Respell using note name above and respell using note name below

Dorico
1

This is a minor gripe but…

Do other people find, like me, that the wording of the Respell feature is unhelpful?

‘Respell using note name above’ and ‘Respell using note name below’ are just confusing. I get the wrong one every single time, despite trying to train myself. It’s because ‘above’ suggests ‘high’, which suggests ‘sharp’, and ‘below’ suggests ‘low’ which suggests ‘flat’.

But it’s the other way around.

Why not instead just word it in a (sometimes) inaccurate but more intuitive way:

‘Respell using sharps’ and ‘Respell using flats’ ?

2

What if C-flat needs to be B instead? What if E-sharp needs to be F instead? Etc., Etc.

1 Like
3

This also messed me up for awhile, but I have gotten used to it and I use it all the time.

2 Likes
4

I agree, it is counter-intuitive. I simply reversed the keyboard shortcuts, very early on, and now I’m satisfied.

1 Like
5

Me too. I get it wrong almost every time. But if I used it more often I would get it right. I don’t think it matters much what it it called.
I do like the idea of thinking “use flats” for the left key and “use sharps” for the right key, even if that is not precisely accurate in every single case.

6

Here my thoughts about respelling: Altought Dorico system of respelling and the corresponding menu options are very deep, I found is a little time consuming as I always have to think twice: 1.) witch is the note that I want to be written and 2.) which “direction” I should choose and even if I switched the keyboard shortcuts to be more intuitive as suggested by Mark_Johnson i always have to stop shortly and think witch is the right choice in every case :thinking:.

In 97,8% of the cases :nerd_face: I just need following respells:

- from flat to sharp and vice versa (for example Ab to G#)
- from flat to natural on Cb and Fb (for example Fb to E)
- from sharps to natural on B# and E# (for example B# to C)

So I would love to have (maybe in a future update?) a simple button/shortcut named simply “respell” to achieve this three actions (as in Sibelius simple respell functionality) without having to think about the “direction/name above or below”. This of course would exclude the double or triple sharps or flats but for then I could use the actual Dorico system of “respell using note above or below” that, as I said, is very complete and deep, but for most of the actual cases is a little time and nerve consuming. :slight_smile: I hope the Dorico team could take this suggestion into consideration.

What do you think? Any Idea or opinion about it? Thank you!

1 Like
7

Personally I found this extraordinarily confusing / counter-intuitive. Then I mapped “Respell using note name below” to Alt = and “Respell using note name above” to Alt -.
Now it isn’t confusing at all, When I want the thing respelled in flats, I press Alt - and when I want it respelled in sharps, I press Alt =. It doesn’t always do literally that, but the concept is clear, Spelling “as a flat” is Alt - and spelling “as a sharp” is Alt =.

This seems far more intuitive than the defaults, but I’m certainly not opposed to a smarter mode, if there is an algorithm that will do what I want 95% of the time.