Playback repeats, D.S al Coda,...

Playback question:

I’m arranging a song with following structure:

Intro ||: Chorus 1, 2, 3 (coda sign) - Verse 1, 2, 3 :neutral_face:| Verse 4 (coda) - Chorus

Following repeat markers have been assigned:

  1. On the end repeat (after verse 3): D.S. al coda → changed text to ‘Play 3 times’
  2. On the start repeat (before chorus): Segno → hidden
  3. Between Chorus 1, 2, 3 and Verse 1, 2, 3: To coda (3rd time)
  4. Verse 4 is the Coda

I have to make an audio file, so I want Dorico to jump to the coda on the 3rd repeat.

Tried several things, but doesn’t work…
I can’t change the way it’s notated because it’s not my song. :slight_smile:

pdf in attachment voor clarification.

Geert

Are repeats included or excluded in playback after repeat jumps, either individually using properties or project-wide using Playback Options?

Hi Lillie, Thank you for the link, I had a similar issue. I have a piece with four lyric lines. 2 are played through with a normal repeat section, the song then meanders through a middle section. At the end of this is a D.S.al Coda. Unfortunately on playback it played the 3rd verse, not repeating the 4th. I eventually managed to figure it out but it wasn’t exactly intuitive. Clicking on D.S. al Coda the properties bar shows a repeat markers option. I clicked the button which didn’t work, but then by luck I clicked the empty box next to it which activated a tick. To my mind this is unclear and an unnecessary step. Maybe you can feed back to the development team.

The dual “switch-plus-checkbox (or pull-down menu)” situation has been discussed often; and while some folks wish it were different, there is a programming logic behind it that allows increased flexibility across the board.

I am not sure if you can be that specific, turning on different parts to repeat or not. But I am. happy to be educated and proved wrong. In terms of having both a button and tick mark, if others have discussed this previously, then I apologise but I assume it doesn’t make sense to them either. Even if there is a programming logic behind it, it certainly isn’t intuitive to a casual/hobby user. Button or tick, you don’t need both. I thought I had left Sibelius behind me, but it appears I haven’t for the moment at least!

The logic behind some properties having both an on/off slider and an additional checkbox is thus:

  • Dorico has many options that can be set locally (for selected items only) and globally (for all items by default)

  • Activating properties for single items essentially constitutes an “override” to the default settings

  • Depending on the current state of the default settings, overriding the property could either turn something “off” when the default is “on”, or “on” when the default is “off”

  • Therefore, it’s insufficient only to override the default setting by way of the slider: in order to preserve exactly how you want the selected items to appear, regardless of the current state of the defaults, you need to both a) tell Dorico “don’t apply default settings to these”, and b) “this is the state I want for these”

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Thank you Lillie for spending the time to write your reply. I am sure the design teams logic is sound for them, but somehow I am reminded about software that loses it’s way and over complicates tasks to its detriment… I understand others have also mentioned this, therefore I have done what I set out to, by raising this further. It is of course up to the development team to either accept this as positive feedback, or not.

It seems like in Dorico 5, the problem has taken another turn… now, no matter what you do or don’t, playback completely ignores the instructions set. Any other users here experiencing the same problem?

If you’re having a problem with a specific project, the quickest way for us to diagnose what’s wrong is if you can share the project itself.

“I am sure the design team[']s logic is sound for them”. Well, it is also ‘sound’ for me, a mere user.

The consistency of the properties feature is a joy to use across the whole program. Of course there might be the occasional penalty of an additional mouse-click, but it is also a prompt to the user: should I change this property for this instance here, or should I perhaps change a default…?

…I am reminded about software that loses it’s way and over[-]complicates tasks to its detriment… On the contrary, it seems to me that the Dorico team has (so far) succeeded in producing a product that delivers something of extraordinary complexity that we, mere mortals, can navigate with relative ease.

I would be interested to learn how you would propose to simplify this over-complicated interface.

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