Or… you can simply enter Shift+R, and 3.
no need for the repeated slash characters.
And pressing on the stream deck Beams and Tremolos is one key press, then hitting the triple stroke button is two key presses, so technically, one less key press than using the very simple key command.
This isn’t the type of thing I’d use the Stream Deck for.
I’d use it more for things that already require more opening panels and stuff, like having a from niente or to niente hairpin.
Or increase/decrease dynamic (though I use a key command for that so not really an issue for me.)
I’ve used my Stream Deck to apply brackets around notes, rather than go hunting in the lower panel (I don’t know why but I always waste a lot of time trying to find the little check box for putting a bracket around a notehead. I just can’t for the life of me memorize where it is! Thick skull I guess.)
For me, one attraction is an ergonomic one. The SD and a small MIDI keyboard are next to one another on the same level on my desk, whereas my computer keyboard is lower down on an angled keyboard drawer. Somehow having both arms/hands at the same level feels more “natural” to me (which may actually be better ergonomics, or simply a belief based on years of things like typing or piano playing).
My input work is relatively slow, being almost entirely composing (rather than copying work, where speed matters more), so I have found that my RH at the SD and LH on the MIDI keyboard work reasonably well. But I’m considering making some additional folders/pages (can’t remember what term is used) on the SD with duplicates of items grouped by workflow (for example, “Note Input”) rather than type to improve my experience. (So, taking a subset of the notes and articulations buttons that I commonly use and having them all on one screen to cut down on SD navigation.) And I also move during certain parts of the workflow down to the computer keyboard/mouse and use key commands instead.
I also happen to like the visual cue of the SD’s buttons (which I sometimes customize), as well as the tactile experience of, as @wing says above, pushing buttons. No doubt it’s made me lazy about memorizing key commands, but, then…it’s also allowed me to be lazy about learning key commands.
It definitely does (when configured to do so), which is very handy. My default SD profile serves for general app launching/controlling (volume, muting mic/webcam, etc.) and text auto-filling in Mac Finder. Launching Dorico automatically brings up my (modified) Notation Express profile, to which I’ve added buttons to launch a few of the apps I commonly need (Safari, Numbers, and Screenshot) when working in Dorico. Launching any of those returns the SD to the default profile.
Yep! If you use Script / Start Recording Macro, when you End recording you’ll see what the actual commands are in the resultant lua file. You can then manually create shortcuts for those in your user keycommands file, even if they aren’t available in Preferences / Key Commands.
For example, I use 3:2 tuplets way more often then other types of tuplets. To speed up 3:2 tuplet entry I just added the following to the kWriteMode context of my user keycommands_en.json file:
So numpad 1 starts 3:2 tuplet input for me. I have numpad 2 set up to stop tuplet input as well so my hand doesn’t have to leave the numpad often during input.
I’m sort of curious about this myself. I tried (and failed) using the API to set up my SD to communicate with Dorico via WebSocket. I had no problem getting it to work with an API tester like Postman, but in the SD interface I couldn’t figure out how to complete the handshake. The Notation Express team wrote a plugin to accomplish that, which turns out to be beyond the amount of time I was willing to fiddle with this, so I gave up and am just using keycommands. With a large file, sometimes my SD buttons don’t work correctly, as I don’t have enough delay built in between commands. I’m not sure if communicating directly via WebSocket would fix that or not. I didn’t really want to add additional delays for buttons that otherwise work in 95% of my projects. I am curious if the WebSocket commands are more reliable, faster, etc, though.
In the short term I am limited to using a laptop on the go, and and just considering SD mobile on an iPhone to add a few more buttons. But I am realizing quickly that without tactile buttons it does not really replace the common key commands. But I am curious what specific functions or macros people are making. I am already starting to remember the basic common key commands of dorico but there are many I seldom use which I will never be able to remember, which is where I think SD comes in.
I have this notion that I might be able to take the freely available cubase SD plugin and hack it using the dorico remote sdk I just got from Daniel, to end up with a functional dorico plugin. But I could also see that taking me at least a couple hours to figure out and it might be more effective to just buy notation express solely for the sake of getting their SD plugin.
Someone pointed out on another thread that it is faster access, especially multi step macros and popover entries. Though it does sound like maybe using the script lua to figure out some key command definitions might also cover many popover scenarios equally as well, such that a single key command will get most things done coming from SD. The notation express product looks deep but mainly I think I just want a few custom buttons and rely more on using qwerty for the vast majority of stuff. Operations which are rare I can always just use the gui with my mouse
For the longest time I was holding out on SD. I felt it was overrated and would be another peripheral which collects dust after the honeymoon phase wears off. In some examples I would see people showing how great it is you can add a slur or move the arrow key left and right - which doesn’t make much sense to me, since it would actually require more work and akward ergonomics to constantly reach over to another device for that. The keyboard is right there.
After giving the mobile version a try, I began to understand the appeal, and indeed, it is both macros and more difficult/complex key commands for tasks which require digging around in the bottom panel.
To answer your question here’s what I usually use it for:
Filtering of any kind (simply easier to remember than a bunch of complex shortcuts)
Instrument filter to show only staves which have music on them (in a large template - this otherwise requires about 3-4 key commands)
Dynamics - it’s actually a breeze to work without the popover, I can add messa di voce’s and stuff like p < f > pp by pressing the buttons intuitively which are all right next to each other. It’s easy enough to type that into a popover but if you’re doing a complex dynamics pass, I find SD really shines here. Also I can quickly do complex filtering of dynamic types.
Similarly I have a few for longer text dynamics like “cresc. poco a poco” and “molto dim.”, click, boom, done, no typing.
Group, Ungroup, Link, Unlink dynamics.
Explode, Reduce
Toggle suppress playback of selected notes
Various types of tremolos + clear trem
ornaments like arp, gliss, and some frequently used jazz articulations
Toggling between voice colors & notes out of range
Toggling harmonics on any selected note (otherwise you have to dig into bottom panel)
I have a few common tuplet commands I use frequently, saves a few keystrokes
l.v. ties and some other common, special percussion techniques which usually require bottom panel digging
div. and unis. staff text labels - with any note selected I immediately add these where I need them in the way I like them formatted. Much faster than manually typing every time.
In addition, I have sometimes added secondary pages and copied shortcuts to things I am going to use a lot on a specific project. For example, I was working on a score where we were alternating time signatures between 3/4 and 4/4 quite frequently - I enjoyed being able to simply hit the corresponding buttons and have the correct time sig appear immediately, no typing. Several movements started with 3/4 in Cm so I created one button that set the time signature of 3/4 with a key of 3 flats, in one stroke. This one is fairly project specific but I had numerous parts to prepare under a deadline so it really helped.
Thing is, I used to use Keyboard Maestro (mac) for macros like that. But you still have to invent and remember a shortcut. I began to run out of possible shortcuts and be able to remember them. At a certain point becoming wacky stuff like cmd+shift+alt+ctrl+F9… or was it F8?
This to me is where SD shines - it allows you to do these complex macros just as well, but without the cognitive burden of having to memorize random shortcuts - as well as the flexibility to move them around to suit a project.
Also one thing SD can do which KM cannot, is a toggle “hotkey/switch.” This is helpful for certain tasks you wish to treat as a binary on/off switch, but the program uses different key commands to remember for ‘on’ and for ‘off’. Steinberg is an offender of this; Dorico not so much but Cubase is filled with these.
I can safely say after about a year of use after the honeymoon phase, it’s become a staple and it’s not going into the closet, a.k.a. “peripheral graveyard.”
100% this. where KM is still useful is when you need to do some kind of macro that can’t be done easily with key commands in dorico…or even can’t be done using the dorico script LUA in combination with making a key command (that you ultimately trigger from SD). km can do things where it looks at title bars and lines and spaces and other graphic things on the screen and run the script based on decisions that aren’t always available for direct macro programming. its quite clever in that it can literally automate nearly anything you can put your mind to if you are prepare to figure out how to do it in KM. so there is that and its still useful perhaps for that kind of thing. It would be more useful still if it was capable of accessing the dorico remote API, but i hear that its not due to a handshaking protocol…someone would have to make a little dorico handshaking deamon process to work through. Too bad Dorico didn’t use OSC for this, then there would be a solution.
But oh well…in any case, seems like KM still might have a place for some things…but i agree with you about trying to remember keyboard commands. Plus i try to use key commands from multiple programs and it gets confusing and mentally labor intensive to keep track of that. The only reason I’m making the effort to learn some of dorico’s key commands is because its literally the only way to be efficient with it…it is very much engineered around the premise that you will most likely use it like a typewriter. so I feel learning at least a set of dozen or so key commands in Dorico is mandatory…and I’m already half way there. But it also makes a lot of sense to avoid adding still more hard to remember key commands with KM…and instead rely on a SD device wherever it makes sense. I mean certain things that I don’t do often, i don’t even feel a need for that, i can just use the mouse and gui. I am not a copyist and for the most part don’t need to fly through a lot of repetitive entry. But while composing I do want to relax my brain as much as possible so that it can think about music rather then key commands.
Have you looked at Touch Portal? It’s a generic app for this sort of thing. There’s a MIDI plugin (free) which interfaces really well with MIDI-based “key commands” in Dorico. Just define what you need. I add things as I need and it’s proving a real time saver.
(Apologies if this appears elsewhere and I missed it.)
I’ve done a fair bit of customization of my Notation Express SD profile. Before I update to the latest, I’m wondering if any fellow users have tips for saving user customization and applying/adding it to the installed NE update. (@Philip_R, is that even possible?)
@judddanby I would like to try to make this more systematic in the future. For now, you can consult the version history to see what’s changed, which I post on the product page in the “Version History” tab.
Fortunately, for this latest update, it’s easy: The only change is the Gradual tempo changes folder, which can be easily copied and pasted wherever you like.
In the Jetstream Finale they had a folder called the Jetstream current where you customised the set up and another folder called the Jetstream controller. The controller folder was where any updates were stored and you simply copied any new actions into the “current” folder thus saving your original set up intact.
Thanks for this, I am checking it out as we speak. i should have tried this sooner. This combined with Keyboard maestro might be a good way to go. I notice it does web sockets too… which means…it might be able to tap into Dorico Remote API.
Experimenting with TouchPortal a bit right now, have to move on to other tasks, but immediately I was able to setup a macro that worked and I can see its macro enviornment is WAY more robust then what is built into SD. Main advantage of SD world is option to have physical device i guess, but this works great with my iphone. Right now just sending key commands, but setup a f>p macro in minutes. Easy. it’s a fair bit more complicated to figure out its macro capabilities, but I will continue to check it out.
TouchOSC might be interesting too…thanks for reminding me.
The dorico API itself is pretty easy…but one thing that may not always work with some of these solutions is that the websocket connection needs to be made to Dorico and kept open in between calls to commands. you have to remember a token yes, but also you want to avoid having to reconnect to dorico for every command. so the client side needs to be able to keep that connection open, which is not always possible. for example keyboard maestro is able to use Javascript JXA automation and could me made to trigger a javascript action that connects to Dorico and issues a command, but you would not be able to keep the connection open I don’t think, each new command coming from KM would enter a new JXA action. something like that. Some of these other tools like TouchOSC and TouchPortal may or may not be the same way, I’m not sure until I get into it more. You can do so with SD plugin.
regarding this one, so they are using it in one particular situation with a single-purpose bridge to websockets…its not a general purpose bridge. But…that is what would be needed for Dorico…a kind of proxy that takes OSC or other messages from various kinds of clients that aren’t capable of interfacing directly with the Dorico API. its a proxy for one particular use case, but we’d need to make our own proxy that handles the Dorico API.
Another product worth mention is something called OSCulator, if you’re on mac. It basically is a general purpose proxy app that can send and receive OSC messages and I think it’s able to communicate in other ways too. Typically a lot of DAW’s use OSC to control many aspects of their UI…not all do, but some do. So anyway OSCulator just helps acting as an intermediary proxy. It’s not clear to me right now whether that makes sense to use in this case, just mentioning it since you mentioned TouchOSC.
I now have the Streamdeck XL and the Notation Central Scoring Express - love them! Someone recently posted a picture of his SD profile that he’d customized. It looked great and I’d like to use it or something similar for my workflow but… as a newbie I don’t know how to move the buttons around. I tried dragging one on the profile to a new location but I then lost the button that had been there. I had to download the Scoring Express profile to get back to the original. Is there a tutorial somewhere specifically for working with Scoring Express for Dorico XL?
Sounds like a general SD editing issue rather than a specific SE profile one. But now that you’ve “messed up” the SE profile, you’ll want to reinstall it. (I just re-read and saw that you did this.)
What I do inside Elgato’s SD profile configuration is copy a button I know I want to keep to a different, blank spot, perhaps even on a second or third page. If I’m not sure I want to keep it, I copy it anyway, and put it on the last page.
It becomes a sort of sliding-tile puzzle kind of copy-and-paste activity to finally get everything where you want it, if that makes any sense:
entering a fermata.
