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Operation Manual
Steinberg Documentation Team: Cristina Bachmann, Martina Becker, Heiko Bischoff, Lillie Harris, Christina
Kaboth, Insa Mingers, Matthias Obrecht, Sabine Pfeifer
Translation: Ability InterBusiness Solutions (AIBS), Moon Chen, Jérémie Dal Santo, Rosa Freitag, GiEmme
Solutions, Josep Llodra Grimalt, Vadim Kupriianov, Roland Münchow, Boris Rogowski, Sergey Tamarovsky
This document provides improved access for people who are blind or have low vision. 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 specically 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.
© Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH, 2023.
All rights reserved.
Dorico Pro_5.0.10_en-US_2023-06-06
Table of Contents
10 New features
12 Introduction
12 Platform-independent documentation
12 Usage of musical terms
13 Documentation structure
14 Typographical conventions
15 Key commands
15 How you can reach us
16 Dorico concepts
16 Design philosophy and higher-level concepts
17 Projects in Dorico
17 Modes in Dorico
18 Flows in Dorico
19 Players in Dorico
19 Instruments in Dorico
20 Popovers
21 Notes and rests in Dorico
22 Rhythmic position
22 Layouts in Dorico
23 Page templates in Dorico
24 Key commands in Dorico
25 Options dialogs in Dorico Pro
27 User interface
27 Project window
40 Workspace setup
49 Color setup
54 Language setup
56 Preferences dialog
58 Key Commands page in the Preferences dialog
63 Jump bar
67 Project and le handling
67 Hub
69 Starting new projects
70 Opening projects/les
71 Projects from different versions of Dorico
71 Missing Fonts dialog
73 Project Info dialog
75 Project templates
77 File import and export
101 Auto-save
103 Project backups
105 Setup mode
105 Project window in Setup mode
117 Players, layouts, and ows
119 Players
125 Ensembles
127 Instruments
158 Player groups
162 Flows
165 Layouts
177 Player, layout, and instrument names
184 Flow names and ow titles
186 Videos
192 Write mode
192 Project window in Write mode
208 Inputting vs.editing
212 Rhythmic grid
213 Caret
219 Note input
255 Note durations
260 MIDI recording
268 Notations input
423 Selecting notes/items
433 Editing items
441 Hiding non-printing elements
442 Navigation
446 Instrument lters
451 Signposts
452 Insert mode
456 Arranging tools
477 Transposing tools
486 Musical transformations
504 Splitting ows
504 Comments
511 Engrave mode
511 Project window in Engrave mode
525 Page templates
552 Flow headings
558 Frames
592 Graphic slices
600 Note spacing
609 Moving items graphically
614 Play mode
614 Project window in Play mode
623 Tracks
630 Playhead
633 Playing back music
637 Enabling independent voice playback
639 Muting/Soloing tracks
641 Repeats in playback
644 Swing playback
650 Transport window
653 Playback templates
660 Endpoints
668 Print mode
668 Project window in Print mode
673 Printing layouts
677 Exporting layouts as graphics les
681 Printers
682 Page arrangements for printing/exporting
684 Duplex printing
685 Page vs.paper size
687 Graphics le formats
689 Annotations
691 Page formatting
693 Changing the page size and/or orientation
694 Changing page margins
694 Applying page template sets to layouts
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Dorico Pro 5.0.10
695 Changing the default staff size
696 Changing the default staff/system spacing
697 Changing the vertical justication of staves/
systems
698 Hiding/Showing empty staves
701 Hiding/Showing blank staves after nal ows
704 Inserting pages
706 Deleting pages
707 Starting layouts on left-hand pages
708 Allowing/Disallowing multiple ows on the
same page
708 Changing when the First page template is used
709 Hiding/Showing ow headings
710 Hiding/Showing information in running
headers above ow headings
711 Changing the horizontal justication of nal
systems
712 Enabling/Disabling condensing
714 Margins
718 Staff size
722 Staff spacing
730 Casting off
735 System breaks
738 Frame breaks
741 Tacets
745 Condensing
767 Part formatting propagation
771 Properties
771 Properties panel
772 Local vs.global properties
773 Changing the property scope
774 Changing values in numeric value elds
775 Key Editor
775 Key Editor panel
786 Notes in the Key Editor
795 Played vs.notated note durations
797 Playing Techniques editor
798 Velocity editor
801 Dynamics editor
807 MIDI Pitch Bend editor
808 MIDI CC editor
813 Tempo editor
817 Histogram tool
820 Transform tool
822 Key Editor congurations
824 Mixer
824 Mixer panel
824 Mixer window
826 Mixer toolbar
827 Mixer channels
830 Hiding/Showing channels
830 Scrolling through channels
830 Changing the height of channels
831 Changing the volume of channels
832 Panning channels
832 Adding FX channels
833 Renaming channels
833 Loading inserts into channels
835 Changing the reverb plug-in
836 Library
836 Library Manager
839 Layout Options dialog
842 Notation Options dialog
844 Note Input Options dialog
845 Engraving Options dialog
847 Playback Options dialog
849 Music fonts
851 Text formatting
860 Edit Chord Diagrams dialog
863 Custom chord symbols
871 Music symbols
874 Custom notehead sets
882 Custom playing techniques
890 Custom lines
908 Custom tonality systems
918 Expression maps
936 Percussion maps
942 Playback techniques
946 Notation reference
947 Introduction
948 Accidentals
948 Project-wide engraving options for accidentals
949 Deleting accidentals
949 Hiding/Showing or parenthesizing accidentals
951 Changing the size of accidentals
951 Stacking of accidentals
954 Altered unisons
956 Microtonal accidentals
957 Accidental duration rules
960 Articulations
961 Project-wide engraving options for
articulations
961 Copying and pasting articulations
961 Deleting articulations
962 Positions of articulations
967 Articulations in playback
968 Bars
968 Bar length
968 Deleting bars/beats
971 Changing the width of empty bars
972 Splits in bars
973 Barlines
973 Project-wide engraving options for barlines
974 Per-ow notation options for barlines
974 Types of barlines
979 Hiding/Showing systemic barlines on single-
staff systems
980 Hiding/Showing wings on repeat barlines
980 Changing the length of tick barlines
981 Moving barlines graphically
982 Barlines across staff groups
987 Bar numbers
987 Project-wide engraving options for bar
numbers
988 Hiding/Showing bar numbers
989 Hiding/Showing bar number enclosures
990 Hiding/Showing bar number ranges on multi-
bar rests
990 Hiding/Showing guide bar numbers
991 Bar number paragraph styles
992 Positions of bar numbers
996 Bar number changes
998 Subordinate bar numbers
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Dorico Pro 5.0.10
1000 Bar numbers and repeats
1004 Beaming
1004 Per-ow notation options for beam grouping
1005 Beam grouping according to meters
1006 Beaming notes together manually
1009 Changing the thickness of beams
1009 Beam placement relative to the staff
1011 Beam slants
1013 Centered beams
1015 Creating cross-staff beams/tremolos
1019 Beam corners
1019 Secondary beams
1022 Tuplets within beams
1022 Rests within beams
1023 Stemlets
1025 Fanned beams
1027 Note and rest grouping
1027 Creating custom beat groupings for meters
1029 Changing the beat grouping for cut common
time signatures
1030 Brackets and braces
1031 Project-wide engraving options for brackets
and braces
1031 Changing bracket grouping according to
ensemble type
1034 Hiding/Showing braces on single staves
1034 Changing the appearance of bracket ends
1035 Secondary brackets
1037 Sub-sub-brackets
1038 Custom staff grouping
1043 Chord symbols
1044 Chord components
1044 Project-wide engraving options for chord
symbols
1045 Chord symbol appearance presets
1046 Chord symbol font styles
1046 Positions of chord symbols
1051 Chord symbol regions
1052 Transposing chord symbols
1053 Respelling chord symbols
1055 Hiding/Showing the root and quality of chord
symbols
1055 Changing the arrangement of compound
chord symbols
1056 Erasing the background of chord symbols
1058 Parenthesized chord symbols
1062 Chord symbols imported from MusicXML
1063 Chord diagrams
1064 Chord diagram components
1064 Project-wide engraving options for chord
diagrams
1065 Project-wide note input options for chord
diagrams
1065 Hiding/Showing chord diagrams
1067 Hiding/Showing used chord diagrams grids
1069 Hiding/Showing ngerings in chord diagrams
1071 Changing the chord diagram shape
1072 Creating new chord diagram shapes
1075 Chord diagram font styles
1075 Changing the horizontal position of starting
fret numbers
1076 Changing the size of chord diagrams
1076 Changing the orientation of chord diagrams
1077 Clefs
1078 Showing clefs after grace notes
1079 Moving clefs graphically
1080 Changing the default size of mid-system clef
changes
1081 Setting different clefs for concert/transposed
pitch
1082 Hiding/Showing clefs
1084 Changing the octave of clefs
1085 Clefs with octave indicators
1087 Octave lines
1088 Project-wide engraving options for octave lines
1088 Positions of octave lines
1090 Hiding/Showing octave lines
1090 Octave lines in Engrave mode
1091 Tucking index properties
1092 Changing the angles of octave lines
1094 Cues
1095 Project-wide engraving options for cues
1095 Rhythmic cues
1098 Hiding/Showing cues in layouts
1099 Changing the octave of cues
1100 Hiding/Showing octave transpositions in cue
labels
1101 Cue contents
1102 Cue labels
1104 Notations in cues
1105 Stem direction in cues
1106 Ties in cues
1107 Rests in cues
1108 Clef changes in cues
1110 Viewing options for cues
1113 Dynamics
1113 Types of dynamics
1114 Project-wide engraving options for dynamics
1114 Positions of dynamics
1119 Parenthesizing dynamics
1119 Erasing the background of dynamics
1121 Changing dynamic levels
1122 Hiding/Showing immediate dynamics
1123 Hiding/Showing combined dynamic separators
1124 Changing the appearance of sforzando/
rinforzando dynamics
1124 Voice-specic dynamics
1125 Dynamic modiers
1129 Gradual dynamics
1137 Messa di voce hairpins
1139 Niente markings
1142 Groups of dynamics
1143 Linked dynamics
1145 Dynamics font styles
1146 Dynamics in playback
1148 Figured bass
1149 Project-wide engraving options for gured
bass
1149 Project-wide note input options for gured
bass
1150 Hiding/Showing gured bass in layouts
1151 Showing gured bass on rests
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5
Dorico Pro 5.0.10
1152 Showing single brackets on gured bass
1152 Changing gured bass bracket styles
1153 Figured bass hold lines
1157 Positions of gured bass
1160 Appearance of gured bass
1166 Fingering
1167 General placement conventions for ngering
1167 Project-wide engraving options for ngerings
1168 Changing ngerings to substitution ngerings
1169 Changing existing ngerings
1170 Changing the staff-relative placement of
ngerings
1172 Changing the size of ngerings
1173 Showing enclosures/underlines on ngerings
1174 Hiding/Showing ngering
1174 Deleting ngerings
1175 Fingering font styles
1177 Cautionary ngerings
1178 Fingerings for fretted instruments
1185 Fingering slides
1188 Fingerings for valved brass instruments
1189 Hiding/Showing string ngering shift
indicators
1191 Fingerings imported from MusicXML les
1192 String indicators
1193 Project-wide engraving options for string
indicators
1194 Changing the appearance of open string
indicators
1194 Changing the size of string indicators
1195 Deleting string indicators
1195 Positions of string indicators
1197 Front matter
1197 Adding dedications in page templates
1199 Adding player lists
1199 Editing running headers in page templates
1200 Editing layout transposition text
1201 Hiding/Showing borders on layout names
1202 Grace notes
1203 General placement conventions for grace
notes
1204 Turning existing notes into grace notes
1205 Turning grace notes into normal notes
1205 Showing grace notes before/after barlines
1206 Grace note size
1206 Grace note slashes
1209 Grace note stems
1209 Grace note beams
1210 Grace notes in playback
1211 Holds and pauses
1212 Project-wide engraving options for holds and
pauses
1212 Types of fermatas
1213 Types of breath marks
1213 Types of caesuras
1214 Positions of holds and pauses
1219 Key signatures
1220 Project-wide engraving options for key
signatures
1220 Key signature arrangements
1221 Types of key signatures
1222 Hiding/Showing key signatures at the start of
systems
1223 Hiding/Showing cancellation naturals before
key signature changes
1223 Positions of key signatures
1225 Cautionary key signatures
1226 Enharmonic equivalent key signatures
1228 Tonality systems
1228 Equal Division of the Octave (EDO)
1229 Changing the tonality system
1230 Importing tonality systems
1230 Exporting tonality systems
1231 Lyrics
1231 Project-wide engraving options for lyrics
1232 Types of lyrics
1233 Types of syllables in lyrics
1234 Copying and pasting lyrics
1236 Exporting lyrics
1236 Filters for lyrics
1238 Positions of lyrics
1244 Lyrics paragraph styles
1246 Lyric text editing
1249 Lyric hyphens and lyric extender lines
1250 Lyric line numbers
1253 Verse numbers
1254 Elision slurs
1256 Notes
1256 Project-wide engraving options for notes
1256 Notehead sets
1265 Assigning notes to strings
1266 Changing the width of ledger lines
1267 Hiding/Showing noteheads
1268 Rhythm dot consolidation
1271 Viewing options for notes and rests
1273 Bracketed noteheads
1274 Project-wide engraving options for bracketed
noteheads
1275 Showing brackets on noteheads
1276 Showing brackets around one/all noteheads in
tie chains
1278 Splitting brackets on chords
1279 Changing the appearance of round brackets on
single noteheads
1279 Notehead brackets in Engrave mode
1283 Stems
1283 Project-wide engraving options for stems
1284 Stem direction
1289 Stem length
1290 Hiding/Showing stems
1291 Erasing the background of stems
1292 Harmonics
1293 Turning notes into harmonics
1294 Changing the harmonic partial
1295 Hiding/Showing or parenthesizing harmonic
accidentals
1296 Appearances/Styles of harmonics
1301 Ornaments
1301 Project-wide engraving options for ornaments
1302 Changing ornament intervals
1303 Positions of ornaments
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6
Dorico Pro 5.0.10
1305 Trills
1305 Hiding/Showing trill marks
1306 Changing the speed of trills
1307 Hiding/Showing speed changes in trill
extension lines
1307 Hiding/Showing trill extension lines
1308 Trill intervals
1316 Trills in playback
1320 Arpeggio signs
1320 Project-wide engraving options for arpeggio
signs
1321 Types of arpeggio signs
1323 Length of arpeggio signs
1323 General placement conventions for arpeggio
signs
1324 Arpeggios in playback
1327 Glissando lines
1328 Project-wide engraving options for glissando
lines
1328 Glissando lines across empty bars
1328 Changing the style of glissando lines
1329 Changing glissando line text
1331 Glissando lines in Engrave mode
1332 Glissando lines in playback
1333 Guitar bends
1336 Guitar pre-bends and pre-dives
1337 Guitar post-bends
1338 Vibrato bar dives and returns
1339 Bend intervals
1340 Project-wide engraving options for guitar
bends, pre-bends, post-bends, and vibrato bar
dives and returns
1341 Hiding/Showing guitar bend hold lines
1341 Changing the direction of guitar pre-bends/
pre-dives
1342 Hiding/Showing accidentals on guitar pre-
bends/pre-dives
1343 Deleting guitar pre-bends, pre-dives, and post-
bends
1343 Guitar bends in Engrave mode
1349 Guitar techniques
1349 Vibrato bar techniques
1350 Tapping
1352 Hammer-ons and pull-offs
1353 Project-wide engraving options for guitar
techniques
1354 Showing notes as dead notes
1354 Changing vibrato bar dip intervals
1355 Hiding/Showing guitar techniques on notation
staves and tablature
1356 Changing the staff-relative placement of guitar
techniques
1357 Deleting guitar techniques
1358 Jazz articulations
1359 Jazz ornaments
1360 Project-wide engraving options for jazz
articulations
1360 Positions of jazz articulations
1361 Changing the type/length of existing jazz
articulations
1361 Changing the line style of smooth jazz
articulations
1362 Deleting jazz articulations
1363 Page numbers
1364 Page number paragraph styles
1364 Changing the page number numeral style
1365 Hiding/Showing page numbers
1368 Harp pedaling
1369 Project-wide engraving options for harp
pedaling
1370 Changing the appearance of harp pedal
diagrams
1371 Hiding/Showing harp pedaling in layouts
1372 Hiding/Showing borders on harp pedal
diagrams
1374 Positions of harp pedal diagrams
1375 Partial harp pedaling
1377 Pedal lines
1378 Project-wide engraving options for pedal lines
1378 Sustain pedal retakes and pedal level changes
1384 Positions of pedal lines
1385 Splitting pedal lines
1387 Pedal line start signs, hooks, and continuation
lines
1393 Text pedal line signs
1395 Pedal lines in playback
1396 Pedal lines imported from MusicXML les
1397 Playing techniques
1398 Project-wide engraving options for playing
techniques
1398 Adding text to playing techniques
1399 Erasing the background of text playing
techniques
1401 Hiding/Showing playing techniques
1402 Positions of playing techniques
1403 Playing technique continuation lines
1409 Groups of playing techniques
1412 Lines
1414 Line components
1415 Project-wide engraving options for lines
1415 Positions of lines
1420 Length of lines
1423 Changing the body style of lines
1424 Changing the caps of lines
1425 Changing the direction of lines
1425 Adding text to lines
1433 Lines in Engrave mode
1434 Rehearsal marks
1434 Project-wide engraving options for rehearsal
marks
1435 Changing the rehearsal mark enclosure type
1435 Positions of rehearsal marks
1436 Changing the index of rehearsal marks
1437 Changing the rehearsal mark sequence type
1438 Adding prexes/suxes to rehearsal marks
1439 Editing the rehearsal mark paragraph style
1440 Markers
1440 Project-wide engraving options for markers
1441 Hiding/Showing markers
1441 Changing the vertical position of markers
1442 Editing marker text
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7
Dorico Pro 5.0.10
1443 Editing the marker/timecode font styles
1443 Changing the timecodes of markers
1444 Dening markers as important
1445 Timecodes
1446 Changing the initial timecode value
1446 Changing the vertical position of timecodes
1447 Hiding/Showing timecodes in markers
1448 Changing the timecode frequency
1450 Repeat endings
1450 Project-wide engraving options for repeat
endings
1451 Changing the total number of playthroughs in
repeat endings
1452 Lengthening/Shortening segments in repeat
endings
1453 Positions of repeat endings
1454 Editing repeat ending text
1454 Changing the appearance of individual nal
repeat ending segments
1455 Lengthening/Shortening repeat ending hooks
1456 Repeat endings in MusicXML les
1457 Repeat markers
1458 Project-wide engraving options for repeat
markers
1458 Repeat marker paragraph styles
1459 Changing the size of coda/segno symbols
1459 Hiding/Showing symbols in repeat markers
1460 Changing the index for repeat markers
1461 Editing repeat marker text
1463 Hiding/Showing repeat markers
1463 Changing the barline shown before codas
1464 Positions of repeat markers
1466 Repeat counts
1469 Bar repeats
1470 Project-wide engraving options for bar repeats
1470 Changing the length of the repeated phrase in
bar repeat regions
1471 Hiding/Showing region highlights
1471 Bar repeat counts
1475 Bar repeat grouping
1477 Numbered bar regions
1478 Project-wide engraving options for numbered
bar regions
1478 Hiding/Showing numbered bar regions
1478 Numbered bar region counts
1483 Rhythm slashes
1483 Project-wide engraving options for rhythm
slashes
1484 Slash regions
1485 Slashes in multiple-voice contexts
1489 Splitting slash regions
1489 Hiding/Showing stems in slash regions
1490 Slash region counts
1493 Slash voices
1497 Rests
1497 General placement conventions for rests
1498 Implicit vs.explicit rests
1500 Per-ow notation options for rests
1501 Project-wide engraving options for rests
1501 Hiding/Showing rest colors
1502 Moving rests vertically
1503 Deleting rests
1504 Hiding/Showing bar rests in empty bars
1506 Multi-bar rests
1512 Slurs
1513 Project-wide engraving options for slurs
1513 General placement conventions for slurs
1520 Slur styles
1524 Slur curvature direction
1526 Cross-staff and cross-voice slurs
1527 Nested slurs
1529 Linked slurs
1530 Slur segments
1532 Slurs in Engrave mode
1537 Slur height
1538 Slur shoulder offset
1540 Slurs in playback
1541 Staff labels
1542 Project-wide engraving options for staff labels
1542 Hiding/Showing staff labels
1544 Hiding/Showing staff labels at system/frame
breaks
1545 Staff label contents
1547 Instrument transpositions in staff labels
1549 Hiding/Showing instrument change labels at
the start of ows
1550 Grouping the staff labels of adjacent identical
instruments
1551 Changing the staff label numbering style
1551 Showing vocal staff labels in uppercase/title
case
1552 Player group labels
1554 Staff label paragraph styles
1555 Staff labels for percussion kits
1556 Staff labels on condensed staves
1559 Staves
1560 Per-layout options for staves
1560 Changing the thickness of staff lines
1561 Deleting staves
1562 Deleting extra/ossia staves
1562 Extra staves
1566 Ossia staves
1572 System dividers
1573 System objects
1575 System indents
1577 Divisi
1578 Change Divisi dialog
1580 Inputting divisi changes
1581 Editing existing divisi changes
1582 Ending divisi passages
1582 Unison ranges
1584 Divisi on vocal staves
1584 Divisi staff labels
1587 Divisi change labels
1589 Divisi in playback
1590 Tablature
1591 Project-wide engraving options for tablature
1591 Rhythms on tablature
1592 Hiding/Showing notation staves and tablature
1593 Changing the allocated string for notes on
tablature
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8
Dorico Pro 5.0.10
1594 Hiding/Showing enclosures around notes on
tablature
1596 Changing the placement of rhythm dots on
tablature
1596 Editing the tablature numbers font style
1597 Tempo marks
1598 Project-wide engraving options for tempo
marks
1598 Types of tempo marks
1599 Tempo mark components
1601 Positions of tempo marks
1603 Changing tempo text
1604 Tempo mark font styles
1605 Hiding/Showing tempo marks
1606 Metronome marks
1610 Gradual tempo changes
1614 Tempo equations
1616 Text items
1617 Types of text
1621 Changing the paragraph style of text items
1622 Aligning text items with the start of systems
1623 Enabling/Disabling text collision avoidance
1623 Adding borders to text items
1627 Erasing the background of text items
1628 Hiding/Showing text items
1629 Ties
1630 Project-wide engraving options for ties
1631 Ties vs.slurs
1631 Tie styles
1635 Tie curvature direction
1636 Non-standard ties
1638 Hiding/Showing laissez vibrer ties
1639 Deleting ties
1640 Splitting tie chains
1641 Ties in Engrave mode
1644 Tie height
1646 Tie shoulder offset
1648 Time signatures
1649 Project-wide engraving options for time
signatures
1650 Types of time signatures
1652 Cautionary time signatures
1652 Pick-up bars
1654 Large time signatures
1656 Time signature styles
1661 Positions of time signatures
1664 Hiding/Showing time signatures
1664 Ending interchangeable time signatures
1665 Changing the design of time signatures
1666 Erasing the background of time signatures
1667 Tremolos
1668 Project-wide engraving options for tremolos
1669 General placement conventions for tremolos
1669 Tremolos in tie chains
1671 Changing the speed of tremolos
1672 Changing the appearance of multi-note half
note tremolos
1672 Deleting tremolos
1673 Rhythmic positions of notes with tremolos
1673 Moving tremolo strokes
1675 Tremolos in playback
1677 Tuplets
1677 Project-wide engraving options for tuplets
1678 Nested tuplets
1679 Turning existing notes into tuplets
1680 Turning tuplets into normal notes
1680 Allowing/Disallowing tuplets to span barlines
1681 Tuplet beams
1682 Tuplet brackets
1686 Tuplet numbers/ratios
1690 Unpitched percussion
1690 Playing techniques for unpitched percussion
instruments
1696 Single-line percussion staves
1697 Percussion kits vs.individual percussion
instruments
1698 Per-ow notation options for unpitched
percussion
1698 Percussion kits and drum sets
1701 Notations on notes in percussion kits
1702 Percussion kit presentation types
1704 Percussion legends
1709 Voices in percussion kits
1711 Universal Indian Drum Notation
1712 Voices
1713 Per-ow notation options for voices
1713 Hiding/Showing voice colors
1714 Allowing/Disallowing noteheads in opposing
voices to overlap
1715 Note positions in multiple-voice contexts
1718 Unused voices
1718 Notes crossed to staves with existing notes in
other voices
1720 Glossary
1734 Index
Table of Contents
9
Dorico Pro 5.0.10
New features
NOTE
Documentation for this new version is ongoing and will be updated regularly. We recommend
that you also read the Version History for Dorico 5 for information about other new features not
yet included in this documentation. You can download the Dorico 5 Version History from the
Steinberg Download Assistant.
New Features in Version 5.0.0
User interface improvements
● The status bar has been given additional options, allowing you to switch the current layout
between concert/transposed pitch and galley/page view more easily. See Status bar.
● You can now enable/disable playhead following during playback in each project window
independently. See Enabling/Disabling playhead following.
Instrument numbering
● It is now possible to renumber instruments so their numbering matches their default
player order. See Renumbering instruments.
Staff label improvements
● In simple cases, horizontal alignment and leading set for individual instrument names is
now used in staff labels, overriding the settings from the corresponding paragraph style.
See Edit Instrument Names dialog.
● You can now show player names in staff labels only on the rst system in each ow,
with instrument names shown in staff labels on all other systems. See Showing instrument/
player names in staff labels.
Mouse editing
● It is now possible to transpose, move, and copy notes by clicking and dragging with the
mouse. By default, mouse editing is enabled, but there is a preference to disable it. See
Enabling/Disabling mouse editing.
Multiple item creation
● You can now input notations onto multiple staves simultaneously outside of note input. By
default, Dorico Pro inputs notations at the rst note on each staff, but you can change this
setting to input items always at the earliest selected rhythmic position. See Changing the
item input position setting.
Rhythm dots
● To select dotted note durations, you can now double-press note duration key commands.
See Inputting notes with rhythm dots.
Text improvements
● You can now enter Unicode characters into both text items and text frames more easily.
See Inputting text items and Entering text in text frames.
● You can now adjust leading in individual text items and text frames, independently of the
paragraph style. See Text editor options in Write mode and Text editor options in Engrave
mode.
10
Dorico Pro 5.0.10
● You can now change the background and border colors of individual text frames. See
Changing the background color of text frames and Changing the color of text frame
borders.
● You can now change the paragraph style applied to multiple selected text items
simultaneously. See Changing the paragraph style of text items.
Playback improvements
● Notes and items can now be muted in specic playthroughs, allowing you to hear selected
notes only the second time around, for example. See Muting notes/items individually.
● Dorico Pro now supports microtonal playback using MIDI pitch bend. See Expression Maps
dialog.
Key Editor improvements
● There is now a value eld in the Velocity editor header, which displays and allows you to
change velocity values. See Velocity editor.
● You can now make selected dynamic points constant or linear. See Dynamics editor.
Mixer improvements
● It is now possible to add multiple FX channels to the Mixer. See Adding FX channels.
● You can now rename channels in the Mixer. See Renaming channels.
Music fonts
● New music font families are now available by default. See Music fonts.
Note and rest grouping
● You can now group beats in cut common time signatures, such as 2/2, in the same ways
as time signatures with a half-bar, such as 4/4. See Changing the beat grouping for cut
common time signatures.
Bracket improvements
● There are new options for hiding/showing secondary brackets in different contexts. See
Hiding/Showing secondary brackets.
Chord symbol improvements
● You can now change the vertical alignment of multi-line chord symbols relative to single-
line chord symbols. See Changing the vertical alignment of chord symbols.
Hiding items
● You can now hide clefs in layouts of any transposition, independently of other layouts. See
Hiding/Showing clefs.
● You can now hide octave lines in individual layouts. See Hiding/Showing octave lines.
Niente hairpins
●You can now change the size of niente circles, the gap between niente circles and hairpins,
and whether text niente markings appear bold or plain. See Changing the appearance of
niente hairpins.
Lyric improvements
● There is a new option to show lyric extensions with Japanese hyphens at each notehead
instead of extender lines. See Hiding/Showing Japanese hyphens.
Pedal line improvements
● When you merge sustain pedal lines, a retake is now automatically added at the previous
start position of each merged pedal line. See Merging pedal lines.
New features
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Dorico Pro 5.0.10
Introduction
Thank you very much for purchasing Dorico Pro.
We are delighted that you have chosen Steinberg's scoring application and hope that you will
enjoy using it for years to come.
Dorico 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 is the most sophisticated
program available.
Like all of Steinberg's products, Dorico 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 also integrates
with your existing workow and can import and export les in a variety of formats.
Dorico 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,
The Steinberg Dorico Team
Platform-independent documentation
This documentation applies to the operating systems Windows and macOS.
Features and settings that are specic 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 macOS and use the dark theme in Dorico Pro.
● 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.
The following table lists all the notes and notations that have different names in American and
British English:
American name British name
Double whole note Breve
Whole note Semibreve
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American name British name
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
Half-step Semitone
Whole step Whole tone
Staff Stave
Bar/Measure
NOTE
This documentation only uses “bar”.
Bar
Documentation structure
In our documentation, we divide information into three different types of topics, according to
their content.
Descriptions of the user interface
Topics that describe the functionality of user interface items and list the options and
settings of dialogs, panels, or other items.
Descriptions of basic concepts
Topics that describe concepts and explain the functionality of a specic software
feature.
Descriptions of procedures
Topics that provide step-by-step instructions for how to perform a specic task. These
topics often provide an example for why you might want to follow the steps and a brief
summary of the result, including consequences to be aware of.
Because of this division of information, our documentation structure functions as a reference
you can consult for specic information or instructions as required, rather than a guide you must
read from start to nish.
Introduction
Documentation structure
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Dorico Pro 5.0.10
TIP
Descriptive topics do not describe how to perform a task, and procedural topics do not explain
what something is. To nd general information about items or concepts, we recommend
searching for them by name, such as “dynamics”. To nd instructions for performing particular
actions, we recommend including a relevant verb in your search, such as “moving”.
Links at the bottom of topics guide you to further relevant content. You can also check the
sidebar for nearby, related topics in the documentation structure.
Typographical conventions
In our documentation, we use structural and markup elements to present information according
to its purpose.
Structural elements
Prerequisite
Describes any actions or conditions you must have fullled before starting a
procedure.
Procedure
Lists the steps that you must take to achieve a specic result.
Important
Informs you about serious issues; for example, issues that affect the system, the
connected hardware, or that risk data loss.
Note
Informs you about issues or other relevant information.
Tip
Adds further information or useful suggestions.
Example
Provides you with an example.
Result
Describes the result of the procedure.
After Completing This Task
Informs you about actions or tasks that you can perform after completing the
procedure.
Related Links
Lists related topics that you can nd in this documentation.
Markup
Bold text indicates the name of a menu, option, function, dialog, window, and so on.
EXAMPLE
To open the Project Info dialog, choose File> Project Info.
Introduction
Typographical conventions
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If bold text is separated by a greater-than symbol, this indicates either a sequence of different
menus to open, or directions to follow for navigation inside the dialog named at the start of the
sequence.
EXAMPLE
Choose Edit> Notations> Voices> Change Voice> [Voice].
You can change this option in Preferences> Note Input and Editing> Editing.
File names and folder paths are shown in a different font.
EXAMPLE
example_file.txt
Key commands
Key commands are sets of keys that perform dened tasks when pressed together. They are
also known as “keyboard shortcuts” or “hotkeys”. Many key commands are the same on different
operating systems but some are not, and this guide distinguishes them.
When key commands use equivalent modier keys depending on the operating system, the
modier keys are indicated separated by a slash, with the Windows modier key rst and the
macOS modier key second.
EXAMPLE
Ctrl/Cmd-Alt/Opt-DownArrow means: press Ctrl -Alt -DownArrow on Windows, Cmd -Opt -
DownArrow on macOS.
When key commands require entirely different keys depending on the operating system, they are
indicated with the Windows key command rst, followed by the macOS key command.
EXAMPLE
#(Windows) or \(macOS) means: press # on Windows, \ on macOS.
In this documentation, we use key commands that match the language of the documentation.
For example, key commands in the English documentation correspond to the English keyboard
language.
RELATED LINKS
Key commands in Dorico on page 24
Key Commands page in the Preferences dialog on page 58
Changing the keyboard language on page 62
Changing the application language on page 54
How you can reach us
You can access additional information from the Help menu.
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.
Introduction
Key commands
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Dorico concepts
Dorico is based on a number of key concepts that come from its design philosophy.
We recommend familiarizing yourself with these concepts, as this will greatly enhance your
ability to work eciently with Dorico and to navigate more easily through this documentation.
Design philosophy and higher-level concepts
Deep design considerations are required to create a notation software like Dorico, which might
be of particular interest to users familiar with scoring applications. Dorico has a forward-thinking
design that is led by musical concepts rather than computational convenience, and this provides
many benets.
In most other graphically-orientated scoring applications, the highest-level concept is the staff or
the instrument denition that creates a staff or staves. When setting up your full score in such
programs, 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 signicant 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 time-
consuming and is naturally error-prone.
By contrast, Dorico 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 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 play more than one instrument, such as an oboist doubling cor anglais, or
groups in which everyone plays only one instrument, such as eight desks of violinists.
One crucial difference between Dorico and other scoring applications is that the musical content
exists independently of the score layout in which it is viewed.
The actual music 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 play
in some cues in a movie score. This is no problem as you can combine players in ows in any
combination.
Dorico’s design philosophy provides several benets. Chief among them is its ability to produce
multiple layouts that share the same musical content, but each having customized appearances
to suit different requirements. For example, in the same project you can create a conductor’s
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score with as many instruments as possible condensed onto a smaller number of staves, a full
score with each player’s music on separate staves, a custom score layout containing just the
piano and vocal staves for choral rehearsals, and an instrumental part for each player that only
contains the music belonging to them.
This means it is not necessary to extract ows or parts as separate les: all this information can
co-exist in the same Dorico project le.
RELATED LINKS
Condensing on page 745
Assigning players to layouts on page 167
Projects in Dorico
A project is an individual le that you create within Dorico. It can contain multiple separate pieces
of music of any duration, written for any combination of instruments, and use as many layouts as
required.
For example, you can create a single project that contains all the preludes and fugues in Bach’s
“The Well-Tempered Clavier” as separate ows. You could then have one layout that contains only
the ows for Book 1 and another layout that contains the ows for Book 2.
In addition to the notated music, projects save other relevant information, such as the playback
template applied, its page templates, and settings in options dialogs.
Dorico projects are saved as .dorico les.
RELATED LINKS
Flows in Dorico on page 18
Layouts in Dorico on page 22
Options dialogs in Dorico Pro on page 25
Page templates in Dorico on page 23
Playback templates on page 653
Modes in Dorico
Modes in Dorico represent a logical sequence of the workow phases of preparing music, but
you can switch between them at any time as required for your own workow.
Dorico Pro contains the following modes:
Setup
In Setup mode, you can set up the fundamental elements of the project: instruments
and the players that hold them, ows, layouts, and videos. You can also determine how
they interact with each other; for example, by changing the players assigned to layouts.
You can view music in the music area and switch between viewing other tabs and
layouts, but you cannot select or interact with anything in the music area in Setup
mode.
Write
In Write mode, you can input and edit your music, including changing the rhythmic
positions of items, changing the pitch of notes, and deleting notes and items. The
available toolboxes and panels allow you to input all the notes and notation items that
are most commonly used.
Dorico concepts
Projects in Dorico
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By design, you cannot move notes and items graphically on the page in Write mode.
Graphical adjustments are only possible in Engrave mode.
Engrave
In Engrave mode, you can make ne adjustments to the position, size, and appearance
of notes and items, and determine how the pages of your project are laid out, including
editing and creating page templates.
By design, you cannot delete any notes or items, change their rhythmic positions, or
change the pitch of notes in Engrave mode; this prevents mistakes when engraving.
Play
In Play mode, you can change how your music sounds in playback. You can do this by
changing the playback template and assigning VST instruments, inputting automation,
adjusting the mix, and changing the sounding duration of notes in playback without
affecting their notated duration.
Print
In Print mode, you can print your layouts or export them as graphics les. When
printing layouts, you can specify the paper size and other options, such as duplex or
booklet printing. When exporting layouts, you can specify different graphics le types,
such as PDF or PNG, and the information you want to include in their exported le
names.
RELATED LINKS
Setup mode on page 105
Write mode on page 192
Engrave mode on page 511
Print mode on page 668
Play mode on page 614
Flows in Dorico
Flows are separate spans of music that are completely independent in musical content; for
example, a single song in an album, 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 any number of ows.
Each ow can contain music for any combination of players, independently of other ows. For
example, brass players are often tacet in the second movements of Classical-period symphonies,
so you can remove brass players from the ow for the second movement but leave them in the
ows for other movements. In a set of cues for a movie, for example, specic players might not
be required in some cues, so the corresponding ows can contain only those players who have
anything to play.
The correct assignment of players to ows allows Dorico, for example, to generate tacet sheets
automatically for individual instrumental parts.
RELATED LINKS
Players, layouts, and ows on page 117
Flows on page 162
Tacets on page 741
Flow headings on page 552
Dorico concepts
Flows in Dorico
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Players in Dorico
In Dorico, a player can represent an individual musician or multiple musicians in the same
section. Players hold instruments, so you must add at least one player to your project before you
can add instruments.
● A single player represents one person 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.
● A section player represents multiple people who all play the same instrument. For example,
a violin section player might represent all eight desks of the Violin I section in an orchestra,
or a soprano section player might represent the whole soprano section in a mixed voice
choir.
NOTE
Section players can only hold one instrument, but they can play divisi. This means that they
can be divided into smaller units, which is commonly required for strings.
By using the concept of players, Dorico makes it much easier to handle, for example, instrument
changes, divisi, and condensing music for multiple players onto a smaller number of staves.
You can also group players together; for example, to separate off-stage players from on-stage
players in a large-scale work. Grouping players together means they are positioned together in
the score, numbered independently of players outside the group, and are bracketed together
according to the ensemble type set for each layout.
Players can be assigned to any combination of layouts and ows.
RELATED LINKS
Players, layouts, and ows on page 117
Players on page 119
Player groups on page 158
Divisi on page 1577
Condensing on page 745
Brackets according to ensemble type on page 1032
Instruments in Dorico
In Dorico, an instrument is an individual musical instrument, such as a piano, a ute, or a violin.
Human voices, such as soprano or tenor, are also considered instruments.
In Dorico, instruments are held by players, just as real instruments are held by human players.
Section players can only hold one instrument but single players can hold multiple instruments.
This allows you to handle instrument changes easily, such as when an oboist doubling the cor
anglais switches from one instrument to the other.
Each instrument automatically gets its own staff, but when instrument changes are allowed, the
music for multiple instruments held by the same single player can appear on the same staff as
long as no notes overlap.
Dorico has a database of information about the 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. Having these
properties predetermined makes it easier and quicker to set up projects correctly. For example,
Dorico concepts
Players in Dorico
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Dorico Pro 5.0.10
there is a Horn in F instrument that automatically shows treble clefs in transposed pitch layouts.
Similarly, there is a timpani instrument that automatically hides all key signatures.
RELATED LINKS
Instruments on page 127
Instrument changes on page 129
Transposing instruments on page 133
Popovers
Popovers allow you to input different notations and perform tasks, such as transposing a
selection of notes, using only your computer keyboard. They are temporary value elds that use
text entries for different items and tasks, and there are specic popovers for different purposes.
The dynamics popover with an example entry
One of the key benets of popovers is that you can use them as you input notes: for example,
once you reach the position where you want to input a new time signature, you can open the
time signatures popover, input the time signature you want, and then continue inputting notes.
Although specic entries are required for many notations, the correct entries for different
notations are consistently and logically structured. For example, tuplets are always expressed as
a ratio, such as 3:2 or 5:4. Key signatures are expressed using capital letters for major keys and
lowercase letters for minor keys. Time signatures are expressed as a pair of separated numbers;
common time signatures use a slash, such as 3/4 or 6/8.
During note input, and depending on the notation you are inputting with the respective popover,
notations are input either on the currently selected note, which is usually the last note you input,
or at the current rhythmic position, indicated by the caret.
You can always identify popovers by the icon on their left-hand side, which are the same icons
used in the Notations toolbox on the right of the window. The Notations toolbox allows you to
hide/show the corresponding notation’s panel, which is another way you can input notations.
You can only use popovers in Write mode, as that is the only mode where you can input notes
and items together and change the pitch of notes. Popovers open above the top staff on which
the caret is active or an item is selected, and at the caret position or the rhythmic position of the
earliest selected item.
RELATED LINKS
Caret on page 213
Note input on page 219
Notations input on page 268
Notations toolbox on page 198
Right zone (Write mode) on page 201
Dorico concepts
Popovers
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