User manual

Table Of Contents

Inputting vs. editing

Dorico SE distinguishes the processes for inputting and editing music.

Inputting

If you can see the caret, you are inputting new music. The caret must be activated in order to

input notes and notations. If the caret is activated, selecting tools or items in the Notes toolbox

and the Notes panel affects the note or chord that you are about to input, as you can specify the

duration, rhythm dot, accidentals, and articulations. Then you specify the pitch by clicking the

note into the score, by pressing the letter name of the note on your computer keyboard, or by

playing the note or chord on your MIDI keyboard.

When the caret is activated, notes and notations are input at the caret position.

If no notes or chords are selected in the music area and you select a duration, either by pressing

its key command or by clicking it in the Notes panel, mouse input is activated. If you move the

mouse pointer over the staff, a shadow note is displayed to indicate where the note will be input

if you click.

NOTE

Deactivating mouse input prevents Dorico SE from starting mouse input in this circumstance.

Editing

If you cannot see the caret, you can edit existing music. Editing music includes deleting notes

and notations, which you can only do in Write mode, although you can also delete notes in Play

mode but not notations. You can switch back and forth between inputting and editing at any

time.

When the caret is not activated, new items are input at the position of the rst selected item in

the music area. If there is no selection, the mouse pointer is loaded with the new item. The item

is then created at the location where you click.

To edit existing notes and notations, you must select them in the music area. This allows you to

update the selected notes or items when you select, for example, new note durations,

accidentals, or articulations in the Notes panel.

We recommend that you spend a moment to understand the difference between how Dorico SE

behaves if the caret is shown and if it is not. In the latter case, all editing functions operate on the

items that you have selected in the music area.