OK. So I am a longtime Finale user saddened to hear Finale development has stopped. I will need to move on. I was eager to look to learning Dorico…
until…
My favorite capability from Finale… my key workflow item is to be able to import audio (mp3, WAV) and be able to notate against the sync’d audio track.
Ex 1: composed guitar/vocal on mp3 - needing to notate other instrument accompaniment and hearing real time live playback.
Ex 2: including sampled audio sounds in new composition
Ex 3: Working on multi instrument transcriptions of recorded material.
This was all possible and (relatively) easy to execute (including tempo tap to achieve time sync of the audio track against beats/bars within score.
Dorico - now that I have been delivered into your arms - please tell me you can match these capabilities.
Unfortunately the import and sync of audio files is not currently possible, but it as far as I know it has been on the development radar so the team is aware of it as something frequently requested.
In the meantime the typical approach is to convert your audio file to a blank video file (black screen if you like), since it supports video import.
Dorico’s lack of this function is bringing me down. Once you have a fast and simple way of getting something done - it just difficult to go back to longer more difficult ways.
Today I have wasted hours - trying hard (and failing hard!) a workaround involving Shotcut - a open source video editor (create video from jpeg and mp3 files as source). So I’ve paid my crossgrade fee - but regretting at the moment.
I’m sorry that you are finding this difficult, John, and I can only hope that you will be able to find other things in Dorico that are helpful to you. Perhaps you could describe what problem you’re trying to solve (i.e. why do you need the audio file synced to the score playback) and we might be able to offer an alternative approach?
I thought I’d see whether there was a simpler approach than using Shotcut, and a search took me to Clideo, in which I was able to drag a single image and an MP3 file and export an MP4 file in just a minute or two. The resulting MP4 file opens up just fine in Dorico. Perhaps you could give that tool a try? It has a free option (the video has a watermark embedded) and works entirely in your browser.
Dorico is still relatively new, while Finale and Sibelius have 2 decades in advance.
Importing audio files has been acknowledged as desirable since it will open the possibility of merging the electronic part of music with notated music, sound overall and other variants. Your use seems rather niche, but that’s whatever.
Give Dorico time.
Yes, Dorico pretty well has a solution to any composing/engraving project… except for what you are describing. I’m sure it will appear. In the meantime…
I’m the horn-arranger (original horn lines, some transcriptions, etc.) for a band that I perform with.
What I do in order to use Dorico in order to have an audio file in my notation project:
open the Audio song/music file in Cubase
create a Tempo track in Cubase, using a combination of ‘Beat Detection’ and ‘Warp Audio’ in order to create the correct ‘landing points’ in the music, which will line up with the downbeats of Measures for when I’m notating or transcribing this song
create a Midi track in Cubase, and make a ‘region’ that is the length of the Audio file
export this Midi track from Cubase (which will now also contain the Tempo Track)
put the original music/song Audio file into a film software program (ie: iMovie, Wondershare Filmora) and create a ‘.mp4 movie’ (just have a black screen to match the length of audio)
import the Midi file (the one that contains the Tempo Track track) into Dorico. A new project will be created from this Import
import the Mp4 movie into this Dorico project
in this newly created project, you can now adjust the start time of the movie and line it up to your imported Midi/Tempo track (in the Flow ‘Video properties’ section)
Now, I can just stop and start the playback anywhere in Dorico, and hear instant playback of the original audio file as it follows the Tempo Track without flaw. (…no need for using Synch software or Rewire-style connection, or Apple midi connections)
Everything is now self-contained in the Dorico project!
Give it a try. You can use most DAW’s for this, and most consumer level film software can work. It become a very quick process after you do one of two projects this way.
Really? The three examples given are all mainstream and have been discussed frequently.
I’m confident the Dorico team understands what’s needed and will eventually do a good job but there’d seem to be quite a lot of work involved.
Forgive me, but I’m not well versed in this whole syncing, and track stuff. My limited understanding was that the OP wanted to sync an audio file to Dorico and transcibe that way, which I can only think being possible with perfect pitch.
This clears up a lot more! Hopefully you won’t get frustrated doing this over and over
copying the music I hear in an audio file; which for me is usually transcribing a horn section part for a song. So, I need the original audio file to listen to over and over as I notate the various horn parts into a score. And, it’s ideal to have the original song’s beat “1” land at the same place as beat “1” of my score. (my method I described enables that to happen)
OR: listening to a song and having to compose horn parts to play with the song (to be played by real horn players). Again, it’s ideal and life is easy when the musical beats line up with the score I’m creating.
This is what I mean by ‘transcribing’. I need a keyboard in order to have a reference. I don’t have perfect pitch, but from years of playing trombone I have a good feeling for what I’m hearing on my horn as a reference. But, the MIDI keyboard helps to figure out the notes I want in addition to then using the keyboard for note-input. (Dorico’s ‘pitch-before-duration’ is a must for me when working on projects like this…I have to ‘noodle around’ with notes and chords before committing to any durations.
Anyways, Dorico makes it all very possible and easy and musical! Good luck with your own projects and discoveries!
My previous workflow in Finale was: import mp3 as the audio track. Set tempo to matching BPM (or use “tempo tap” to manually set). Done. From that point mp3 audio is sync’d to notation. Can play, start, stop at any point in the score with mp3 - even navigating repeats, DC/DS, Codas, 2nd endings, etc in the score.
You can see that is much less daunting than the Linked DAW->midi>Dorico flow described,
Think direct scoring of string parts over pre-recorded audio. Transcribing horn parts that exactly match the underlying recording. Being able to score music sync’d to external media file. It does seem so close to film scoring coding.
I do appreciate Dorico is growing and developing, and I am excited there is other aspects with the product that will be easier, better, and more advanced with time.
Just haven’t found the right workaround for me… and the years of past work that I’d love to bring over to Dorico environment.
Yes, it’s great to avoid having to synch the notation program to a DAW and keep it all the work right in Dorico.
For bringing old work into Dorico (for me, from Sibelius) the new version 4.3 of MXML works really well. Everything transfers pretty close to the originals from years ago.
Dorico will only get better and better. It’s not really that old a program yet!
