Hello,
New user here. I’m getting tripped up on what I assume are some very basic issues. I play traditional Irish music, and use the notation program to make collections of tunes. We’ve done several in finale. (not sure if I can attach a jpg, of the look I’m going for, will give it a try at the end!)
I want to make a bunch of “very short pieces,” which aren’t for a specific instrument, and which look uniform.
I’m confused by the project vs flow aspect. Should I create one project (The Book) and add each tune as a flow? Or should each tune be its own project, and then put them together when they’ve all been notated? (or since there will be different sections of the book, should I make a project called “jigs” with each tune being a flow, and the same for reels, etc.?
Related: I’m not sure how to create a custom template so that each flow/project/tune will look the same. I was trying to import one and save that, but it obviously does so with all the notes in it. Is there a way to save the layout preferences in such a way that I can both input new music and import an xml file?
I’m additionally a bit confused by some of the naming conventions in the pop up dialogs; I want there to be a Title and a subtitle, but not sure if the subtitle should be the flow name, etc.
I would suggest:
One big project (The Book) where every jig is a new flow.
Name your Project and Flows in the Info dialog: cmd or ctrl-i (for Info)
In Layout Settings (cmd or ctrl-shift-L), in the Page Setup > Flows menu, change your settings according your wishes - if you want a new jig to start on a new page for example. If you want all the flows to show their Flow Title (which in this case I would recommend)
(see attached pictures for an example)
In the ‘Page Templates’ in Engrave Mode you can customize whatever you want shown (things like subtitles/dedication etc).
I recommend to watch this video, Page Templates from 11.30: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udfPlwq-r_o&t=2343s
Thank you!
If I set up the first flow the way I want it (margins, spacing etc) will subsequent flows keep that formatting? or is that done in the project settings?
You can have as many flows in a project as you like: you could keep everything in one Dorico project, and have separate layouts for jigs, reels, etc – to which you assign just the flows that contain the corresponding style of tune.
Or, you could have a separate Dorico project per “set” or book.
For sharing templates between projects, you can export/import page template sets (which determine how frames are organised on pages) between projects, and transfer all kinds of settings between projects using the Library Manager.
As to what fields in Project Info to use: it’s up to you really, as long as you can keep track of where your info is coming from. Although if a title is associated with a particular flow, it might make sense to use a flow-related field and flow heading.
I write for events and almost always with multiple Flows as the items in the event. Currently, I‘ll do anything creative in the order of the Flows and then export the first Flow before typesetting. After that I’ll remove that Flow from the master project (which I’ll continue writing in).
If I decide that I want a particular formatting change for the event, I’ll use the Library Manager to transfer the changes back to the master project.
Does anyone have any thoughts on if it would be beneficial to typeset before exporting? e.g. currently, my file size and speed will gradually improve as I remove Flows but I’ll end up with a master project containing fewer and fewer of them.
