Ex-Finale user here.
I feel pretty dumb. I can’t figure this out. The key sig is set to SHOW (⇧+ ⌘ + N), but it won’t show for some reason. Any pointer would be appreciated.
What instrument is this? The fact that the B has a flat sign next to it makes me think that the instrument is set up not to use key signatures.
You can look at the instrument definition in Library > Instruments, or in Setup mode, expand the player to show the instrument. Then click on the three dots and choose Edit Instrument Definition.
Scroll down to the Transposition section.
Ahhhh, thank you @asherber. That was it. It’s so hard to Google when you don’t know what keyword to search with.
I guess I have to create another custom instrument 
Well, maybe not. What instrument is this?
Actually, I do want a custom instrument at this point, but I can’t figure out how to chose the onboard soft synth sound.
Say, I am going to based on Synthesizer, make it a single staff, and I want to assign a Sawtooth type sound that will standup when I play it back on a lead sheet. The current Synthesizer sound won’t do for me. In fact, I couldn’t find any pre-defined instrument satisfactory. I hope Dorico let me create my own playback instrument sound…?
Sorry, I’m not going to be of much help in getting the playback side wired up.
It is simple to apply any Synth VST to (eg) a Treble Sketch instrument. Just add your VST to the VST & MIDI rack, route it to your instrument and supply it with a suitable expression map (Here I set surgeXT to respond to volume dynamics and used Dorico’s default expression map)…
synth-saw.dorico (431.8 KB)
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Oh! That’s where you define it! Very cool! Thank you so much @Janus !
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Hi @Janus
It seems Dorico 5 doesn’t support AU. I understand if Steinberg wants to support nothing but VST, but it is kinda disappointing.
Anyway, I need to assign different VIs to notes and chords, like I used to do with Finale. Usually, I use the Moog sound for notes and piano sound for chords. Any pointer would be appreciated.
P.S., does HALion have the Moog sound family?
I don’t think I mentioned AU. I said any VST.
Yeah I am on Mac so AU is native. I haven’t really explored VST.
I’m sure the (few? 
) Mac users here can help.
Interestingly, Dorico 5 installed both AU and VST3 versions of HALion but Dorico 5 won’t show any of my other AU soft synth. Curiouser, curiouser.
Dorico supports only VST (VST2 and VST3) on Mac, not AU. It works technically as intended, so, you have to install VST versios of your plugins/virtual instruments if you want to use them in Dorico. If you have only AU versions of some software titles, they can’t be used in Dorico.
Dorico runs natively on Apple Silicon and supports native VST 3 plug-ins only.
Support for VST 2 plug-ins is available when you run Dorico in Rosetta mode.
To allow (whitelist) VST2 plugins in Dorico, see here: Steinberg