"Start Pedal Line" & "Start Hairpin" Missing from Key Commands

Dorico
1

It does not seem that I can find the “Start Pedal Line” or “Start Hairpin” options in the Key Commands dialogue box. I see “Stop Pedal Line” and “Stop Hairpin”, though, and I can see the default Key Commands for “Start Pedal Line / Hairpin” when looking at the Key Command “Print Summary”.

Is it intentional that I cannot alter or add Key Commands to these two actions?
Or am I missing something?

2

There are many options, so these are not commands that do just one thing.

  • Select the passage you want for the line
  • For a pedal, type Shift-P for playing technique, “ped”, Enter.
  • For a hairpin, type Shift-D for dynamics, “<” or “>”, Enter.

You can add more things in the popover such as “mp<f”, half-pedal markings, etc.

3

…and if you do want a hairpin on its own, you don’t need the Shift-D popover at all.

4

I am aware of these popovers, but during Step-Input, is there a way to just “Start Pedal Line / Hairpin (Cresc. or Decresc.)”?

As of right now, during Step Input, I can Start Cresc. Hairpin by pressing SHIFT + , (AKA “<”) and it will create a hairpin until I tell it to stop. This Key Command shows up in the Print Summary, but I don’t see it in the Key Command Dialogue Box.

and if you do want a hairpin on its own, you don’t need the Shift-D popover at all.

That’s what I am looking for: the ability to add a Key Command to the already existing one that allows me to do this without the popover.

5

I think the crux of what Leo has said is: You don’t need to open the popover. Just select the note(s) and press SHIFT + , (AKA “<”).

My apologies if this was already clear, but I was uncertain because of your last sentence, which read:

6

This is not possible on the current Dorico’s Key Commands dialog. There is a workaround to manually edit the text of your keycommands json file. For example, here’s an example where the pedal’s keycommand is “&” and the hairpins’ are changed to “%” and “^”. If you can edit the keycommands json file, try this.

				"context" : "kWriteMode",
				"shortcuts" : [

					{
						"NoteInput.HairpinStart?Type=kGradualDynamicDown&GradualDynamicType=kCrescOrDim" : [ "^", "DELETE:>" ]
					},
					
					{
						"NoteInput.HairpinStart?Type=kGradualDynamicUp&GradualDynamicType=kCrescOrDim" : [ "%", "DELETE:<" ]
					},
					
					{
						"NoteInput.CreatePlayingTechnique?Definition=ped" : [ "&" ]
					}
				]