Finale-to-Dorico Concept Comparison
Introduction
Transitioning from Finale to Dorico involves exposure to new concepts, workflows, and a different user interface. While Dorico introduces a structured, rules-based approach, it also provides powerful advantages not seen in Finale, including:
- Editing and modifying notes in any direction with arrow keys and shortcuts.
- Changing durations dynamically with simple keyboard commands.
- Automatic insertion of rests and ties according to rules set in Options
- Making non-contiguous selections and applying changes simultaneously.
- Dropping any selection anywhere in the score with an Alt/Opt-click.
- Quickly applying articulations and dynamics to entire stack selections.
- Filtering selections by chord members, making orchestration easier.
- Simultaneous note entry into multiple staves, streamlining orchestration.
- Duration editing (Write Menu), splitting notes
Understanding these differences will greatly improve workflow efficiency and allow Finale users to take full advantage of Dorico’s capabilities.
Comparison of Terms and Concepts – Finale vs Dorico
| Finale Concept | Dorico Concept (Dorico Web Help) | Dorico Menu Location / Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| What is a Flow? | Flows | Used for multiple movements, exercises, or show tunes in one file. Can be disabled in project setup. If starting a document outside the Hub, a single measure appears, requiring manual setup. |
| Score Manager | Setup Mode | Setup Mode – Used to manage instruments, players, and layouts. In Dorico, Players hold Instruments rather than staves being assigned directly. |
| Page Layout Tool | Engrave Mode Frames Frame Chains | Engrave Mode – In Dorico, text and graphics are placed inside Frames contolled by rules, rather than being freely placed. Music Frames can display different Flows via Frame Chains, allowing multiple pieces or layouts in one project. Overrides modify individual pages without affecting Page Templates. |
| (No Equivalent in Finale) | Jump Bar | Press J to quickly access any menu item, option, or command. The Jump Bar replaces the need for extensive menu navigation and allows for rapid workflow. |
| Tools Palette | Entry Mode Panel | Write Mode – Dorico consolidates entry methods into a single Entry Mode Panel, offering direct access to articulations, slurs, tuplets, accents, and more, rather than relying on separate tools. |
| Articulation Tool | Entry Mode Paste Special | In Dorico, articulations and Slurs are note properties, applied via Entry Mode Panel or shortcuts. Unlike Finale, articulations can’t be isolated by the Edit Filter, and instead are edited as part of the note. To copy articulations separately, use Edit > Paste Special > Paste Articulations. |
| Chord Symbols & Chord Library | Chord Popover Engraving Options | Write Mode – Chord symbols (Shift+Q) are controlled by Engraving Options. Chords are entered as if in a staff but become part of the System Track. Only one chord track is allowed, but it can be displayed anywhere. |
| Layers | Voices | Write Mode – Dorico uses Voices to separate independent musical lines within a staff. Unlike Finale’s Layers, these are dynamically assigned. |
| Notes and Rests as objects | Entries on a grid | Notes are grid-based and governed by rules for display. Rests and ties are entered automatically according to Engraving Options settings—Finale users do not need to enter rests manually in Dorico most of the time. |
| Playback Templates | Playback Templates | Play Mode – Replaces the need for manual sound assignments by allowing preset configurations of instruments, playback techniques, and VSTs. |
| Endpoints | Endpoints | Play Mode – Endpoints store the assignment of instruments, devices, and expression maps, allowing quick reloading of sound configurations. |
| Edit Filter | Edit>Filter | Dorico has many filtration types, more than Finale, accessed either through the Edit>Filter submenu, or by Contextual Menu when items are selected. Filters can be positive or negative, via Select or Deselect when applying a Filter. |
| Human Playback | Playback Options Playback and Playing Techniques | Dynamics, note length and velocity are controlled by rules in Playback Options, offering reduced duration for repeated notes, automatic accents, highlighting of lead lines and other variables in tables, all accessible to the user |
| Jazz Playback | Playback Options>Timing Tempo Popover | In Dorico, swing is set for the document in Playback Options>Timing, and locally using the Tempo Popover |
| Resize Tool | Layout Options | Size of items is rules-based and controlled by dialogs in menus including (mainly) Layout Options. Size of individual items is controlled in the Properties panel. |
| Percussion Layouts MIDI Maps | Percussion Kits Percussion Maps | Dorico’s Percussion Kits permit the integration of sounds from different libraries into the same Kit, unlike Finale, which could only present from one sound library per Percussion Layout. Percussion Maps in Dorico route the note in the score to the correct note in the Device for playback. |
| (no Finale equivalent) | System Track | Doric’s System track provides a means of making bulk selections, and provides “hosting” for elements like Chord Symbols and Lyrics. When chords are entered or editied in any staff in the score, the chord becomes part of the System Track, and displayed in other staves according to rules and settings, including the creation of Chord Symbol Regions, or possibly Slash Regions, or for the entire staff via settings in Setup. The easiest means of selecting chord symbols requires using the System Track to select everything in the range, then filter for Chords. |
| Staff Styles Repeat Tool | Repeat Structures Tool Slash Voices Chord Symbol Regions Slash Regions Notation Options Engraving Options | Rathern than a Staff Styles menu, Dorico has many other ways of displaying information like slashes and cues, appearing in various other tools and menus, including the Properties Panel. Dorico also has a Slash Voices function for displaying rhythm slashes. The Repeat Structures tool has a palette and Popover, and it’s used to enter single and 2-bar repeats, tremolos, slash regions, and ending structures. |
| (no Finale equivalent) | Cues | Dorico has a Cue popover (Shift-U) that enables the display of a cue from any other instrument in the score over a selected, region along with information identifying its source |
| (no Finale equivalent) | Harp Pedals | Dorico has a built-in Harp Pedal calculator, programmed by Popover, or parsing a region for the notes it contains via Write>Calculate Harp Pedals. Entering a starting note, ending note, and calculating the pedals produces playback in a few easy steps. |
| Fingering (Articulation or Expression Tools) | Fingering Popover | Dorico includes a database of fingerings for all instruments, which can be displayed in exercises according to settings in Engraving Options, and settings in the Properties Panel, which also offers the choice of string on which the note is to be played. Fingerings can be entered via Popover. |
Additional Notes
- Dorico’s approach is rules-based, reducing manual adjustments needed in Finale.
- Many Finale tools are replaced by flexible, context-aware popovers in Dorico.
- Playback control in Dorico is more advanced, allowing direct editing of Continuous Controller Data, note durations, velocity and Tempo Map in the DAW-like Key Editor, as well as granular editing of performance parameters in Playback Options