of MuseScore and it shows me a Bm7b5(). I’m using Dorico pro 6.1, no modifications to chord symbols. I entered the chord symbols as “Bm7b5”. The code dorico exported includes the half-diminished in the kind tag. Here it is:

    <root>
      <root-step>B</root-step>
    </root>
    <kind text="m7" parentheses-degrees="yes">half-diminished</kind>
  </harmony>
2 Likes
3

Thank you, James!
That’s very helpful — I checked and it seems you’re right: Dorico 6.1 correctly includes the half-diminished tag in the XML.
So the issue must be on the Soundslice side when reading the file.
I’ll report it to their developers so they can hopefully handle the <kind>half-diminished</kind> tag properly in future updates.
Thanks again for your time and detailed explanation! :folded_hands:

4

There’s some ambiguity in the MusicXML spec as to how the “text” attribute of “m7” interacts with the “half-diminished” content of the “kind” element. It might be that we want to tweak it from our end - if you get a response from the Soundslice team, feel free to forward it to me at r dot lanyon at steinberg dot de.