Learning the Ropes: Dorico 5

I'll admit, when I began contemplating my weekly post, I thought that at first I might open up a discussion on the topic of creativity, inspired by a phone conversation I'd had with a complete and total stranger earlier in the week. After spending most of the afternoon on Friday organizing my ideas, however, I realized that the entire subject of creativity is so vast, I could not feasibly write an essay in neither a single day nor weekend that would do it justice. So, I've set it on the back burner for now along with those other blog post ideas that will require more time and effort to research and write. Thus, derpy updates on 12my progress it is.

Moving from Sibelius 6 to Dorico 5

I mentioned previously that I took advantage of Steinberg's 40th anniversary sale to acquire Dorico 5 Elements for much cheaper than it usually is. I'd tinkered around with Dorico SE a little bit before then, but my main program of choice was still Avid's Sibelius 6 because of how comfortable I was with note input and how intuitive I felt the keyboard shortcut system was. For me, the ease with which I could enter notes into the program via my typing keyboard trumped the atrocious quality of the MIDI sounds. I tend to resist watching or following tutorials for software programs, and Sibelius 6 was "good enough," to where I didn't even care to upgrade to a better version over the years. Of course, once Avid decided to resort to subscription based services for using their products, I noped out of the decision to upgrade altogether, but software subscriptions is a rant for another time.

Sibelius 6 worked great for all of my needs, because VST (Virtual Studio Technology) quality wasn't my top priority. As long as I could print sheet music for my college peers to play, that was good enough for me.

However, as time passed, I learned that I have difficulty hearing specific instruments in my head. I know how a trumpet sounds when I hear it, but visualizing how it sounds without reference and thinking of how it would fit into the greater scope of a piece is more difficult, and it was actually a source of embarrassment for me for quite a while. A composer who can't instantly and perfectly hear how various instruments sound? Sacrilege! If I had to make an art comparison, however, I'd say it's tangential to an artist with aphantasia. That said, in time, I used the Sibelius 6 VST sounds as a crutch for imagining how a real trumpet might sound, and that has caused problems with my inner soundscape.

Thankfully, VSTs have come a long way in the last decade, and I've also been able to expand my library over the years, though I could never figure out how to make them play nice with Sibelius 6, which was fairly outdated by the time I began to expand my library. So, they sat there in the dust of my hard drive, unused while I continued relying on Sibelius Sounds. Cringeworthy.

Learning Dorico 5 Via Skillshare

The VST upgrade from Sibelius 6 to Dorico 5 Elements was worth the $50 by itself, not to mention all of the quality of life upgrades that accompanied the transition.

However, with the swapout came relearning many of the keyboard shortcuts I had come to rely on, and this time just piddling around with the program wasn't going to cut it. I needed to learn and then put what I learned into practice long before I ever started composing pieces of my own again.

"To Skillshare!" I declared, and it is there I found "Dorico: Complete Music Notation Course" by Luke Carlson, a composer, educator, and conductor with a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania.

My goal was to learn various keyboard shortcuts and quick note entry, and watching the first couple of lessons has not disappointed me. Dr. Carlson not only goes through what the various input methods are for each aspect of the score but also shows visuals for what the keyboard shortcuts are at the bottom of the video while you're watching.

The first lesson focuses on the building blocks for inputting notes by having the student quickly scribe Paganini's Caprice No. 24 in A Minor into the program, using keyboard shortcuts to add anything from articulations and bowing to changing the layout of the score itself. The earlier these methods are incorporated, the faster they can be committed to muscle memory, which I commend.

The second lesson and assignment build off of the first by teaching the student how to create different flows within the same document, which the student then inputs two separate variations on the theme, ending with consolidating the document from three pages down to one.

(Assignment 1 & the start of Assignment 2)

(Variation 1)

(Variation 2)

All in all, the second assignment took maybe 45 minutes to complete. The video contributed some to that time, and I have little doubt that as the muscle memory kicks in, the speed by which I can enter grace notes, triplets, articulations, and more will increase.

I'm looking forward to continuing the lessons and learning the ins and outs of Dorico 5. The best part of this entire process is that the VSTs don't sound like tires screeching in your ears.

Other Notable Accomplishments:

• Couch to 5k:

  • Week 3 Day 2 was about the same as Day 1

  • Day 3 I successfully decreased my pace to 5'58"/km

    • It's still not where I want it, but I haven't been below 6'/km since 2022

    • Gotta celebrate the small victories

• Been walking 8k+ steps since Monday, with 8k being the minimum but aiming for closer to 10k+

• Finished editing journals for the 28th and 29th of Uros

• Built With Science workouts are progressing about the same

Questions for Contemplation & Discussion:

• What are some software programs or electronics that you own that are outdated but have been "good enough," to where you haven't felt compelled to upgrade?

  • On the flip side, for what programs or devices do you feel you need to keep up on trends and upgrades?

• When it comes to learning a new program, are you the type of person who will watch tutorial videos and follow learning paths, or are you more inclinced to jump right in and just start playing around and learn as you go?

This Week's Obligatory Cat Pic: Salad