Menu
What's new
By:
Filters

Dorico 2 - scoring to video

I feel that overture had s lot of promise but the developer, a one man shop, simply does not have the resources to keep up. Dorico seems to be headed in a similar direction but with resources to get it done right. The direction is first of all a lot less fiddling around. Input the music and it just looks right. Secondly is the sequencer aspect with a focus on being able to render a mock up that is just as good as could be done in a daw such as cubase. I think many composers will eventually make Dorico the center of their studio rather then cubase. That’s what I mean when I say the future.

Finale and Sibelius are both great programs and will continue to be around for a very long time because of the sheer number of scores and people already experienced using them. But they are both long in the tooth in terms of old school ways of working, they are both encumbered by massive amounts of feature creep that has been tacked on to them over decades. Dorico is a fresh restart by the same team that brought you the Sibelius that you love so much, and they are backed by Steinberg with the resources to make it happen. Dorico will be the future. I suspect that at version 2 the hard core copyists will still prefer finale and Sibelius, but as a composer I prefer to use notion but I hate the look of its scores. I have done some very nice looking scores years ago with overture 4 but it did require a lot of manually nudging things around and version 5 is buggy as hell but both notion and overture are headed more in this direction applicable more to a composer that wants to both work with notes and print out nice looking scores and make decent mock ups. Dorico is going to bridge that gap between Sibelius and notion/overture with spreadbury’s team. I think it’s the future
 
This was my complaint to Dorico. They turned me down, and I'm very disappointed in the way they've handled this update. I bought into this software in good faith, and they've tainted that.

I feel the need to voice my displeasure with my purchase of Dorico in 2 ways. First is that I purchased Dorico 1 with the idea that it was a “half-baked” version, and that we would be given updates that would give us further functionality (missing functionality that has prevented me from using the program for more than a combined hour over the year that I’ve owned it). Now that some worthwhile additions are being included (like slash notation), I’m being forced to pay $99? It seems like I just paid for the full version yesterday, and I got very little out of it.

My second problem is how the licenses are handled. Since this software is optimized for a laptop, I installed it on my soft eLicenser on my MacBook Pro. Now that there is added support for sample libraries and video playback, it makes sense to install this on my main studio computer (the one with Cubase and all of my sample libraries). But as soon as I transfer the license to my studio computer, I lose the functionality of my soft eLicenser, which puts me into a terrible predicament of either 1) using a dongle in my MacBook Pro, which is USB-C, so it would require an additional dongle just to use. This goes against any idea of convenience. Or 2) buy a second license so that I can leave one license on my soft eLicenser, and have another on my dongle. Most days I leave my dongle at my studio, so it is an extra burden to have to bring it with me. And also, this is excessively expensive.

I was an early adopter, and I got burned. I have always had a lot of faith in Steinberg and in Dorico (and Dorico’s team) to take me to the right place, but this feels like it’s abusing my faith in the company. Over the years, many companies have extended generosity with their licenses to accommodate my setup, and I am asking for that same generosity from Steinberg. My request is this: to grant me an affordable discount on two licenses, so that I can use Dorico on both my laptop and my studio computer.

I am happy to provide any proof of my setup to show that my needs are legitimate. Basically, I have a studio computer, a home computer, and a laptop. Sibelius granted me an extra license so that I could use them all interchangeably, and I am very grateful that they did. I really want to make the jump from Sibelius to Dorico once and for all, but right now the excessive costs are preventing me from doing that.
 
The current licensing scheme definitely sucks and I respect your decision not to continue feeding them money. Unfortunately the Steinberg message boards are filled with users complaining about the exact same thing and Steinberg has made their position clear that they are a one license per dongle company. I agree though that much more so then any other product I need to be able to take my laptop over to my piano to work on stuff and yet be able to also work on my studio computer. I can move the dongle around but that is simply a PITA. A much more reasonable policy would be two soft licenses, or even two dongle licenses. But they say for now there is no chance for that so you gotta do what you gotta do. I chose to get it anyway and I will be annoyed by the licensing but I want to get on the Dorico train. I hope Steinberg will reconsider their draconian licensing policies though.
 
Dewdman42 said:
I agree though that much more so then any other product I need to be able to take my laptop over to my piano to work on stuff and yet be able to also work on my studio computer. I can move the dongle around but that is simply a PITA. A much more reasonable policy would be two soft licenses, or even two dongle licenses.
Click to expand...

This has the potential to be a deal breaker for freelance copyists in Hollywood who may have a main machine at home, then a laptop for work when called in to work at an office or to attend a session. Having to constantly keep track of a dongle would be a nightmare.

Imagine frantically grabbing the laptop and running out the door to the session while exhausted from a late night the previous night. While sitting in traffic you wonder, "Did I remember to reach around the back of the USB hub and grab my dongle? Will I be able to work when I get there?" :shocked: Some people would buy two licenses to avoid this, but for many copyists that could be an unacceptable expense.
 
Still too many missing features, things I consider should be standard in any notation program, to convince me to switch over. That they will not offer multiple licenses when most engravers use both stationary and mobile setups is ridiculous.
 
Agreed. I actually almost didn’t buy it because of this licensing issue. But in the end I decided to try it for a while.
 
That is inconvenient. Many composers are on the move and need at least 2 licenses. I guess their trying to push multiple licenses.
 
We've been living with dongles for years. Not saying I like them but I'm used to them by now. What I mean is I remember not to forget it, when I'm going out of the door. Like my power supply...it's engrained in my brain.

As to the $99 upgrade: that sucks. Early adopters have been screwed by Steinberg and it makes me think I might stay with Notion.
 
Dewdman42 said:
Secondly is the sequencer aspect with a focus on being able to render a mock up that is just as good as could be done in a daw such as cubase. I think many composers will eventually make Dorico the center of their studio rather then cubase. That’s what I mean when I say the future.
Click to expand...

Mockups "just as good as could be done in a daw such as cubase"? That would be a dream for me since I long for a notation based DAW workflow, but is the Dorico sequencer and Midi editing/playback tools really on par with Cubase Pro? Until they are, I don't think Dorico would really be comparable to Cubase Pro for Midi orchestration mockups. Currently I do notation in Sibelius and import to Cubase to do mockups and it's a PITA, so would welcome a truly integrated tool.
 
joebaggan said:
Mockups "just as good as could be done in a daw such as cubase"? That would be a dream for me since I long for a notation based DAW workflow, but is the Dorico sequencer and Midi editing/playback tools really on par with Cubase Pro? Until they are, I don't think Dorico would really be comparable to Cubase Pro for Midi orchestration mockups. Currently I do notation in Sibelius and import to Cubase to do mockups and it's a PITA, so would welcome a truly integrated tool.
Click to expand...

not yet, perhaps, but that is the direction they are going and I expect that it will be. It will not have audio track recording like cubase, beat mapping, bla, bla, bla, but it will have the ability to create automation on all tracks, to handle note expressions and expression mapping, cc curves, etc...all the stuff that we typically do in a DAW like Cubase...Dorico is heading in the same direction..except that instead of using piano roll, you will be using a fully functional notational program to do it that is capable of printing out final scores and parts for real players without having to export to something else.
 
Prockamanisc said:
I mockup in Noteperformer, it skips the Cubase step. Is that not good enough for you?
Click to expand...

No, Noteperformer may be a useful initial tool to hear what something sort of sounds like, but if you want pro level mockups, you'll need pro level sample libraries and Noteperformer limits you to using its samples. Granted its "look ahead" algorithms are pretty cool, but until someone can figure out how to de-couple that "look ahead" tech and use it with any sample library, I think Noteperformer is gonna have a pretty limited use.
 
I think the main advantage of NotePerformer is that it does a better job then anything else of interpreting standard musical notation into the correct articulations and thus sounding the way the musical phrasing is intended, without writing a single lane of CC curves or key switches. This allows a composer to focus on composing and not have to worry at all about midi sequencing. Notion does this also, quite well, but not as well as NotePerformer. That being said, while NotePerformer's result is quite remarkable considering you don't have fiddle around with any CC's, its still not really good enough for a final mix...by a long shot. Note Performer is remarkable for what it is, and as a composer it allows you to get much closer then anything else, while in the composing phase...but in the end, if you are going to produce the final result on the computer (rather then record real musicians), then you'd end up having to go back to all your expensive sample libraries and all the CC lanes of automation, etc to get anything that sounds reasonably awesome enough.
 
Dewdman42 said:
I think the main advantage of NotePerformer is that it does a better job then anything else of interpreting standard musical notation into the correct articulations and thus sounding the way the musical phrasing is intended, without writing a single lane of CC curves or key switches. ...but in the end, if you are going to produce the final result on the computer (rather then record real musicians), then you'd end up having to go back to all your expensive sample libraries and all the CC lanes of automation, etc to get anything that sounds reasonably awesome enough.
Click to expand...

Yea, what I'd like to see is NotePerformer creating "drivers" for certain popular sample libraries. So instead of playing back its own samples, it has a lib-specific driver that understands how to send midi messages to certain sample libraries based on the notated dynamics, articulations, e.g. you point it to a certain Spitfire string lib and it applies its "look ahead" tech with knowledge of how Spitfire implements midi cc's and keyswitches. And of course you'd still be able to tweak/override if you want the playback slightly different. Now that would be something I'd pay for and could potentially save a lot of time.
 
I currently have Notion, and find it rather amusing that it is less expensive for me to buy a crossgrade to Finale, and then another crossgrade to Dorico, than it is for me to get Dorico on its own.

I love Notion's iPad app too, particularly with Apple pencil. Presonus give you FIVE activations for Notion. I have one of my Mac Laptop, One on my home iMac, and one on my work machine.

If I could crossgrade directly to Dorico (and you used to be able to) and can get a couple of activations, I'm pretty sure I would make the jump. But not as it stands now I won't.
 
Dorico is considerably more expensive then Notion, so it is what it is. I cross graded to Dorico from Finale, and makemusic hasn't charged for an update in quite a long time, so I consider that a pretty good deal.

I agree with you about many advantages of Notion...the iPad app is huge...5 activations...and honestly...pretty decent sounds. Not quite as accurate as NotePerformer, but pretty good. Relatively easy to enter stuff also.

The main problem with Notion is very mediocre engraving. Its probably better then you get from your DAW's score editor and does let you extract parts, etc..so its got some usefulness, but me personally I feel compelled to export XML over to Finale or MuseScore to get it to look like something I can be proud of putting in front of people.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom