Tapping QWERTY keyboard to create rhythm in real time

Dorico
1

Is it possible to tap a key like the space bar on the QWERTY keyboard to enter the rhythm in real time. Thanks.

2

I guess the answer would be to use the MIDI recording feature and use y (for percussion) or a, b, c, d, e, f, g for pitched instruments. See Alan Silvestri’s YouTube interview Alan Silvestri, Scoring a Blockbuster, Part 2: Working in Dorico | Artist - YouTube, at 4’13" he seems to use that trick a lot (along with the (L)ock rhythm mode in Note Entry mode.

3

Thank you, Marc for your response. I actually came up with the question after watching the interview video. It seems that this feature only works with a MIDI device using the MIDI recording feature. However, it would be more convenient to be able to use a QWERTY keyboard or tap on a button on a touch screen like the way you tap to enter the tempo in a metronome app. This would be a much faster way to enter the rhythm. I will try to find a virtual MIDI keyboard if it is available.

4

The difficulty with this is that I don’t think the accuracy of the events you get from qwerty or mouse input will be enough to be able to correctly enter the rhythms. I think there’s a lot of jitter in the timing of keyboard events. When you use the keyboard or mouse with tap tempo that is quite different because it uses averages to smooth out the timing variations. I would be interested to hear how you get on with a virtual MIDI device, but I wouldn’t expect good results.

5

Keyboard buffers are good news for fast typists but would be bad news for the input of quick rhythms.

6

Thank you, Paul and Derrek for your input so I guess the time resolution is not good enough. I was hoping that tapping in the rhythms would be a lot simpler and would not need the accuracy of the MIDI recording. One can play a lot of notes at a very fast speed with expression on a MIDI keyboards. If the system is not busy then the input should not be held in the buffer and quantization should also help. When typing text in notepad I don’t notice any delay but the timing has be measured to know for sure. I downloaded one of the virtual keyboards and I will try it when I have more time. I’m still new to Dorico so I need to figure how to set up a MIDI device in Dorico.

7

Are you located in London? If so you can have my MIDI keyboard…

8

There are other midi controllers out there that are not in [piano] keyboard form. Perhaps one of those would suit your needs better. Perhaps you could use something like this: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ATOMpad--presonus-atom-pad-controller?mrkgcl=28&mrkgadid=3345148929&rkg_id=0&product_id=ATOMpad&campaigntype=shopping&campaign=aaShopping%20-%20Core%20-%20Drums%20%26%20Percussion%20-%20Price%20Tiers&adgroup=Drums%20%26%20Percussion%20-%20Electronic%20Drums&placement=google&adpos=1o2&creative=362718551991&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0oaCuLq54wIVQdbACh1FkwEwEAQYAiABEgJlBPD_BwE to tap in rhythms and then assign your favorite shortcuts to the other pads.