Good day,
Basic Dorico newbie question:
How accurate is the transcribing between what the basic editor in Nuendo provides, as an XML export in my situation, and importing into Dorico?
My main requirement is we need a high level of “automatic/predictable” accuracy in transcribing multiple midi tracks from Nuendo into Dorico. So that it requires minimal effort, by someone that is actually qualified to properly engrave music notation.
Some background:
We have built a workflow that takes AI generative music (piano, percussion, all instruments are orchestral), that is anywhere from 4-12 tracks and that many instruments as well. We then output that to midi, and finish composing/arrangement in Nuendo.
While I’m somewhat seasoned at composing/mixing/mastering in Nuendo, I’m completely new to needing my midi projects engraved (music illiterate). I spent some time testing the current 3.5x Dorico trial version, and seemed to have some success. It felt like running a foreign language through Google Translate, and hoping it was grammatically correct, without being able to read the language.
Any insight would be greatly appreciated!
“Accuracy” in converting midi to notation applies to many things:
- rhythms (including meters, tempo modifications, tuplets, grace notes)
- pitches (including key signature, enharmonic choices)
- note durations (including articulation styles)
- dynamics, ornaments, techniques, hand division for piano, etc., etc.
Scores of ensemble music usually include things like bar numbers and rehearsal letters (which you may use in your midi environment), but notation can also have many more kinds of indications of character and expression that don’t translate to/from midi at all.
Dorico’s rhythm transcription from midi is as accurate as you set it to be, down to 32nd notes, with options for articulation markings to signify separation or slight overlap between notes. Dorico’s enharmonic choices (from midi, which is enharmonically agnostic) are often very good for humans to read. But there are many aspects of midi transcription that require someone with thorough knowledge of notation to ensure that the score and parts come out sensible and legible to human players.
Probably the most time-consuming aspect is rhythm and durations. It is quite easy to create interesting, comprehensible music in a midi environment that is very difficult to transcribe into good notation. If you don’t use quantized durations in the composing process, you will have to quantize to some degree for notation, and this requires judgment.
Now I’m curious to see what your music is like and what the main issues will be. Just today I watched a video of June Lee’s by-ear and by-hand transcription of the Brad Mehldau Trio’s rendition of “All the Things You Are” – an unbelievable amount of work by someone with an incredible ear and plenty of fluency with notation. I would have written a lot of the rhythms and enharmonics differently if I were doing it. In the past I have downloaded midi files of other people’s transcriptions of somewhat complex music, and it is always impossible to get good notation out of them without rewriting everything myself.
So to really address your questions about getting your music into notation, one will have to see some of it and start to work with it.
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Good day Mark,
Impressive response!
And, what I needed to set the expatiations within our team. I would say our songs will be more on the 1st-2nd year pianist level. June Lee’s video was a helpful example of how to keep our more engineer minded folks in check when thinking through these considerations, and reset my appreciation for the craft.
Where I think we will land with this is that, we will purchase Dorico 3.5x and upgrade to 4.0 when its out. And look for a college junior-level resources that can reasonably do the engraving (its a budget constraint at the moment).
Thanks again for the detailed explanation and quick response!
Just to say that if you purchase Dorico 3.5 now, you won’t have to buy an upgrade to Dorico 4 when it comes out, as we are currently within an extended grace period which means that you will be eligible for a free update to Dorico 4 upon its release.
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