Getting started with Dorico, after using PreSonus Notion for five years. Really liking Dorico. It seems like it will help me avoid a lot of the issues that have always bothered me about Notion. My experience working with Dorico feels like I’m driving a fantastically engineered, superpowered sports car. Oooh the thrill! Started with 5SE. Now, a couple of days later, I’m trialing 5 Pro.
I write music for myself; I’m not writing for other performers. I use rehearsal marks that make sense to me when writing lyrics, then I use those same rehearsal marks as I’m writing notation and adding my lyrics. Rehearsal marks will also be relevant when working with my singing teacher. I suppose my songs tend to be like ‘numbers’ from a musical, hence the wild variety of logical descriptors I’m aiming for.
My use of rehearsal marks varies from song to song. In the case of an AABA song with multiple sections, I’m utilizing the following, when working in Notion:
Start
Intro
A1a
A1b
B1
A1c
A2a
A2b
B2
A2c
etc.
Outro
The numbers shown above refer to section numbers, with each section being comprised of four verses, (three A’s and one B. I hope I’m describing that correctly).
Sometimes I’ll add other rehearsal markings such as R (for Response), C (for Chorus), T for Tag, etc. adding numbers and other letters as relevant.
Is it possible to do something similar in Dorico? That would certainly help me to better coordinate my lyric writing with my music notation, especially as I jump around between Notion and Studio One. (I still need to use Notion to send to Studio One doesn’t like to import MusicXML.)
Yes, there are several ways to accomplish this. In your case, the best option is probably to create a custom paragraph style that includes a boxed enclosure. If you click “Save as Default” (the star icon in the paragraph styles dialog), you can assign a key command to it. You could use Shift-E, which is unused.
One could use System Text with a Boxed Paragraph Style if one wished to.
Although one could use Rehearsal Marks for this, since one would virtually have to customize each one in the Properties Panel, Rehearsal Marks might be more work than just using a Boxed System Text.
Happened upon an earlier forum discussion about customizing Rehearsal marks. Presenting the link here, in case it might help others too.
[Custom Rehearsal Marks - #3 by WoodwindBlues]
To create a rehearsal mark such as A1a, I’m using Index 1 (for A) followed by a Suffix of 1a, since ‘Index’ displays as a capital letter.
As @Derrek pointed out - system text is probably the simplest solution for your case.
The sole benefit of Rehearsal marks is that they auto increment when you add the next one. But your numbering system does not do that consistently, so I fail to understand why you would want to use them.
I’m still brand new to Dorico: been using it for less than a week. Kind of don’t know what I’m doing yet.
I’d presumed custom Rehearsal marks would let me Go to various marks based on a combination of Index and Prefix/Suffix, I just discovered that’s not the case.
As mentioned at the start of this thread, I’m looking for a good way to tie in to the functionally descriptive verse names I’ve been using for various songs I’ve been writing in PreSonus Notion.
Can I Go To or Jump to arbitrary system marks while working on entering my own notation and lyrics? The Rehearsal marks are for my own organization purposes. Aside from recording my own singing, my music will all be performed ‘inside the box’. I’m not using the rehearsal marks to rehearse with others.
Perhaps each section (comprised of AABA verses) should be it’s own flow?
Though I’m still confused about many things Dorico, I realize it’s the only notation software I’ll be needing, from now on.
Also, if you have a rehearsal mark in view, you can select it and arrow left or right to jump to and select the next one. This works with many object types (tempo marks, dynamics, lyric syllables, arbitrary text, etc.).
I ended up moving each section of my project to a separate flow. Each flow starts on a new page. That’s easier for me to manage at this point, since I’m fairly new to composing and arranging. From there, I used sequential rehearsal marks, A, B, C, D, etc. Once I’m done composing/arranging, I’ll probably use the System Track to reduce the overall page count.
Also, if you have a rehearsal mark in view, you can select it and arrow left or right to jump to and select the next one. This works with many object types (tempo marks, dynamics, lyric syllables, arbitrary text, etc.).
Is there a way to arrow left or right to jump to the previous and next rehearsal marks, across flows? When I’m on rehearsal mark D, in flow 1, I’m unable to extend my rehearsal mark arrowing to rehearsal mark A, in section 2.
How might I ‘feature suggest’ providing the ability to use arbitrary rehearsal marks in Dorico? For instance: Intro, Verse 1, Verse 2, Chorus, Outro, etc.
That’s a great suggestion, Derrek. Thank you for the example.
It would be helpful if the Go To Rehearsal Mark dialog would populate with these arbitrary rehearsal marks. As an example, the graphic below illustrate’s PreSonus Notion’s handling of rehearsal marks. The menu at the top of the page allows one to jump to any of the rehearsal marks displayed.
Another feature request along these lines would be implementation of a dockable / floating window (pulldown and/or hierarchical outline, with optional bookmarking as) a potential ease in navigation.
I would be most interested in setting up a text Rehearsal Mark category, as shown in your Notion example. That’s exactly what I need. Can it be done in Dorico 5 Pro, yet? If not, any suggestions for a workaround?
One can use System Text (SHIFT + ALT/OPT + X) to add text to each Part but only show in specific places (not as finely tuned as in Finale) in the Score.
I’ve figured out a number of things since my original post.
I’ve been able to recreate rehearsal marks like those shown in my Notion example by using the various Rehearsal Marks properties. (bottom menu). In some cases, I’ve used all four property options to get the exact result I wanted.
Once you click on a rehearsal mark in your score, you can arrow left or right to get to previous or next rehearsal marks, sequentially. That arrowing behavior holds true for system text, etc.
I don’t actually prepare scores for human musicians to read. I use Dorico to prepare scores that I ultimately import into my DAW, Studio One, via midi. Accordingly, I use rehearsal marks for organization and navigation within my scores.
I often add video markers to my scores to use them for accessing different sections in my music non sequentially, such as Chorus 1, Verse 2, Bridge 3, etc. If you choose to implement that sort of random access, please be aware:
The video marker list needs to be visible in any layout you intend to use it in.
The Video menu, (right side of window), needs to be open to access the markers you have set up.
You don’t actually need to be using a video in your score to make use of video markers.
Placing markers is more accurate and repeatable via the Play mode than if you were to enter them from within the Write mode.
But I think this is not elegant. so I have a suggestion for Dorico, that is to allow hide index in rehersal box, or I can customize its contents, such as input sthpre{index}sthsuffix to adjust.
