Please enlighten me on the meaning of...

[John Ruggero]

Here is the Barber done in Finale with one slur only. The lack of sufficient control points is clear:

Barber 1 slur Finale .jpg (34.78 KiB) Viewed 12539 times

Here is one done in Finale with 3 slurs. I am not experienced in putting slurs together, but I find this result promising and at least better than the original edition which is even worse:

Barber 3 slurs Finale corrected1.jpg (33.5 KiB) Viewed 12530 times

[tisimst]

Is Dorico worth buying for things like this right now? Or are there some quirks that need to be worked out before I would consider buying it (I want to, but I'm uneasy about buying a version that is incomplete to some extent).

I decided that Dorico, at its present state, just isn't worth the cross grade price. There are just too many essentials missing at the moment. They spent a lot of time, in my opinion, on UI eye candy. A big disappointment to me is the Sibelius-style Note Input. Articulations, dotted notes, go in BEFORE the note is input. You cross the tee's and dot the eye's, not the other way around. I'll wait and see how Dorico evolves.

@DatOrganistTho: Here's my thought on Dorico. It's just another tool. It has its strengths and weaknesses. If you're curious about it and you haven't done so already, go to their website and read through the content on ALL the pages (there aren't that many), then read the comprehensive feature list PDF. Once that's done, download the trial version of Dorico and play around a bit. Then try to engrave something you're used to being able to do in other apps. If you find that there's something you can't do, but need to, then maybe now isn't the time to get Dorico. It's just a tool. If another tool get's the job done quickly enough for you and you like the UX, then I don't seen any urgency to jump into Dorico. There are plenty of industry professionals that are moving to Dorico because it fits their needs better than other tools and they like the appearance of the final result. There are many more that have added Dorico to their toolbox of notation apps without getting rid of others due to client requirements. There are also many who don't find it a good fit for them for one reason or another. You'll need to decide if it works for you. I still favor LilyPond over everything else, but I think it will be valuable to develop my Dorico chops because I can already see that it has a bright future in the industry.

In response to NicholasG's comment about the order of inputting things into Dorico, the best way to think about it is that it's like entering text into a word-processor. Navigating around the score (on the keyboard) is done with the arrow keys. Attaching things to notes or changing a note's duration is typically done a priori just like, for example, you would type "Ctrl+B" before typing emboldened text. You can always go back and alter the note by selecting it and then apply the alteration. Now, whether or not it makes sense to mimic this kind of input, I guess you get to decide for yourself. In my mind, however, as long as the user knows how the app expects to receive input, I believe it can be a good experience.

Just my 2 cents on the matter. Now, go explore!

[NicholasG]

Here is the Barber done in Finale with one slur only. The lack of sufficient control points is clear:

Barber 1 slur Finale .jpg
Here is one done in Finale with 3 slurs. I am not experienced in putting slurs together, but I find this result promising and at least better than the original edition which is even worse:

Barber 3 slurs Finale corrected1.jpg

I like how you put the 3 slurs together. Better than the 1 slur and far better than the Barber original. I put in a suggestion to MM that they should incorporate a Illustrator-type pen tool to make these sort of tasks a bit easier. I haven't gotten a reply as yet.

[OCTO]

A big disappointment to me is the Sibelius-style Note Input. Articulations, dotted notes, go in BEFORE the note is input. You cross the tee's and dot the eye's, not the other way around. I'll wait and see how Dorico evolves.

Agree. I will wait for Dorico when it fits my needs.

[John Ruggero]

Thanks, NicholasG, I appreciate that.

I put in a suggestion to MM that they should incorporate a Illustrator-type pen tool to make these sort of tasks a bit easier. I haven't gotten a reply as yet.

My very last thread at the MM music forum was such a request. I also mentioned that I made the same request in my first post at MM forum back around 2000. Their response to yours, if it comes, will be interesting.

[John Ruggero]

Dotting and articulating a note before it has been inserted seems aimed at those who type music only. It is inconceivable for someone who writes music using a pencil and paper.

[David Ward]

Dotting and articulating a note before it has been inserted seems aimed at those who type music only. It is inconceivable for someone who writes music using a pencil and paper.

Agreed. As someone who always starts with manuscript, I'd find this very clumsy & topsy-turvy.

And on the subject of interestingly shaped slurs, I noticed some wonderfully striking ones encompassing several instrumental staves at a time in the score of Berg's Lulu while listening to a BBC Radio 3 broadcast of that opera earlier this evening (with the score in front of me).

[John Ruggero]

And on the subject of interestingly shaped slurs, I noticed some wonderfully striking ones encompassing several instrumental staves at a time in the score of Berg's Lulu...

I can imagine, David, given some of the beauties I see in the vocal score available at IMSLP! (USA and Canada only) His Piano Sonata is a feast of slurs of unusual shapes. Many of them look difficult or impossible to draw in Finale.

[NicholasG]

I can imagine, David, given some of the beauties I see in the vocal score available at IMSLP! (USA and Canada only) His Piano Sonata is a feast of slurs of unusual shapes. Many of them look difficult or impossible to draw in Finale.

True, that's why illustrator is a must for me.

[David Ward]

Here's one example of a cross-multi-stave slur fromLulu (it's difficult to scan from such a thick score, 1008 pages in two volumes). I think this one probably could be done in Finale relatively easily.

And BTW, if anyone is interested in hearing the searing performance in English from the ENO of Berg's Lulu that was the BBC Radio 3 broadcast already mentioned above, it should be hearable for the next 29 days via http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b087q1xc