Features
Dorico redefines the gold standard in scoring software. Built from the ground up with today’s multi-core 64-bit CPUs in mind, Dorico will take advantage of all of your system’s horsepower while the intuitive workflows help you focus on each aspect of score preparation. The beauty and balance of Dorico's output is unrivaled, with hundreds of options to control every aspect of your music's appearance. And with Steinberg's award-winning audio engine at its heart, Dorico allows you to use your VST instruments and effects to produce great-sounding playback too.
Streamlined workflow
Dorico has a simple, uncluttered interface that is intended to disappear and allow you to focus on the music. Designed to be comfortable and efficient on a laptop computer with a single display, but expanding effortlessly into the studio with multiple large displays, Dorico’s single-window design puts all of the application’s power within easy reach.
Powerful project management
Dorico handles multi-movement works - such as sonatas, symphonies, songbooks, musicals and operas - so easily and simply, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it until now. Each project file can contain as many independent pieces of music as necessary, called flows.
Dorico’s five modes
Dorico’s workflows are divided into five distinct modes - Setup, Write, Engrave, Play and Print - that are all one mouse tap away from the toolbar, and can be freely changed at any time. Collapsible panels to the left, right and bottom of the window provide instant access to each mode’s features, and can be hidden with a single click or key command to show as much music as possible on your display.
Efficient window management
Open as many windows onto the same project as you like: keep one in Write mode to allow continued input and editing, and another in Play mode to allow easy tweaking of playback, or switch back and forth within the same window with a single click. Switch between tabs for the conductor’s score and instrumental parts, or split the window horizontally or vertically to allow you to work on both at the same time. Dorico provides the environment to allow you to do your best work, and then gets out of your way.
Notation and layout
Produce beautifully balanced pages that look as good as the finest traditional music engraving faster and with less effort than ever before.
Effortless score and part preparation
Naturally, Dorico allows you to originate both the conductor’s score and parts for individual players from the flows of music in your project as individual layouts. Changes made to the music in one layout are automatically reflected in any others in which that music appears, while allowing complete independence in terms of page and system appearance between every layout.
Flexible input and editing
Inputting music in Dorico is fast and easy. Use your keyboard or mouse to input notes, and learn easy to remember key commands, or define your own, allowing you to fly through note input faster than ever before. Dorico has the flexibility to notate every note according to the changing musical context using its sophisticated understanding of the rules of meter, ensuring that the rhythm is always clearly communicated, even as notes are lengthened, shortened, inserted or removed.
Graphical excellence
Developed in consultation with experienced engravers working with some of the world’s most demanding music publishers, the automatic engraving engine at the heart of Dorico produces the most elegant, beautiful results of any scoring application. Attention has been lavished on every detail of the appearance of the music, from the meticulous design of every symbol in the Bravura font, to the precise placement rules for every notated element.
Powerful page layout
Dorico makes it easy to produce a consistent and attractive layout for every project, thanks to its unique page layout features. Switch to Engrave mode, and its power is instantly revealed to you: frames for music, text and graphics can be laid out in any arrangement for any kind of project.
Beautiful spacing
Dorico’s unique approach to rhythmic spacing allows music to be spaced more tightly than other scoring programs, without sacrificing clarity and legibility. Items are automatically tucked or kerned against each other to avoid the rhythmic distortion that disturbs the flow of the music. Dorico produces spacing of beautiful consistency and balance every time.
Playback and audio
Incorporating Steinberg's world-class audio engine and flexible virtual instruments, Dorico opens the door to producing high-quality playback and audio files.
Great-sounding content
To make your projects sound incredible, Dorico includes the complete HALion Symphonic Orchestra library and more than 1,300 production-ready sounds from HALion Sonic SE 2. HSO includes more than 100 patches and combinations, including strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion instruments with dozens of different playing techniques, covering all common articulations and bowings in unrivaled expressiveness and full dynamic range.
World-class audio engine
Dorico includes the same world-class audio engine that powers Cubase and Nuendo, delivering a crystal-clear 32-bit floating-point resolution and 192 kHz sample rate, with a pristine sound quality that is the hallmark of the Cubase music production experience. Dorico supports all VST 3-compatible virtual instruments and effects, and includes the HALion sample engine and channel strip modules, including a top-end compressor and brickwall limiter that can be inserted on each channel.
Print and export
Effortlessly handle final production with Dorico's dedicated Print mode, or export to other software as MusicXML, MIDI or audio.
Printing and exporting graphics
Dorico’s dedicated Print mode makes it fast and easy to print your project to your printer, or to export graphics in a variety of formats that you can either send to somebody else to print for you, or take into page layout software for further pre-press work.
Import and export
Projects often start or finish outside your scoring software. Dorico can import MusicXML and MIDI files from Cubase, other scoring programs and other DAWs. It can also export MusicXML files, allowing you to take projects started in Dorico into other applications.
Features in depth
Dorico has many unique and innovative features not found in any other software, and presents a whole new way of working with music notation, but because it is brand new, it does not yet have every feature necessary for every kind of score. Dorico will receive a number of updates in the coming months that will be free to existing users, adding new functionality. Some of the functionality that is planned to be added in these updates includes:
- Chord symbols
- Repeat ending (1st, 2nd time or volta) lines
- Fingerings
- Jazz articulations
- Rhythm slashes
- More flexible unpitched percussion notation
- Improvements to playback and support for third-party virtual instruments
