Steinberg has released Dorico 4.3.20, a minor update to Dorico 4, and the first of 2023. Today’s update focuses mostly on bug fixes and a few small improvements to the Key Editor, MIDI import, and text enclosures.
The corresponding application Dorico for iPad is also updated; the version number there is 2.5.20.
The version history documentation for this release thoroughly documents the improvements as well as the bug fixes, which number more than 40 in all.
Improvements
Here’s what’s new in Dorico 4.3.20.
Key Editor
Dorico 4, if defined by anything throughout its development and release cycle, has been about the Key Editor and its centrality in Write mode, with its position there now firmly ensconced, after living in Play mode for Dorico’s first several years.
In what may very well be the last update to Dorico 4 before the next major version of the software, the Key Editor sees one more iteration, and it’s a helpful one: Notes in the piano roll now show their pitch name.
It’s a small but very useful addition to the piano roll interface, and makes it easier to get one’s bearing while moving around, especially when shuttling between the score notation and the Key Editor frequently.
One nice touch that exceeds the usual MIDI-based display one might find in a DAW: The Key Editor respects the enharmonic notation used in the score, as evidenced in the screenshot above (the notes are in bass clef). Notice, for instance, the G♯ and A♭ in close proximity to each other, happily coexisting.
It’s worth noting that while dragging notes up and down to edit their pitch, they may show a different pitch and accidental than after you release the mouse button to complete the drag. Patience!
Another useful bit in 4.3.20: When zooming in and out of the piano roll, Dorico now keeps the selected note or notes centered both vertically and horizontally in the view.
Rounding out the Key Editor fixes: “Previously, selecting a tempo item in the music area would always cause the Key Editor to switch to the tempo editor, removing all other editors, but now it only does this if the tempo editor was not already visible in the Key Editor. Furthermore, sometimes when switching to the tempo editor, the points in the tempo profile that you select and drag around would not draw right away; this has also been fixed,” according to Steinberg.
Enclosure colors for bar numbers and rehearsal marks
In Dorico 4.3.20, the enclosure around bar numbers and rehearsal marks will now be filled with the Background color specified in the relevant bar numbers paragraph style, if any. Please use wisely.
MIDI import
When mapping MIDI tracks to instruments, Dorico now shows the transposition for the chosen instrument, and it is possible to choose instrument variants with different transpositions if necessary. For confirmation, Dorico also shows the transposition for each instrument directly in the Instrument(s) in track column in the MIDI Import Options dialog.
Bug fixes
There are more than 40 fixes listed in the Dorico 4.3.20 update, which are listed in great detail in the Dorico 4.3.20 Version History PDF.
Availability
Dorico 4.3.20 for Windows and Mac desktop is a free update for current registered users of Dorico Pro 4, Dorico Elements 4 and Dorico SE 4 users, and is available now via the Steinberg Download Assistant.
In his official blog post announcing the update, Steinberg marketing manager Daniel Spreadbury said, “We’re already hard at work on the next major version of Dorico, and we’ll have more to say about that later in the year.”
For full coverage of Dorico 4, please read our comprehensive review of 4.0, as well as our review of the Dorico 4.1, Dorico 4.2, and Dorico 4.3 releases. For even further reading, the 4.3.11, 4.1.10, 4.0.10, 4.0.20, and 4.0.30, updates, each of which contains important information, along with our coverage of Dorico for iPad.
Dorico for iPad 2.5.20 is available in the App Store. If your device hasn’t already automatically downloaded and installed the update, you can find it in the Updates section of the App Store app on your iPad.
For the latest information about compatibility for Finale, Sibelius, Dorico, and MuseScore, as well as links to the latest news and reviews about product releases, please see the Scoring Notes Product Guide.