[Solved] With D3, "Y" key no longer works entering notes for drum set

Prior to Dorico 3, when working in a drumset part, I could enter write mode, navigate in time with the left and right arrows and move between kit pieces with the up and down arrow keys. That all still works. But with D2 when I arrived at the desired kit piece, I could press “Y” to enter the note. Now nothing happens. How do I get a note to register? I don’t want to have to memorize all the MIDI keyboard equivalencies.

I have been through all the options in preferences → note entry. I don’t think any of them affect this.

Hmmm. My “Y” key works as expected/described. I know that is of little help for your troubleshooting, but at least you know it’s supposed to work.

Thanks. That’s a starting point anyway.

Here are my exact steps – and this works with D2:

  1. Create new empty project
  2. Add solo player - Drum set (basic)
  3. Switch from SETUP to WRITE
  4. Double-click on the first rest to get into note entry mode
  5. Navigate up and down with the up/down arrow keys to see the different kit pieces as expected
  6. Observe that on the note entry panel on he left, the quarter note is selected and nothing else is highlighted.
  7. Press the Y key – nothing happens.

Maybe I have a shortcut mapping issue – but I don’t see anything mapped to Y.

Check your keycommands_en.json file in %APPDATA%\Steinberg\Dorico 3. it may be that you have somehow deleted the default Y shortcut, in which case you will see it in the JSON file marked as such.

Is that the right file? There isn’t much in that one. Here’s what I have in Dorico 2, which works:

{
“common” : {
“contexts” : [

{
“context” : “kGlobal”,
“shortcuts” : [

{
“Edit.ToggleHideEvent” : [ “Ctrl+Alt+Shift+H” ]
},

{
“Filter.ChordSymbols” : [ “Ctrl+Alt+Shift+C” ]
},

{
“Filter.NotesAndChords” : [ “Ctrl+Alt+Shift+N” ]
}
]
}
]
},
“delta” : “true”,
“version” : “2.2.20”
}


Here is what is on the Dorico 3 folder:
{
“common” : {
“contexts” : [

{
“context” : “kGlobal”,
“shortcuts” : [

{
“Edit.SelectAtEndOfFlow” : [ “Ctrl+Alt+Shift+F” ]
},

{
“Edit.ToggleHideEvent” : [ “Ctrl+Alt+Shift+H” ]
},

{
“Filter.ChordSymbols” : [ “Ctrl+Alt+Shift+C” ]
},

{
“Filter.NotesAndChords” : [ “Ctrl+Alt+Shift+N” ]
}
]
},

{
“context” : “kWriteMode”,
“shortcuts” : [

{
“NoteInput.SetGridResolution?RhythmicGridResolutionValue=kSemiquaver” : [ “Alt+Shift+1” ]
},

{
“NoteInput.SetGridResolution?RhythmicGridResolutionValue=kQuaver” : [ “Alt+Shift+2” ]
}
]
},

{
“context” : “kMusicEditable”,
“shortcuts” : [

{
“EventEdit.CopyToStaveAbove” : [ “Ctrl+Alt+N” ]
},

{
“EventEdit.CopyToStaveBelow” : [ “Ctrl+Alt+M” ]
}
]
}
]
},
“delta” : “true”,
“version” : “3.0.0”
}

On the face of it, that all looks OK. Try moving that keycommands_en.json file out of the way, then restart Dorico and see if that helps. It probably won’t, but you never know.

Unfortunately that does not work.

I can use up and down arrows to move among the kit pieces, but neither y nor Y does anything. I can enter notes using the note names (a = floor tom, c = snare, d = floor tom, etc) but that’s not the same thing.

Very strange. Can you start a new project, add a drum kit, and try to input a note using Y, then do Help > Create Diagnostic Report and attach the resulting zip file here?

Your wish is my command. :slight_smile:
Dorico Diagnostics.zip (1.19 MB)

Well, it’s certainly consistent with what you say: the Y key is not triggering any kind of command. You’ve never manually interfered with the default keycommands_en.json file inside the Dorico program folder?

Definitely not with Dorico 3. I might have done something with Dorico 2 but that is working correctly.

Just to eliminate the obvious, I brought up Notepad to make sure the y and Y were still working on my keyboard. And I did a complete power off cycle. Those actions didn’t change the problem.

I uninstalled D3 and did a fresh complete install. It is now working correctly.

Curiously, I expected to have to re-enter my shortcuts (I had only a few.) But they were intact after the clean install. I guess the installation process must look back at Dorico 2 and import the old shortcuts.

So, I have no idea why this wasn’t working, but all is working after the complete reinstall.

That does suggest that something untoward had happened to the built-in shortcuts in your installation. I’m glad you’re back up and running now.