Canadian Musician - January/February 2019

ROAD TEST Steinberg Dorico Pro 2 Notation Software By Paul Lau S teinberg’s Dorico notation software has already proven itself to be a very unique and powerful tool. The solution was first introduced in late 2016 after nearly four years of development by the original team behind Avid’s Sibelius. The latest version of Dori- co – released in both the Pro 2 and more basic Elements 2 itera- tions – more than maintains that reputation. While the software is ideal for arrangers, composers, en- gravers, and copi- ers, its advanced functionality and integration with some of Steinberg’s professional audio tools make it useful for producers, studios, and more. Overview Dorico has five easy-to-understand and inter- connected modes that will launch you into your compositions quite easily: Setup, Write, Engrave, Play, and Print. We begin in Setup Mode with the New Empty Project selection. Here, you can add tracks like Solo Player, Section Player, Ensemble, etc., with as many instruments or player tracks as desired in the Pro version. Next, we can assign an instru- ment to a Solo Player, which we can change as desired throughout the session. If you add Sec- tion Players, they would be playing the same instrumental part at the same time, while the Ensemble function lets you add multiple players simultaneously. In the Layout section, we can use block section markers called Flows to map out our composition – essentially a road map for our ar- rangement and how it will be produced within the software. Flows offer an easy way to write multiple movements of one large piece in a single project file. The second mode is Write Mode, where we physically input our notation via a MIDI keyboard or controller or via our computer peripherals. We can assign a time signature, any and all types of accidentals, and, of course, the actual notes. Set- ting up the bars needed in the composition is as 20 • C A N A D I A N M U S I C I A N easy as typing in how many you need (or think you need) and presto! They appear. The keyboard shortcuts and popovers in Write Mode make for a very unique experience when compared to other notation solutions and let the user input information with greater speed and efficiency. The workflow here is very natural, as Dorico’s developers were looking to deliver an experi- ence akin to a word processor, where users aren’t constrained by templates and can easily write extended techniques like, say, a piano part with various time and key signatures for each hand. On that note, I should also note that Dorico’s workflow was designed for a laptop, further ce- menting its focus on efficiency and practicality. Now let’s try out Play Mode to hear back a few notes that I entered on a piano track. Dorico Pro 2 uses a piano roll graphical representation of the notes, and here, we can instantly adjust dura- tion and dynamics, change, correct, or delete any notes, and pretty much anything else you might need to execute in your composition. Dorico Pro 2 boasts 8 GB worth of Steinberg’s fa- mous HALion Symphonic Orchestra samples, offer- ing incredibly elaborate and realistic playback. You can also use your own sample libraries, and routing them to any specific instrument track is very easy. Thanks to the program’s layering capabilities, the number of MIDI channels we use is really only limited by the computer’s processing power. Engrave Mode allows you to be extremely intricate with your final scoring and how it looks – right down to small details like the stems of your notes. Also, Engrave Mode offers formatting control and results in a file that’s basically ready to be sent to a publisher. Finally, Print Mode has a number of options and standard formats for printing or exporting. You can preview the actual score for each part, select and choose the desired format, and hit print. You can also set up standard publishing requirements for printing. In Use As I explored Dorico Pro 2, I ran into a number of interesting features. One is automatic linked cues. These give any musician following their part in the score a heads-up prior to their start in any section of the composition. Dorico assigns a co- lour code and different note sizes for the cues. The Music Symbol Editor allows you to edit anything, anywhere on your score, from fingering to dynamic markers. Dorico Pro 2 also has the ability to compose in divisi for string sections, and you can change the number of staves on the fly! Divisi allows the independent addition of performance notes on a joint staff of two or more parts as well as the ability to create unison parts very easily. Creating solo parts in divisi gives the group players a clear, concise road map of the composition in a visual context – especially how multiple parts weave through one another in a simple visual context. You can also now play video in sync with your project, add markers, and manipulate the tempo to score to picture! The Copy/Multi-Copy Reduce and Ex- plode functions allow you to take any part of your music and copy or paste it anywhere. The Reduce function allows you to select any number of notes in your staves; for example, it can take four or more lines of music and instantly convert it to, say, two lines of combined notes for piano. The Explode function is basically the opposite. Let’s also look at the new Trills feature, which is worth the price of admission almost on its own. Trills can actually play back the interval they rep- resent with contextual awareness. The coolest part of this is that the actual trill can be acceler- ated or decelerated to really give some feel to the section. I call it precise articulation! With Jazz Articulations, we find cool rhythm slashes and unique and practical notation orna- mentations. For example, you have a bank of op- tions for how you can come into or out of a note. Summary This is really just a sampling of some of the more useful and unique features I encountered within Steinberg’s Dorico Pro 2, and with that, I should mention how impressed I am with the over 140 video tutorials that Steinberg has on offer. They are extremely well produced and presented and will go a long way in helping users to take full advantage of this software and its countless helpful features. Dorico Pro2 is changing the game when it comes to notation software in terms of articu- lation and manipulation. I highly recommend taking advantage of the free 30-day trial of either Elements or Pro 2 to see just how powerful it is and how inspiring it can be. Paul Lau B.Sc. Musician/producer/film composer MIDI/digital audio specialist (www.powermusic5.com) Member of the cool Christian pop band Scatter17 (www.scatter17.com)

Canadian Musician - January/February 2019 | Page 20