Steinberg Dorico Elements 2 User Guide

Operation Manual

Cristina Bachmann, Heiko Bischoff, Lillie Harris, Christina Kaboth, Insa Mingers, Matthias Obrecht, Sabine Pfeifer, Benjamin Schütte, Marita Sladek

This PDF provides improved access for vision-impaired users. Please note that due to the complexity and number of images in this document, it is not possible to include text descriptions of images.

The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. The software described by this document is subject to a License Agreement and may not be copied to other media except as specically allowed in the License Agreement. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced, or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for any purpose, without prior written permission by Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. Registered licensees of the product described herein may print one copy of this document for their personal use.

All product and company names are ™ or ® trademarks of their respective owners. For more information, please visit www.steinberg.net/trademarks.

Dorico_2.2.0_en-US_2019-01-29

8 Introduction

8 Platform-Independent Documentation 8 Usage of musical terms 9 Conventions 11 How you can reach us

12 First steps

12 Getting around 19 Starting a new project 22 Writing music

28 Dorico Elements concepts

28 Design philosophy 29 Key musical concepts

32 User interface

32 Hub 36 Windows 49 Setting up your workspace 55 Preferences dialog

62 Setup mode

62 Project window in Setup mode 70 Project Info dialog 71 Layout Options dialog 73 Players 81 Ensembles 82 Instruments 96 Player groups 98 Flows 101 Layouts 106 Videos

112 Write mode

112 Project window in Write mode 119 Introduction to inputting and editing 129 Notation Options dialog 131 Note input 163 Notations input 253 Arranging tools 259 Splitting ows

261 Layout and formatting

261 Engrave mode 261 Frames 262 Master pages 262 Page layouts 271 Music Fonts dialog 272 Editing text 278 Note spacing 281 Staff spacing

282 Play mode

282 Project window in Play mode 287 Playback Options dialog

288 Event display 296 Tracks 313 Playhead 314 Playing back music 319 Swing playback 324 Mixer 326 Transport window 328 Endpoints 332 Expression maps 340 Percussion maps 347 Played vs. notated note durations

350 Print mode

350 Project window in Print mode 354 Printing layouts 356 Exporting layouts as graphic les 359 Printers 359 Page arrangements for printing/exporting 362 Duplex printing 363 Handling page sizes and paper sizes 364 Graphics le formats 365 Annotations

366 Notation reference

367 Introduction

368 Accidentals

368 Changing accidentals 368 Deleting accidentals 369 Showing accidentals in parentheses 370 Altered unisons 371 Microtonal accidentals 371 Accidental duration rules

374 Articulations

375 Copying articulations 375 Changing articulations 375 Deleting articulations 376 Positions of articulations 378 Articulations in playback

379 Bars

379 Deleting bars 381 Changes to the length of bars 381 Splits in bars 382 Combining bars

384 Barlines

385 Deleting barlines 385 Moving barlines rhythmically 386 Barlines across staff groups

388 Bar numbers

388 Appearance of bar numbers 391 Bar numbers in parts

Table of Contents

392 Hiding/Showing bar number ranges on multi-

bar rests

393 Positions of bar numbers 396 Bar number changes 398 Subordinate bar numbers 399 Bar numbers and repeats

400 Beaming

400 Beaming notes together manually 401 Changing the direction of partial beams 401 Beam groups 403 Beam placement relative to the staff 404 Beam slants 405 Centered beams 406 Creating cross-staff beams 409 Beam corners 409 Secondary beams 410 Tuplets within beams 411 Stemlets 411 Fanned beams

413 Note and rest grouping

413 Conventions for beam grouping according to

meter

414 Creating custom beat groupings for meters

415 Brackets and braces

416 Brackets according to ensemble type 416 Secondary brackets

417 Chord symbols

417 Chord components 417 Changing existing chord symbols 418 Transposing chord symbols 418 Hiding/Showing chord symbols 419 Hiding/Showing the root and quality of chord

symbols

419 Positions of chord symbols 421 Changing the enharmonic spelling of chord

symbols

422 Chord symbols imported from MusicXML

423 Clefs

424 General placement conventions for clefs 424 Moving clefs rhythmically 425 Deleting clefs 425 Changing the position of clefs relative to grace

notes

426 Transposing clefs

427 Octave lines

428 Lengthening/Shortening octave lines 429 Moving octave lines rhythmically 429 Changing the alignment of octave line

numerals relative to notes

430 Changing the position of octave line numerals

relative to accidentals

430 Changing the placement of octave lines

relative to the staff

430 Deleting octave lines

432 Cues

433 Dynamics

433 Types of dynamics 434 General placement conventions for dynamics 435 Showing dynamics in parentheses 435 Moving dynamics rhythmically

436 Copying dynamics 437 Deleting dynamics 438 Voice-specic dynamics 438 Niente hairpins 439 Expressive text 441 Gradual dynamics 445 Placement of dynamics 445 Groups of dynamics 447 Dynamics linked across multiple staves 449 VST Expression Maps for volume types

450 Fingering

450 General placement conventions for ngering 450 Changing ngerings to substitution ngerings 451 Changing existing ngerings 452 Changing the placement of ngerings relative

to the staff

452 Hiding/Showing ngering 453 Deleting ngerings 453 Cautionary ngerings 454 Fingerings for valved brass instruments 454 Hiding/Showing ngering shifts for string

instruments

455 Fingerings imported from MusicXML les

456 Front matter

456 Project information used in default master

pages

458 Grace notes

459 General placement conventions for grace

notes

460 Grace note size 460 Grace note slashes 461 Grace note stems 461 Grace note beams

462 Holds and pauses

462 Types of holds and pauses 464 General placement conventions for holds and

pauses

465 Changing the appearance/duration of existing

holds and pauses

467 Moving holds and pauses rhythmically 467 Positioning fermatas on barlines 468 Changing the number of fermatas per staff

469 Key signatures

469 General placement conventions for key

signatures

470 Types of key signatures 471 Tonality systems 472 Moving key signatures rhythmically 473 Deleting key signatures 474 Multiple simultaneous key signatures 474 Transposing key signatures alongside

selections

475 Enharmonic equivalent key signatures 476 Cautionary key signatures

477 Lyrics

477 General placement conventions for lyrics 478 Filters for lyrics 479 Types of lyrics 480 Types of syllables in lyrics 481 Changing the text of existing lyrics 482 Showing lyrics in italics

Table of Contents

483 Positions of lyrics 486 Lyric hyphens and lyric extender lines 488 Deleting lyric lines 489 Lyric line numbers 492 Verse numbers 493 East Asian elision slurs 494 Project-wide engraving options for lyrics

495 Notes

495 Project-wide engraving options for notes 497 Notehead sets 510 Changing the size of notes 511 Moving notes rhythmically 512 Changing the width of ledger lines 512 Changing the consolidation of rhythm dots 513 Specifying on which string individual notes are

played

514 Deleting notes

515 Ornaments

515 General placement conventions for ornaments 516 Project-wide engraving options for ornaments 516 Changing the intervals of ornaments 518 Changing the speed of trills 518 Lengthening/Shortening trills rhythmically 519 Hiding/Showing trill extension lines 520 Positions of ornaments

523 Arpeggio signs

524 General placement conventions for arpeggio

signs

524 Changing the type of arpeggio signs 525 Changing the end appearance of arpeggio

signs

525 Length of arpeggio signs 527 Positions of arpeggio signs 529 Project-wide engraving options for arpeggio

signs

529 Arpeggios in playback

532 Glissando lines

532 General placement conventions for glissando

lines

533 Glissando lines across empty bars 533 Changing the style of glissando lines 534 Changing glissando line text 535 Moving glissando lines graphically 536 Changing the default angles of glissando lines

project-wide

537 Project-wide engraving options for glissando

lines

538 Jazz articulations

539 Jazz ornaments 540 Positions of jazz articulations 540 Changing the type/length of existing jazz

articulations

541 Changing the line style of smooth jazz

articulations

542 Deleting jazz articulations

543 Page numbers

543 Changing the page number numeral style 545 Hiding/Showing page numbers

547 Pedal lines

548 General placement conventions for pedal lines 548 Sustain pedal retakes and pedal level changes

555 Positions of pedal lines 558 Lengthening/Shortening pedal lines 559 Project-wide engraving options for pedal lines 559 Pedal line start signs, hooks, and continuation

lines

564 Pedal line start, continuation, and restorative

text

566 Pedal lines in playback 566 Pedal lines imported from MusicXML les

567 Playing techniques

567 General placement conventions for playing

techniques

568 Project-wide engraving options for playing

techniques

568 Positions of playing techniques 570 Adding text to playing techniques 571 Erasing the background of text playing

techniques

572 Hiding/Showing playing techniques 573 Custom playing techniques 581 Playing techniques in playback

582 Rehearsal marks

582 General placement conventions for rehearsal

marks

583 Positions of rehearsal marks 585 Deleting rehearsal marks 585 Changing the order of rehearsal marks 586 Changing the rehearsal mark sequence type 587 Adding prexes/suxes to rehearsal marks 587 Project-wide engraving options for rehearsal

marks

591 Markers

591 Project-wide engraving options for markers 592 Changing the vertical position of markers 593 Changing the text shown in markers 593 Changing the marker/timecode font styles 594 Moving markers rhythmically 594 Changing the timecodes of markers 595 Dening markers as important 595 Hiding/Showing markers 596 Deleting markers

597 Timecodes

598 Changing the initial timecode value 598 Showing timecodes on a separate staff 599 Hiding/Showing timecodes in markers 600 Changing the timecode frequency

601 Repeat endings

601 Changing the total number of playthroughs in

repeat endings

602 Project-wide engraving options for repeat

endings

603 Lengthening/Shortening segments in repeat

endings

604 Positions of repeat endings 606 Deleting repeat endings 606 Changing the text shown in repeat endings 607 Changing the appearance of individual nal

repeat ending segments

608 Lengthening/Shortening repeat ending hooks 608 Repeat endings in MusicXML les

Table of Contents

609 Bar repeats

610 Project-wide engraving options for bar repeats 610 Changing the length of the repeated phrase in

bar repeat regions

611 Moving bar repeat regions 611 Lengthening/Shortening bar repeat regions 612 Hiding/Showing bar repeat region highlights 612 Bar repeat counts 616 Bar repeat grouping

619 Rhythm slashes

619 Slash regions 620 Project-wide engraving options for rhythm

slashes

621 Slashes in multiple-voice contexts 623 Splitting slash regions 624 Moving slash regions 624 Lengthening/Shortening slash regions 625 Hiding/Showing stems in slash regions 625 Slash region counts

630 Rests

630 General placement conventions for rests 631 Implicit vs. explicit rests 633 Per-ow notation options for rests 633 Project-wide engraving options for rests 634 Showing rest colors 635 Deleting rests 636 Hiding/Showing bar rests in empty bars 636 Hiding/Showing multi-bar rests 637 Moving rests vertically

639 Slurs

640 General placement conventions for slurs 643 Project-wide engraving options for slurs 644 Cross-staff and cross-voice slurs 645 Nested slurs 646 Moving slurs rhythmically 647 Lengthening/Shortening slurs 648 Linked slurs across multiple staves 649 Slur segments 651 Slurs in Engrave mode 655 Short slurs that cover large pitch ranges 656 Slur height 657 Slur shoulder offset 659 Slur curvature direction 660 Slur styles 662 Slur collision avoidance 664 Slurs over system and frame breaks 664 Slurs in playback

665 Staff labels

666 Instrument names in staff labels 667 Project-wide engraving options for staff labels 669 Changing the length of staff labels project-

wide

671 Changing the length of staff labels at specic

positions

672 Instrument transpositions in staff labels 674 Staff labels for percussion kits

676 Staves

676 Project-wide layout options for staves 678 Staff size 682 Changing the thickness of staff lines 682 Deleting staves

683 Extra staves 684 Ossia staves 684 System objects 686 System indents

687 Divisi

688 Stems

688 Stem direction 693 Project-wide engraving options for stems 693 Stem length 694 Hiding stems 695 Split stems for altered unisons

696 Tempo marks

697 Types of tempo marks 697 General placement conventions for tempo

marks

698 Text in tempo marks 699 Positions of tempo marks 702 Lengthening/Shortening gradual tempo

changes

702 Hiding/Showing tempo marks 703 Deleting tempo marks 703 Project-wide engraving options for tempo

marks

704 Tempo mark components 705 Metronome marks 708 Gradual tempo changes

711 Ties

711 General placement conventions for ties 713 Tie chains 713 Ties vs. slurs 714 Non-standard ties 717 Deleting ties 717 Splitting tie chains 718 Project-wide engraving options for ties 718 Changing the position/shape of ties 719 Tie shoulder offset 721 Tie height 722 Tie styles 725 Tie curvature direction

727 Time signatures

728 General conventions for time signatures 728 Project-wide engraving options for time

signatures

729 Project-wide spacing gaps for time signatures 729 Types of time signatures 732 Large time signatures 734 Time signature styles 737 Positions of time signatures 741 Hiding/Showing time signatures 742 Deleting time signatures 742 Time signature font styles

744 Tremolos

745 Tremolos in tie chains 746 General placement conventions for tremolos 747 Changing the speed of tremolos 747 Deleting tremolos 748 Rhythmic positions of notes with tremolos 748 Moving tremolo strokes 749 Project-wide engraving options for tremolos 750 Tremolos in playback

Table of Contents

752 Tuplets

752 General placement conventions for tuplets 753 Nested tuplets 754 Notations on tuplet notes 754 Turning existing notes into tuplets 755 Turning tuplets into normal notes 755 Moving tuplets rhythmically 756 Deleting tuplets 757 Tuplet beams 757 Tuplet brackets 761 Tuplet numbers/ratios 763 Project-wide engraving options for tuplets

764 Unpitched percussion

764 Percussion kits vs. individual percussion

instruments

765 Percussion kits 766 Project-wide engraving options for unpitched

percussion

767 Per-ow notation options for unpitched

percussion

767 Changing the playing techniques of notes on

percussion kit staves

768 Showing notes in percussion instruments as

ghost notes

768 Moving notes to different instruments in

percussion kits

769 Notations on notes in percussion kits 770 Percussion kit presentation types 772 Playing techniques for unpitched percussion

instruments

776 Percussion legends 779 Voices in percussion kits 781 Unpitched percussion in Play mode 783 Universal Indian Drum Notation

784 Voices

784 Note positions in multiple-voice contexts 785 Per-ow notation options for voices 786 Showing voice colors 786 Deleting unused voices 787 Swapping the order of voices 788 Notes crossed to staves with existing notes in

other voices

789 Rhythm dot consolidation 789 Slash voices

792 Glossary

802 Index

Introduction

Thank you very much for purchasing Dorico Elements.

We are delighted that you have chosen Steinberg's scoring application and hope that you will enjoy using it for years to come.

Dorico Elements is a next-generation application for producing beautiful sheet music, whether you are a composer, arranger, music engraver, publisher, instrumentalist, teacher, or student. Whether you want to print your music or share it in a digital format, Dorico Elements is the most sophisticated program available.

Like all of Steinberg's products, Dorico Elements has been designed from the ground up by a team of musicians who understand your needs and who are dedicated to producing a tool that is both easy to learn and use, but also capable of results of the highest quality. Dorico Elements also integrates with your existing workow and can import and export les in a variety of formats.

Dorico Elements thinks about music the same way a human musician does and has a deeper understanding of the elements of music and musical performance than other scoring applications. Its unique design allows an unprecedented degree of exibility, in music input and editing, in score layout, in rhythmic freedom, and many other areas besides.

Most sincerely yours,

Your Steinberg Dorico Elements Team

Platform-Independent Documentation

The documentation applies to the operating systems Windows and macOS.

Features and settings that are specic to one of these platforms are clearly indicated. In all other cases, the descriptions and procedures in the documentation are valid for Windows and macOS.

Some points to consider:

● The screenshots are taken from Windows.

● Some functions that are available on the File menu on Windows can be found in the program name menu on macOS.

Usage of musical terms

This documentation uses American terminology for musical items throughout the documentation.

The following table lists all the notes and notations that have different names in American and British English:

Introduction Conventions

American Name British Name

Double whole note Breve

Whole note Semibreve

Half note Minim

Quarter note Crotchet

Eighth note Quaver

Sixteenth note Semiquaver

Thirty-second note Demisemiquaver

Sixty-fourth note Hemidemisemiquaver

Hundred twenty-eighth note Semihemidemisemiquaver

Two hundred fty-sixth note Demisemihemidemisemiquaver

Staff Stave

Bar/Measure

NOTE

This documentation only uses “bar”.

Conventions

In our documentation, we use typographical and markup elements to structure information.

Typographical Elements

The following typographical elements mark the following purposes.

Prerequisite

Requires you to complete an action or to fulll a condition before starting a procedure.

Procedure

Lists the steps that you must take to achieve a specic result.

Bar

Important

Informs you about issues that might affect the system, the connected hardware, or that might bring a risk of data loss.

Note

Informs you about issues that you should consider.

Example

Provides you with an example.

Introduction Conventions

Markup

Result

Shows the result of the procedure.

After Completing This Task

Informs you about actions or tasks that you can perform after completing the procedure.

Key Commands

Many of the default key commands, also known as keyboard shortcuts, use modier keys, some of which are different depending on the operating system.

Many of the default key commands use modier keys, some of which are different depending on the operating system. When key commands with modier keys are described in this manual, they are indicated with the Windows modier key rst, followed by the macOS modier key and the key.

EXAMPLE

Ctrl/Cmd-Z means: press Ctrl on Windows or Cmd on macOS, then press Z.

Key commands in Dorico Elements

The default key commands in Dorico Elements depend on your keyboard layout.

If you move the mouse over a tool or a function, the information in brackets shows the key command that is used to activate or deactivate a tool or a function.

You can also do one of the following:

● Choose Help > Key Commands to open the Dorico Key Commands window, which provides an overview of all available key commands.

● Search for key commands of specic functions or menu items in the Preferences dialog. In this dialog, you can also assign new key commands or change default key commands.

Introduction How you can reach us

RELATED LINKS

Interactive Dorico Elements key commands map on page 57 Searching for the key commands of functions on page 58 Preferences dialog on page 55 Key Commands page in the Preferences dialog on page 56 Assigning key commands on page 59

How you can reach us

On the Help menu you nd items linking to additional information.

The menu contains links to various Steinberg web pages. Selecting one of these menu items automatically launches your web browser and opens the page. On these pages, you can nd support and compatibility information, answers to frequently asked questions, information about updates and other Steinberg products, and so on.

This requires that you have a web browser installed on your computer and a working Internet connection.

First steps

This chapter helps you to get started with Dorico Elements.

When you start Dorico Elements for the rst time, we recommend that you open one of the templates rst to have a look at the user interface and the functions that Dorico Elements provides before you start your own projects. You are welcome to skip this part and explore the program for yourself.

The following sections inform you about the following topics:

● Overview of the most important workspaces

● Setting up a new project

● Writing your music and adding notation items to your score

● Laying out and formatting pages

● Playing back what you created

● Printing and exporting

Getting around

The following sections give you an overview of the user interface and introduce you to how Dorico Elements is structured.

Opening a template

Before you start your own project, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the user interface of Dorico Elements. To prepare for this, open one of the templates that are provided with the program.

PREREQUISITE

You have started Dorico Elements. The Hub is open.

PROCEDURE

1. In the Hub, select one of the listed template groups. For example, select the Choral and Vocal templates.

2. Select one of the listed templates.

First steps Getting around

3. Click New from Template.

RESULT

The template opens.

AFTER COMPLETING THIS TASK

Proceed to the following sections that provide a quick overview of the user interface and that introduce you to the main functions of the program.

RELATED LINKS

Hub on page 32

Quick tour of the user interface

The user interface of Dorico Elements consists of different modes that represent different phases in the workow of preparing a score.

The user interface has a structure that is the same in each of the application’s modes. There is always a large area for editing your music in the center of the project window. In every mode, there are collapsible panels on the left, right, and bottom of the project window, depending on which mode you are using. The contents of these panels change according to the selected mode.

When you open the template, the rst view shows the project window in Write mode:

The project window when you open a template

The project window contains the following areas:

Toolbar

The toolbar is located at the top of the project window.

First steps Getting around

Toolbar

On the left side of the toolbar, the modes are displayed. By activating a mode, you change the workspace and the available panels. The active mode is highlighted in a different color. In the middle of the toolbar, layout options allow you to switch between the different layouts in your project and to show/hide panels and tabs.

On the right side of the toolbar, you can open a Mixer and use basic transport controls that, among other functions, allow you to play back and record your music.

Show Mixer button

Music area

The music area is the main part of the project window in Setup and Write modes where you set up, input, edit and format your music. In Play mode, this area is called event display, in which every note is displayed as an event. In Print mode, this area is called print preview area, which shows a preview of what is going to be printed or exported as a graphic.

The music area in Write mode after starting a new project from a choral template

The music area displays the scores or the instrumental parts that you create. Above the music area you can activate several layouts in tabs and switch between them. Layouts in Dorico Elements allow you to show different presentations of your music. If you have a full score with different instrumental parts, such as a violin part and a bassoon part, you can switch between that full score layout and the layouts of each part. To save space on the screen or to focus on a specic layout, you can hide the tabs.

Toolboxes

Toolboxes are the columns on the left and right edges of the project window. They contain different tools and options according to the current mode, but in general their purpose is to provide tools that allow you to input and modify notes and notation items. The Notations toolbox also determines which options are shown in the Notations panel.

First steps Getting around

Notes toolbox in Write mode

Notations toolbox in Write mode

Panels

Dorico Elements provides panels with various functions in all modes. When you open the template, there is a panel on the left of the music area. This is the Notes panel in Write mode. It contains all the durations, accidentals, slurs, and articulations that are most commonly used when inputting notes.

Notes panel in Write mode

First steps Getting around

Status Bar

At the bottom of the project window, a status bar allows you to select different views and page arrangements for the music area. It contains different options in different modes.

Status bar

RELATED LINKS

Functions of the modes on page 16 User interface on page 32 Mixer on page 324 Transport window on page 326

Functions of the modes

Modes represent different phases in the workow of preparing a score.

By switching to another mode, you change the workspace and the available panels.

Setup Mode

In Setup mode, you can create players and groups of players, and assign instruments to them. You can dene different layouts for your project that you can print or export independently. For example, you can print or export a layout for the full score and separate layouts for each instrumental part.

You can switch to Setup mode in any of the following ways:

● Press Ctrl/Cmd-1.

● Click Setup in the toolbar.

● Choose Window > Setup.

Write Mode

In Write mode, you can input your music. The available toolboxes and panels allow you to input all the notes and notation items that are most commonly used.

You can switch to Write mode in any of the following ways:

● Press Ctrl/Cmd-2.

● Click Write in the toolbar.

● Choose Window > Write.

Play Mode

In Play mode, you can assign virtual instruments and effects for playback to instruments and playing techniques. You can make adjustments to how individual notes are played back in order to produce a more realistic performance.

You can switch to Play mode in any of the following ways:

● Press Ctrl/Cmd-4.

● Click Play in the toolbar.

● Choose Window > Play.

Print Mode

In Print mode, you can print your layouts or export them as graphic les.

You can switch to Print mode in any of the following ways:

First steps Getting around

● Press Ctrl/Cmd-5.

● Click Print in the toolbar.

● Choose Window > Print.

RELATED LINKS

Setup mode on page 62 Write mode on page 112 Engrave mode on page 261 Print mode on page 350 Play mode on page 282

Hiding/Showing panels

You can hide/show individual or multiple panels. This is useful if you want to see more of the music area, for example.

PROCEDURE

● Hide individual panels or all panels in the following ways:

●

To hide/show the left panel:

Press Ctrl/Cmd-7.

Click the disclosure arrow on the left edge of the main window.

Choose Window > Show Left Panel.

● To hide/show the right panel:

Press Ctrl/Cmd-9.

Click the disclosure arrow on the right edge of the main window.

Choose Window > Show Right Panel.

● To hide/show the bottom panel:

Press Ctrl/Cmd-8.

Click the disclosure arrow at the bottom of the main window.

Choose Window > Show Bottom Panel.

● To hide/show all panels:

Press Ctrl/Cmd-0.

Click Hide/Restore Panels.

Choose Window > Hide/Restore Panels.

RESULT

The corresponding panels are hidden/shown. Panels are hidden when no tick is shown beside the corresponding panel in the menu, and shown when a tick is shown in the menu.

If you hide all active panels, the Hide/Restore Panels button in the toolbar changes its look and indicates which panels were active but are now hidden.

EXAMPLE

Appearance when panels are shown

Appearance when all panels were previously shown but are now all hidden

First steps Getting around

Working with tabs and windows

Dorico Elements enables you to set up your workspace according to your working style.

Dorico Elements allows you to open multiple tabs to display multiple layouts in the same project within the same window. You can also open the same project in several windows.

RELATED LINKS

Setting up your workspace on page 49

Opening a new tab

You can open a new tab to display a different view or layout within the same project window.

Each tab can contain a separate layout or a different view of a layout already open in another tab or window. Whenever you open a new tab, you are prompted to select a layout that you want to display in the tab.

You can nd tabs in the tab bar, located at the top of the music area, below the toolbar. If you do not see any tabs, click Show Tabs in the toolbar.

PROCEDURE

● To open a new tab, do one of the following:

● Press Ctrl/Cmd-T.

● At the right end of the tab bar, click New Tab.

● Choose Window > New Tab.

RESULT

A new tab opens that shows several icons at the top and a list of layouts at the bottom.

Options available in the music area when you open a new tab

First steps Starting a new project

AFTER COMPLETING THIS TASK

You can click one of the icons or select a layout from the list at the bottom. Alternatively, you can click Select Layout in the toolbar and choose one of the layouts from the menu. The layout that you choose opens in the active tab.

RELATED LINKS

Tab bar on page 40

Opening a new window

You can open another window for the same project.

This can be useful if you want to see and work on multiple layouts at the same time. You can also open multiple project windows to show different modes of the same project.

PROCEDURE

● Open a new project window in any of the following ways:

●

Press Ctrl/Cmd-Shift-T.

●

Choose Window > New Window.

RESULT

A duplicate of the window opens. It contains the same tabs and the same view options as the original window.

RELATED LINKS

Opening multiple project windows on page 53

Starting a new project

After getting a rst impression of the Dorico Elements user interface you can get started with inputting your own music. In this section, you learn how to set up a new project.

PREREQUISITE

NOTE

All inputs that are made and the images that are used to accompany the steps in this chapter are intended merely to be helpful examples. Therefore, there is no need to make the exact same entries in order to get the depicted results.

Close the template without saving. The Hub reopens.

PROCEDURE

● Start a new project in any of the following ways:

Press Ctrl/Cmd-N.

●

Click New Empty Project.

●

RESULT

A new project window opens.

First steps Starting a new project

Whenever you start a new project without selecting a specic project template, Setup mode is activated. This allows you to specify players and assign instruments right from the start. The area in the middle, the project start area, which becomes the music area once you have added a player, allows you to start your project with different types of players. On the right, the Layouts panel shows a Full score entry. This entry is available in every new project. At the bottom of the window is the Flows panel where you can specify separate spans of music for your project.

AFTER COMPLETING THIS TASK

Start your project by adding an individual player or by adding a section player and assign an instrument. You are free to assign any kind of instrument. In this chapter, only one piano player is added as an example.

RELATED LINKS

Windows on page 36 Flows in Dorico Elements on page 30

Adding a solo player

In this section, you learn how to add a player and assign an instrument.

PREREQUISITE

You have started a new project. You are in Setup mode.

PROCEDURE

1. Click Add Solo Player.

The instrument picker opens.

TIP

You can also open the instrument picker at any time by clicking the plus symbol to the right of the added empty-handed player.

First steps Starting a new project

2. Select a piano in the instrument picker in any of the following ways:

Alternatively, you can right-click the player and choose Add Instrument to Player from the context menu.

● Enter piano into the search box.

● Start entering the instrument name you want, then select it from the ltered list.

● Click an instrument family and then an instrument.

●

Press Up Arrow/Down Arrow to select an instrument family, then press Tab to switch to the instrument column. Press Up Arrow/Down Arrow to select an instrument.

TIP

●

An enclosure line shows which instrument family or instrument is selected when using the keyboard to navigate.

●

Press Shift-Tab to switch back to the previous column in the instrument picker.

3. Click Add.

RESULT

You have added your rst player. In the music area, the required piano staves including their respective clefs are displayed.

AFTER COMPLETING THIS TASK

Save your project.

NOTE

You can save your project at any time.

Optionally, you can now edit the project title or add more players.

The following sections help you to create ows and layouts. If you want to start composing, you can skip those sections.

RELATED LINKS

Writing music on page 22 Adding solo/section players on page 74

Creating a ow

Flows are separate spans of music within your project, for example, movements or songs. In this section, you learn how to create a ow.

PREREQUISITE

You have added at least one player. You are in Setup mode.

PROCEDURE

● In Setup mode, click Add Flow in the Flows panel at the bottom of the window.

First steps Writing music

RESULT

A new ow is added to your project each time you click Add Flow. All existing players are assigned to new ows, and new ows are automatically added to all existing full score and part layouts.

AFTER COMPLETING THIS TASK

Rename the ow if required.

Optionally, deactivate the checkboxes of the players that you want to exclude from the ow in the Players panel.

Optionally, deactivate the checkboxes of the layouts from which you want to exclude the ow in the Layouts panel.

RELATED LINKS

Flows on page 98 Renaming ows in Setup mode on page 100 Adding ows on page 99 Creating a layout on page 22

Creating a layout

Layouts dene how music for one or more players in one or more ows is presented, including page size, margins, staff size, and so on. In this section, you learn how to create a new layout.

PREREQUISITE

You have added at least one player and one ow. You are in Setup mode.

Several layouts are often used in ensembles with multiple players, where each player may require a layout of the individual instrumental part. Dorico Elements automatically creates a full score layout that contains all players and all ows as well as individual part layouts that each contain one player and all ows. If you require a different combination of players and ows, for example, a part containing the music for two players, you can create your own layouts, as follows:

PROCEDURE

● In the Layouts panel, click Add Instrumental Part Layout.

RESULT

An empty part is created on the Layouts panel.

AFTER COMPLETING THIS TASK

Double-click the empty part to give it a name. Optionally, select the ows that you want to assign to the layout in the Flows panel. Activate the checkboxes of the players that you want to assign to the layout in the Players panel.

RELATED LINKS

Creating layouts on page 102

Writing music

Once you have set up your project, you can start writing music.

In Write mode, you can input notes and insert other notations into your score.

First steps Writing music

TIP

Throughout Dorico Elements, most tasks can be accomplished using only your computer's keyboard. You do not need to use the mouse or touchpad. Learning key commands allows you to use Dorico Elements most eciently. The fastest way to input music is using a MIDI keyboard. If you do not have a MIDI keyboard, you can use your computer's keyboard. Of course, you can still use the mouse or touchpad if you want.

In the following sections, you learn how to input notes and notation items.

Inputting your rst notes

In this section, you learn how to input notes. You can start inputting notes without having to rst add a time signature or key signature.

PREREQUISITE

● You have set up your MIDI keyboard.

NOTE

If you have not set up a MIDI keyboard yet, you can start inputting notes with the computer keyboard.

● You have added a piano player in Setup mode.

● You are in Write mode.

PROCEDURE

1. Select the rest that was automatically inserted next to the clef when you added a solo player.

2. Start note input in any of the following ways:

● Select the staff where you want to input notes and press Shift-N or Return.

● Select the staff where you want to input notes and choose Write > Note Input.

● Double-click the staff where you want to input notes.

The caret is displayed.

3. In the Notes panel, click a duration.

NOTE

By default, Dorico Elements selects a quarter note (crotchet) for you.

First steps Writing music

4. Start playing notes on the MIDI keyboard, or press A, B, C, D, E, F, G on the computer keyboard to input the corresponding pitches.

If you want higher or lower pitch for the note that Dorico Elements inputs for you, you can force a different register.

● To input a note above the previously input note, press Shift-Alt as well as the letter

for the note.

●

To input a note below the previously input note, press Ctrl (macOS) or Ctrl-Alt (Windows) as well as the letter for the note.

NOTE

You must press Ctrl on Mac, not Cmd.

RESULT

The pitches you enter or play in are input as notes.

EXAMPLE

Input notes with the caret still active after the nal note

RELATED LINKS

Write mode on page 112 Register selection during step input on page 136 Key commands in Dorico Elements on page 10 Adding a time signature on page 24

Adding a time signature

In this section, you learn how to add a time signature at the beginning of the staff. You can add a time signature before or after inputting a melody.

PREREQUISITE

Press Esc to deactivate the caret.

PROCEDURE

1. Select the rst note on the staff.

2. Press Shift-M.

The time signatures popover opens above the staff.

3. Enter a typical time signature into the popover, such as 3/4.

First steps Writing music

4. Press Return to close the popover.

RESULT

The time signature is automatically input to the left of the note, and the required bar lines are automatically inserted at the correct positions. If you want to insert a key signature, proceed to the next section.

RELATED LINKS

Adding a key signature on page 25

Adding a key signature

In this section, you learn how to add a key signature. You can add a key signature at any rhythmic position on the staff.

When you start a new project from scratch, by default, there is no key signature shown. Depending on the kind of music you are writing, the key signature might be taken to mean C major or an open key with no specic tonal center.

You can change the key anywhere on the staff. To add a different key signature at the beginning of the staff, for example, D major, proceed as follows:

PROCEDURE

1. Select the rst note on the staff.

2. Press Shift-K.

This opens the key signatures popover on top of the staff.

3. Enter a key signature into the popover. If you want to enter D major, enter an uppercase D.

For D minor, enter a lowercase d.

4. Press Return.

First steps Writing music

RESULT

The key signature is inserted between the clef and the time signature. Dorico Elements automatically adds accidentals where necessary.

Inputting your rst chord

In this section, you learn how to input a chord with the computer keyboard, using chord mode. If you want to use a MIDI keyboard instead, you can input the chord with your keyboard, and you do not need to use chord mode. Dorico Elements automatically inputs the correct notes.

PREREQUISITE

Select the last note or rest on the staff, and press Return. This shows the caret.

PROCEDURE

1. Activate Chords in any of the following ways:

● Press Q.

● In the Notes toolbox, click Chords.

The caret shows a plus sign at the top.

2. Optional: In the Notes panel, select a duration.

3. Input the notes that you want in your chord by pressing keys from A to G, one after the

other. For example, for a C major chord, press C, E, and G.

By default, Dorico Elements adds each new note above the previous note. You can select the register of notes manually.

The example shows a possible result.

4. Press Space to advance the caret to the next note position and continue with the next chord.

Dorico Elements expects further chord input until you deactivate it.

5. Optional: To deactivate chord input, press Q or deactivate Chords.

First steps Writing music

RELATED LINKS

Key commands in Dorico Elements on page 10 Register selection during step input on page 136

Dorico Elements concepts

The following sections give you an overview of the design philosophy as well as concepts on which Dorico Elements is based.

We recommend that you familiarize yourself with these concepts as these are often returned to throughout the documentation.

Design philosophy

If you are experienced with other scoring applications and are interested in learning more about deep design considerations for scoring programs, you may nd the following discussion illuminating, but everybody can safely skip it.

Dorico Elements has a forward-thinking design that is led by musical concepts rather than computational convenience, and this provides many benets.

Higher-level concepts

In most graphically-orientated scoring applications, the highest-level concept is the staff or the instrument denition that creates a staff or staves. When setting up your full score, you start by adding the correct number of staves, and you are immediately forced into making decisions about the layout. This means that you must know in advance whether two utes share a staff or have their own individual staves, or whether there should be two trumpets or three. Many of these decisions have signicant effects throughout the process of inputting, editing, and producing individual instrumental parts.

Typically, every system of a score must contain the same number of staves, even if some are hidden on particular systems. This requires the user to manage common conventions for themselves, such as multiple players of the same instrument sharing staves. This can be timeconsuming and is naturally error-prone.

Dorico Elements is designed to conform more closely to how music is performed in the real world and to make the score a exible expression of the practical choices that go into a musical performance, rather than to make the musical performance subservient to the way the score was initially prepared.

To that end, the highest-level concept of Dorico Elements is the group of human musicians that performs a score. A score can be written for one or more groups, for example, a double choir or an orchestra plus off-stage chamber ensemble, and so on. Each group includes one or more players which correspond to the humans who play one or more instruments. Players may either be individuals who can play more than one instrument, for example, an oboist doubling cor anglais, or groups in which everyone plays only one instrument, for example, eight desks of violinists.

The actual music that is played by the group in your score belongs to one or more ows. A ow is any span of music that stands alone, for example, a whole song, a movement of a sonata or symphony, a number in a musical show, or even a short scale or exercise. Players might or might not have any music to play in a given ow. For example, all the brass players might be omitted from the slow movement of a classical symphony, or certain players might have nothing to do in

Dorico Elements concepts Key musical concepts

some cues in a movie score. This is no problem as you can combine players in ows in any combination.

Dorico Elements provides several benets. Chief among them is its ability to produce different score layouts that share the same musical content. For example, in the same project you can create a full score with each player's music on separate staves, a custom score layout containing just the piano and vocal staves, and an instrumental part for each player that only contains the music belonging to them.

One crucial difference between Dorico Elements and other scoring applications is that the musical content exists independently of the score layout in which it is viewed.

Key musical concepts

In order to work eciently with Dorico Elements, it is important to understand the conceptual model of the program.

The model is closely based on the practical considerations of how music is written and performed by real humans.

RELATED LINKS

Projects in Dorico Elements on page 29 Modes in Dorico Elements on page 29 Instruments in Dorico Elements on page 30 Players in Dorico Elements on page 30 Groups in Dorico Elements on page 30 Flows in Dorico Elements on page 30 Layouts in Dorico Elements on page 31

Projects in Dorico Elements

A project is an individual document that you create within Dorico Elements. It can contain multiple separate pieces of music, from very short to very long, written for any combination of instruments and using different layouts.

Modes in Dorico Elements

Modes represent different phases in the workow of preparing a score.

Dorico Elements contains the following modes:

Setup

In this mode, you can set up the players and instruments that are played in the project. You can create and manage ows and set up layouts.

Write

In this mode, you can write your music. You can insert notes and rests, key signatures, time signatures, and idiomatic notations.

Play

In this mode, you can set up your project for playback. You can assign VST instruments, adjust the mix, and change the sounding duration of notes in playback without affecting their notated duration.

In this mode, you can dene different print jobs, such as printing full conductors scores, study scores, individual parts, and so on. For every print job, you can specify options for page size and duplex printing. You can also manage other output, such as exports to various le types, such as PNG.

Dorico Elements concepts Key musical concepts

Instruments in Dorico Elements

In Dorico Elements, an instrument is an individual musical instrument, such as a piano, a ute, or a violin.

Dorico Elements has a database of information about properties of each instrument. These include the playable range, common and uncommon playing techniques, notational conventions, transposition properties, tunings, clef, number of staves, type of staff, and so on.

RELATED LINKS

Instruments on page 82

Players in Dorico Elements

In Dorico Elements, a player can represent an individual musician or several musicians.

●

Solo players are individual musicians who can play one or more instruments, for example, a clarinettist who doubles on alto saxophone or a percussionist who plays bass drum, clash cymbals, and triangle.

●

Section players represent multiple musicians who all play the same instrument, for example, a violin section player can represent eight desks of musicians, or a soprano section player can represent the whole soprano section in a mixed voice choir.

NOTE

Section players cannot double instruments, but they can play divisi. This means that they can be divided into smaller units, which is commonly required for strings.

Groups in Dorico Elements

A group represents a collection of musicians that are considered together, such as a choir, orchestra, or a chamber ensemble.

In a typical project, there might be only one group that contains all of the dened players, but you can dene as many groups as required to allow easy separation of forces in larger-scale works. It might also be necessary to assign players to these groups for the purposes of, among other things, properly bracketing and labelling their staves in the conductor's score.

EXAMPLE

A work for double choir and organ can dene the two choirs as separate groups. This allows each choir to have its own label in addition to the labels for each sectional player (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) within the choir.

In a complex work, such as Elliott Carter's “A Symphony of Three Orchestras”, each of the orchestras can be dened as a separate group.

Flows in Dorico Elements

Flows are separate spans of music that are completely independent in musical content, for example, a song, a movement in a sonata or symphony, a number in a stage musical, or a short scale or sight-reading exercise of only a few bars in length. A single project can contain one or more ows.

Each ow can contain music for any combination of players. For example, brass players are often tacet in the second movements of Classical-period symphonies, so you can simply remove brass players from the ow for the second movement. In a set of cues for a movie, for example, specic players might not be required in some cues, so the corresponding ows can contain only those players who have anything to play.

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