Hi everyone, I’m curious to know if Dorico would implement features similar to IDEAS in Sibelius, such as the ability to quickly access any instrument or pattern of strings to streamline the workflow and make it easier to begin an arrangement.
You can put your ideas into extra flows and use them for sketches.
It’s a bit different from what I had in mind. I was hoping for a collection of ready-made ideas, patterns, or perhaps an automatic creation of patterns and ideas.
It’s been requested and discussed quite a few times in the forum. I’m referencing this thread as Daniel commented in it.
I’d also think a snippets library would be a useful addition to Dorico. Whether you fill it with your own ideas or import stock ideas (e.g. drum patterns) would be entirely down to the user.
I guess so, i am more into the whole arrangement packs actually, just like in Sibelius’s Ideas.
I might be misunderstanding the concept, but I would imagine that this kind of thing could be accomplished with Stream Deck. I can envision a page of buttons that have buttons that would insert a string of notes with a single keystroke. I haven’t tried this but it seems pretty likely that it can be done. For those who are adverse to spending big bucks on hardware, I would recommend the mobile app for a linked tablet or phone.
(If one could provide an example I will try to set up a macro and test it out.) 
— Jim
Have you used Sibelius before? It offers a wide range of pre-made patterns for various instruments. Additionally, we can create our own patterns based on our compositions and arrangements. These patterns can be easily pasted into our compositions whenever needed. Regarding the workflow based on shortcuts, it’s not an issue here.
One under-used feature which I quite liked in Finale, was the ability to save selections as ‘clipboard files’. You could “copy” and “paste” these files from/into any document, and build up a library of little snippety-dippety bits.
Of course, we can already import a whole flow into any existing document; but saving files as pasteboard fragments has an extra utility.
So, akin to a loops library in a DAW?
Can’t one create an individual flow, containing a selection of mostly used patterns / ideas, and attach it to any new project one is going to start working on?
Yes, one can create, copy, and paste all kinds of patterns, etc. But if I understood the Sibelius IDEAS setup, you can preview them by hovering. (Not sure how much I’d use it that much, though!)
Here’s the thing about this…. I like the concept. In a way, it is similar to selecting a “groove” for a drum kit. Again, it’s like having a fully equipped toolbox. You can open it up and find just the right tool that fits perfectly. But, other than stimulating creativity (which is debatable since one keeps using the same tried and true motives [motifs?]), it may take longer to find what you want rather than to simply type it in! I can visualize someone like me collecting all kinds of snippets, then having to sift through thousands 
just to find the one that “works!” Once the motif has been entered, one can cut and paste (and alter) to their heart’s content. I’m not a fan of AI (Amalgamated Idiocy—see GIGO) but it seems to me that it would be easier to have AI make suggestions (based on user input) than to sift through everything on one’s own. 
I would use such a feature. I compose all sorts of psalm settings and put the verses to chanted tones of my own creation. I suppose my psalter would be a bit more cohesive if I actually recycled some of my earlier work more regularly. I forget about the tones I composed 2 years ago, alas, and don’t have time to go through old files for ideas. But to have favorite snippets (with filterable collections / lists) would actually be a boon to me, in a way.
I thought I would use it in Sibelius and did use it some, but I didn’t love it. Its been a while, but It’s major limitation for me is that the idea I wanted to capture often involved more than one instruments and maybe even instrument settings. I ended up having a folder of score fragments (which obviously has organizational problems) in preference to the Sibelius feature.
A super version for me would have thumbnails and let you use motives sure… Or a complex fragment, with the option of adding instruments automatically, etc.
This brings up the eternal tension that some people want Dorico to be a composition tool, but it’s an engraving tool. Personally I prefer the emphasis on engraving, but then I am not a composer.
I’ve always seen it as both. True, it’s heavy on engraving (which I adore) but the various insert modes, multi-staff entry, etc. etc. make it a WONDERFUL (and forgiving) compositional environment, too. You’re not locked in to measures, which makes shifting music so simple.
In that case, everyone will argue the same about ProTools or Cubase, whether it’s for arranging or mixing. I believe that each tool serves its own purpose based on one’s needs. My point is simply to ask if it’s possible to have such features that would allow composers or arrangers to complete their work more efficiently or simply generate ideas for a composition.
Daniel has said a number of times that Dorico cannot afford to exclude any group of ‘notation users’. It’s for composers and engravers and teachers making worksheets; those for whom audio is the end product, and anyone else.
The idea that Dorico is “not meant for composers” is … not supported by any evidence, at best.
Hi Andro, from the Dorico webpage, in big black text:
“Dorico is the first choice for music notation and composition”.
In my opinion, right now Dorico does best composition work than engraving, especially when you get into the educational and music research field, where there is a lot of flexibility needed, at the moment lacking in Dorico.