Neat Copy Lyric text feature request

Dorico
1

Hey folks,

Two things -

  1. If you select a lyric, choose “Edit line of lyrics” and then copy from that dialogue, the typesetting of the lyric seems to reset, and if for example you have “show verse number” overridden and selected, it reverts to default. I think I see why this happens but it’s not very convenient behaviour.

  2. It made me think of a neato probably-easy-to-implement feature (even if by macro) - “copy line of lyrics from this point” - tired of copying to text editor and going back and forth? click on the start point of the lyric you want to copy, choose “copy line of lyrics from this point” and it sends the text from that point forward from the “edit line of lyrics dialogue” into your clipboard, neatly formatted to paste, paste paste paste!

Would be terribly useful, especially if I can add a shortcut

Ta :slight_smile:

3
  1. I can copy all lyrics out of the dialog without altering anything if I then hit Cancel. It’s just hitting OK that resets things.
  2. Selecting from somewhere to the end, filtering for lyrics and copying works for me. I was able to record all those steps to a macro.
4

Hi Mark,

Thank you for playing.

Yes - I know if you press cancel it doesn’t affect it. Thank you. Perhaps if the text isn’t altered, the ok button could be greyed out, or simply it could be smart enough to recognise if any changes have actually been made when you hit ok and update it?

Yes - you can copy lyrics that way, but what if the underlay is different on the next line? You end up with text not attached to any notes. The same problems plague Sibelius’s lyric function. IMO the only way to ensure correct underlay is to copy the text itself into the lyric popover. Also, this feature would be hugely useful for polyphonic writing.

Pip pip

5

I’m still not sure I follow your second point. Once the copied text is on the clipboard, invoke the Shift-L popover on the destination staff and paste paste paste.

(And your first point is a known and acknowledged limitation.)

6

Ah I see - that is handy. I would still maintain it would be neat to just click on a word and choose “copy line of lyric from this point” - would save me a lot of clicking and filtering :slight_smile:

7

The trouble with “pouring” a whole line of hyphenated syllables into a phrase in one go is: what happens when there is a melisma?

Finale has a “Click Assignment” feature, but you have to prepare the incoming text with additional hyphens or spaces, and arguably the time you’ve spent counting notes, clicking and typing to prepare the text removes any speed advantage.

8

Same thing you usually do when there’s a melisma - press space to move you on to the next note…

9

I thought you wanted to copy a whole phrase in one go? How do you press space mid-way through an automatic process?

10

No - not looking to completely automate the process - just looking to circumvent the copy-to-text-editor-and-format phase. If you copy the text from the “edit line of lyrics” it is pre formatted for pasting text into the underlay. The text editor route is a bit of an undertaking and requires an external workflow. If you can just copy that pre-formatted text it will save a lot of time. Not completely automated - I wouldn’t like that, but would save a good deal of time because any time I want to copy lyrics from one stave to another, I choose the point I want to copy from and the pre formatted text arrives in the clipboard ready to paste paste paste into lyric popover…

11

If you’re copying from one staff, the text is already pre formatted. Taking that to a text editor is unnecessary. Just paste it back into the Shift-L popover.

12

Yes I get that but that process still involves selecting a large portion of music and filtering for text and then copying - I am suggesting just clicking on a bit of underlay and copying from that point forward…

13

While said functionality doesn’t exist, create a macro that does Edit > Select to Rnd of Flow followed by a edit > filter Lyrics, then Copy. Job done, no?

14

FWIW, you can make a shortcut for “select until the end of flow” — that one is one I use a lot. So basically, it’s two shortcuts for me before copying.
Edit: ninja’d by Leo again :joy:
I suppose that’s a macro that could be easily programmed in Streamdeck, AutoHotKeys or Keyboard maestro…

15

Yes - preempted this one! I have to admit the various times I’ve tried using Mac OS’s macro tools to automate tasks (Automator and AppleScript) I’ve found the experience so buggy that I’ve quickly given up on it.

It is helpful to know that I can do this in two (well, three) keystrokes thank you. I still maintain that this would be a logical and useful extension of the “edit line of lyrics” tool that is demonstrably easy to implement…

16

Not MacOS. Dorico’s own scripting tool, as I said. And I will say no more.

17

Ok - that’s news to me, I didn’t realise Dorico had one. Will give it a go, ta.

Edit - pretty cool, although not fully implemented yet. This will help, thanks :slight_smile:

18

Any way of assigning Key commands to the macros?

19

It works! But - limitation - it only works with a single line of text presumably. If I want to just copy the second line of lyrics it won’t. Yes yes, I can filter second line of lyrics. Still not as elegant as my idea :wink: