Ok so I am finally ready, after 3 months of revision, to start work on a big project. I have had Cubase since Cubase Score 1993. I know Cubase well and all my sounds are set up there.
I tend to think in notation, rather than piano roll.
Dorico I an still very much a learner. I have a probably wrong idea that most simply use one orchestra - say Iconica?? I tend to work in EastWest Hollywood stuff. I also have a lot of synths I use. I use samples, Groove Agent 5… the list is long.
How to I segueway between Dorico and Cubase. Using XML would loose stuff surely
Looking fro gthe most basic advice - some kind of concept of how to go ahead…
Using Dorico is a total change of mindset compared to Cubase. In a DAW everything is very manual (create track, load a plugin, load a patch, create an expression map, assign the expression map, select the articulations). In Dorico it’s the opposite: just add notes and playing techniques and then everything will play automatically. The default will use HALion Sonic and Iconica Sketch, and that is enough for many people. There’s the potential to work with any VST, but I’d suggest seeing how far you get with Iconica Sketch. There’s a lot of control available if you need it, but to start with, try to resist the temptation to manually load plugins, to see how the automatic setup works.
This is a big project.
In Cubase, when I use Orchestral stuff they will be filtred through group tracks sends etc, I use articulations in Cubase via Expression maps. Sometimes what would really be one part, is set up on three tracks, or visa versa. Many orchestral plugins use their own interfaces, if use it, will these settings get lost? Reverb I use different reverbs for shordts and longs - possible?
What about accidentals and score marking? What about automation?
If you already have a project with all the playback data setup in Cubase, then I don’t think you will benefit from transferring it to Dorico because most of that state will be lost. Or at least, it will be a lot of work to try to reconstruct exactly what you had from Cubase. The value of Dorico, I think, is how it’s simple to set up a project using Playback Templates.
Dorico does have built-in mechanisms for short and long reverbs too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzYp9bDBnBg There is controller automation, but most of the CC dynamics are driven directly from the score.
I would suggest exporting the Cubase project as a .dorico project and load into Dorico to just play with the default setup to see how much is done for you versus how much you actually need.
thank you that has helped. I am not sure how to handle this, thats why am not clear. Today I start a new score. I want to use East West mainly,a syphonic series timp, groove agent 5, some favourites from other orchestrals. BTW I am working in 5.1 I suppose I start in Cubase
I can certainly appreciate your desire to jump into starting a big project! But since you have so many questions, why not start with just a few measures to see how things transfer from one to the other? Use your template in Cubase and set up the same instruments in Dorico. That way you can learn a lot without investing a huge amount of work and time.
I’d say to start simpler than that – forgot about EW and timpani plugins for the moment and get your head around how Dorico works for playback with the default libraries. Then you may be able to use some of the Playback Templates that users have already created.
