My Trial Of Dorico ~ My Thoughts and Reaction

Hello Everyone,

Having been a Finale user for over 25 years I felt the need to try Dorico so installed the trial version. My experinces might be of interest to other folk who are thinking of trialling.

My workflow is to prepare my scores in my notation editor then to take a MIDI file into my DAW (Sonar) to work on the performance.

Rather than go through Dorico’s learning curve on a ‘test’ score, I decided to go for ‘babtism by fire’ and to learn on an important score. I chose to work on the score of my planned entry for the ‘Friends of Garritan’ Christmas CD which includes four-part vocals.

My very first impression was the quality and presentation of Dorico. This, clearly, is of a very high standard and beautifully presented.

I did feel daunted that first day but that quickly subsided as I soon found just how intuitive and user friendly Dorico is. I was soon entering notes and events and setting up comfortably.

The next test was support and I found this to be exemplary. Members are friendly and supportive here. Queries were answered within an hour for the most part and no later than the next morning. Of particular note is the fact that Dorico staff are in the forums regulary giving expert solutions including the ‘Product Marketing Manager’ Daniel himself. This reminds me of the days when, as a member of the Garritan libraries forums, we saw Gary Garritan himself regularly joining in together with some of his staff. What wonderful times those were. I do feel that any program can only be as good as it’s support to customers.

Within a week I had completed my very important score complete with lyrics for the four-part vocals and exported the MIDI file. This opened in Sonar to perfection, ready for me to craft my performance.

I actually found the work to be enjoyable and not just a chore. Naturally, there are things I’m not keen on, this is inevitable with every program. I really don’t like the ‘Hub’. The majority of programs I have use some kind of ‘Start Screen’ and these can all be turned off including Finale and Sonar as can Steinberg’s Cubase! However, I did thoroughly enjoy preparing my first score with Dorico.

There is no question in my mind that Dorico is going to be the leading notation software program as more and more of it’s intended features are added in. This is going to be big!

So, am I going to actually lay out my pennies? I already have and I’m glad to be part of this beautiful program.

A huge thank you to Steinberg, Daniel and staff. Congratulations on your achievements with Dorico.

Best wishes,

Michael

Thanks, Michael. I’m really glad you are enjoying using Dorico so far. Here’s to many more successful projects! And please do tell your friends and colleagues that you would recommend giving Dorico a try – it really helps.