Note Dragging within the Given Key

Dorico
1

There is probably a good reason why ,in Dorico, when you drag a note from one line to another and that note is flatted by the key signature, the note converts to a natural. ie. if I drag an Eb down to an Ab in the key of Eb, the A becomes a natural which then must be manually flatted. Does anyone know why this is the default and is there a way to tell Dorico to keep all notes within the parameters of the key signature when dragging them?

Just curious.

Thanks

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2

TBH, I’m surprised this is the case, as using opt/alt↑/↓ will actually respect the key signature, AFAIK — I want to check later. I think dragging ‘should’ behave the same.

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Honestly, I have no idea. What I do know is that, despite the fact that you can drag notes since Dorico 5, using the mouse is clearly not how Dorico was designed to work :wink:

You should probably start to work more with the keyboard and less with the mouse. When you move the pitch of a note using alt-up/down arrows, the pitch will change diatonically and follows the key signature. If you use shift-alt-up/down, it will shift chromatically.

[Edit] ninja’d by @PjotrB

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I cannot reproduce this behaviour (Windows)

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I just tried, and here it follows the key signature… Maybe an option somewhere?

Or do you press Shift, which moves the notes chromatically?

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Charles,

Are you on a Mac or a PC? Maybe it’s a Mac thing.

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PC/Windows here, that’s maybe why?

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Marc,

Here’s an example. The lowest Bb in my keyboard is Bb 3. If I want the Tuba player to play a Bb2 (which is often) I must play a Bb3 on the keyboard and then either use the arrow keys to lower it an octave or go to the Write Menu and transpose the note down an octave. It would be so much easier to just grab the note and drag it down the octave. I was just wondering why it was set up this way and trying to find a work-around.

Thanks.

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ctrl-alt-down (or Mac equivalent) transposes an octave (no need for menus or dragging).

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And what happens if you Ctrl(Cmd)+drag?

(But I also personnaly use Ctrl+Alt+Arrow to change the octave, which I find much easier)

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Command then Drag seems to work. Thanks for all the input. I do wish this could be changed but realize that this is probably and major code change. I will live with it.

Thanks all who responded.

Gary

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Honestly, clicking and dragging with the mouse has been one of the more difficult things to do for me in Dorico. Even when I think I’ve clicked on a notehead, it’s the stem that gets highlighted and vice versa. I don’t remember having those issues in my previous software, but I may have just learned how that worked and forgotten, relying on muscle memory.

Consequently, I stick to keyboard commands wherever possible. It always(!) works, and it’s one less time I have to take my hand off the keyboard.

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