Rhythmic grid keyboard shortcuts

It just occurred to me that since 64th and 128th notes are rarely used, I could reassign the numbers 1 and 2 to “Decrease/Increase Rhythmic Grid Resolution”. This works really well, especially when using the (wonderful) shortcut option-shift left/right arrow (Mac) to shorten or lengthen note durations.

In fact I think it’s such a good idea, the Dorico team might want to consider making 1 and 2 the default rhythmic grid shortcuts - they are on the same row of the keyboard as all the other rhythm values, and they are much easier to remember than the built-in shortcut (which I’ve already forgotten). And easily changing the rhythmic grid can make input and editing much faster.

Just a suggestion - Merry Christmas, happy holidays and congrats to the Dorico team on getting 1.0.20 out the door!

One other related idea: as I’m inputting notes, I find that when I change the rhythmic grid resolution, I’m unconsciously expecting my next rhythmic value (an 8th note, for example) to be the same as the grid resolution I’ve just changed to.

Could there be a way (perhaps an option under Preferences) to have the grid resolution update your rhythm value selection automatically, if and only if the grid resolution is changed? There’s nothing to stop you from selecting a dotted half note the regular way, but this could be a time saver. And since the rhythmic grid is always visible during note entry, it would give the user a visual reinforcement for the rhythmic value they are about to enter (I usually have the left panel hidden, so I can’t tell which rhythmic value is currently selected).

Again, just a suggestion.

I like both of these!

Pretty, pretty great, both posts, Steven Taylor! I immediately adopted the shortcuts, and I thought about the grid in a similar way.

Zombie thread revival …

What about Num 0 and Num 1 (Num 2 doesn’t work either) in note editing mode? That isn’t working for me, they’re not assigned to “Playback Stop” and mapping them to the grid like this does nothing. Can anybody try this?

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If your laptop has a number pad, maybe that could work? I still like my 1 and 2 shortcuts for changing the rhythmic grid, but I have found they mess up the jump bar “Command” and “Go to” shortcuts (which I still can’t get working for some reason). There is a thread on this from last year -

This thread got me thinking. I’ve got a num pad. So I’ve assigned the various rhythmic grid values to the same as the note entry duration keys, but with ctrl-alt modifiers. So I can press ctrl-alt-7, to change grid to half notes, for example.

For what it’s worth, over the summer I’ve switched to the built-in shortcuts for the rhythmic grid - alt-left/right bracket - and I’m getting used to it!

But 64s are common. I asked on this forum for the grid to be extended to at least 64 - 32 is the minimum - and @dspreadbury simply said no. But I for one would find it very useful.

As for keyboard shortcuts, just use AutoHotKey (for Windows - I’m sure there are equivs. for Mac). Solves a dozen problems with ease. You can learn the scripting language in ten minutes.