Basically I have two big issues with pitch-before-duration input. I am inputting accidentals before inputting notes and I am not using a MIDI keyboard.
The first one: Note auditioning.
For some reason, Dorico doesn’t actually play back the note it is about to enter on the stave.
Example:
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When entering B Natural, it first correctly plays back the ghost note as B Natural. (Also, it would be really-really useful to see the ghost accidental)
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In the first bar it, of course, stays as a B Natural and Dorico correctly plays it back as B Natural.
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In the second bar, however, it changes it back to B Flat (as it should), but Dorico still will play it back as B Natural. This is wrong.
The second issue, and that is a very infuriating one - chord mode.
Actually, it’s not even chord mode, it’s just Dorico’s way of carrying over accidentals to the note you are about to enter from the previous note.
Example:
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I press “G” to create a ghost G Natural.
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I press B to switch the ghost note to B flat, as indicated by the key signature.
Result - I’m about to enter B Natural, because Dorico carried over the Natural from G to B.
Using chord mode (the thing on Q) with pitch-before-duration, while specifying accidentals AFTER inputting notes is just plain impossible, because you just cannot control the accidentals.
(Small example:)
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Pressing “E G B D”
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Dorico enters some abomination. The expected behaviour would be “Eb - G - Bb - D”, like in the key signature.
Actually, this example even confirmed that I don’t fully understand, how Dorico handles accidentals. I expected it to enter “Eb - Gb - Bb - Db”, because the Db carries over from Bb, but I guess something went wrong?! Basically, I would be really thankful if someone explained that to me.
In that mode, when you specify accidentals before inputting notes, you are unable to change accidentals before actually inputting the chord. And as a result of Dorico highlighting the whole chord on input, when you have to fix the (wrong) accidentals, that it decided to apply, you have to leave note input mode and go note-by-note. That is very slow, and I would even say unusable. That made me switch to specifying accidentals before inputting notes. Even with that mode I have to somehow expect the accidental that Dorico is about to put and cancel it out using my accidental keys. Which is still slow, but at least semi-useable.
The fix for pitch-before-duration chord input:
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Make Dorico stick to the key signature and accidentals already added in the same bar by default. So that means no carrying over accidentals from previous notes.
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Let us change accidentals when inputting ghost notes in accidental-after-input mode. Please.
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Fix the playback when carrying ghost notes over barlines.
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Maybe put a visual indication (a ghost accidental) on what accidental you are about to enter.
I am very sorry if I sound rude, these problems have been bugging me for over a year now. And my English is not very great. Even with these problems, I’ve never had so much fun using the notation software after switching from Finale. Really hope this gets fixed.