User manual

ManualsBrandsSteinberg ManualsApplicationsDorico SE 3

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Table Of Contents

Transposing instruments

While most instruments produce notes at concert pitch, transposing instruments produce a note

that is different to the one that is written. For example, two common orchestral transposing

instruments are clarinet in B

♭ and horn in F.

When a clarinet in B♭ plays a C, the sound produced is a B♭, one tone below. When a horn in F

plays a C, the sound produced is an F, a

fth below. Other instruments that conventionally

produce a pitch different to the one notated include the piccolo (sounding an octave above

written), double bass (sounding an octave below written), and glockenspiel (sounding two

octaves above written).

Dorico SE stores all note information in concert pitch and automatically transposes notes as

appropriate for the transposition of the instrument. This means notes, key signatures, and chord

symbols are automatically changed in transposing layouts compared to non-transposing layouts.

You can also change instruments at any time, and the music is adjusted automatically to ensure

the correct pitches are shown.

RELATED LINKS

Instrument picker on page 93

Instrument numbering on page 108

Concert vs. transposed pitch on page 134

Making layouts transposing/concert pitch on page 133

Setting different clefs for concert/transposed pitch on page 551

Changing instruments on page 113

Hiding/Showing clefs according to layout transpositions on page 551

Fretted instrument tuning

Fretted instruments can have different numbers of strings and frets. In order to display tablature

for fretted instruments in Dorico SE, you must specify information about the tuning of fretted

instruments.

Dorico SE requires the following information to display tablature:

● The number of strings the instrument has

● The open pitch of each string

● The number of frets

● The fret number at which each string starts, such as for the fth string on a banjo

● The pitch intervals between frets

When you assign a fretted instrument to a player or change an existing instrument, any available

tunings for that instrument are shown in the instrument picker.

You can also customize all aspects of fretted instruments in the Edit Strings and Tuning dialog.

NOTE

Any fretted instruments in projects created in earlier versions of Dorico SE are automatically

assigned the standard set of strings and tunings associated with that instrument when the

project is rst opened in Dorico SE 3. The quickest way to change their tuning is changing the

instrument type in the instrument picker.