I have updated to the 14.0.20 this morning - great work, and my thanks to the team!
I wanted to point out a few small issues some of which are bugs (which existed in the prior version) and a few suggestions as well.
I. Bugs
- Caret Grid consistently breaks
One of the nice things borrowed from Dorico is the Caret Grid which allows you to see note values based on your selected grid resolution, and advance the caret left/right according to this value. However, in Cubase, while it appears to recreate this Dorico experience on the surface, thereâs some issues. To initiate it, you enter the step editor, which by default will show a caret with a 1/4 grid, like so:
Ok cool, letâs say we want to see a grid based on 1/8 notes - so you can do this by going up to the Q setting (which in my case is linked to grid) and switch that to 1/8. It will then change as expected:
But this is where the functionality ends and becomes buggy. From now on, that grid value will persist on all tracks until you close the project. If you select 1/16, 1/4, it doesnât matter â youâre stuck on this grid permanently.
Second related bug would be that the left/right arrow advancing ought to be based on this grid value. When you select a higher grid resolution than 1/4, like 1/16, no matter what left/right arrows still advance by a 1/4. This is not the behavior in Dorico nor in the key editor (in step input, the bar moves by the grid always). The expected behavior from Dorico looks like this, where I can quickly change the caret grid and move by the grid all from the keyboard:
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Transport > âStart From Selection Startâ does not work from a selected note. If you select the exact same note in the key editor, it will start from there. However when selecting that note in the score editor, even with this setting turned on it will always start from the beginning of the entire event. Iâm aware there is a âplay from selectionâ option from a separate key command, but I like to use this mode with my transport from the spacebar, and expecting consistency between key & score editor.
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Up/Down arrows to ânudgeâ or move notes up and down. Just as it works in the key editor, where you can move notes up and down chromatically with the arrows. I canât get this key command to work in the score editor to be consistent in both editors.
II. Feature Requests
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Key Commands for rhythmic note values - please allow us to create key commands to access this row of note values.
Very helpful while in step input or simply editing notes (key editor changes step input note value based on grid, but as far as I can tell there is no way to change this in the score editor via keyboard). But this would be beautiful for editing music, with any note selected to be able to change its rhythm from my keypad. -
âFill Viewâ to behave more like âGalley Viewâ in Dorico (no system breaks) - Galley view is fantastic because itâs basically more like a primary timeline arrangement view, where music is always displayed in time from left to right. The longer the music, it simply just becomes longer horizontally. In Cubase, âFill Viewâ is the so-called equivalent but it isnât, actually. When music gets too long for the zoom level, it still treats it basically like a printed page of music, breaking the system and continuing on in a top-down vertical fashion, so basically a glorified wider page view, which to me defeats the purpose:
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Explode & Reduce - please bring us these fantastically useful tools (I understand they existed in some way with the previous score editor?). Explode is especially helpful moving from a piano sketch to an orchestration.
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Display track names instead of instrument names - just a simple menu preference will do. A lot of us working with synths and non-traditional hybrid instrument libraries like Arkhis etc would rather see the name of the track than a random guess or âtreble staff.â
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Menu preference for different editors based on lower zone vs. window:
Rather than one default editor for both lower zone and opening in a window, I wish we could select to have one or the other. Example: lower-zone could always be key editor, and double-click to open a window could always open the score editor. For my workflow moving between both editors frequently, it would be nice to set a preference which one opens by default and how. -
Rests selectable and treated as part of the music - I know this is probably a lot easier said than done, especially since it is not possible in the key editor either, and rests are not treated like an event in the world of midi sequencing. I get that. One beautiful thing about working in Dorico is how rests can be selected along with notes and duplicated with âRâ. Compositionally speaking, rests are part of the music, although I know midi doesnât care about that. I am not sure how it could be implemented but I think having some ability to select and manipulate rests, even if it requires a modifier key or something. To illustrate a real-world scenario, you have a note and wish to repeat it. Thereâs a big difference between the following, musically:
I think that is all I can think of for now - and Iâm sure thatâs a lot. Would just love to get the essential editing and input experience closer to Dorico. Thank you!
