Steinberg has released Dorico 4.3.30, a maintenance update to Dorico 4. This update solves a problem whereby closing a project that used the HALion Sonic 7 instrument would cause the MediaBay server to shut down, and subsequently opening another project would hang because the MediaBay server was not running.
The MediaBay component is the universal interface used by Steinberg’s instruments to choose and manage patches. MediaBay is installed automatically by Steinberg Download Assistant, because it is a shared component used by different instruments and host applications.
At the time of the publication of this post, Dorico for iPad has not been updated; the version number there remains 2.5.20 for the moment, but a corresponding 2.5.30 iPad version is eventually expected.
The version history documentation for this release thoroughly documents the approximately 20 other improvements made in Dorico 4.3.30; we’ve also listed them below.
Improvements
Here’s what’s new in Dorico 4.3.30.
Audio engine
When using HALion Sonic 7 with Dorico 4, it was possible for Dorico to hang when attempting to open a new project after closing the first one. This was caused by a component used by the new MediaBay that is used by HALion Sonic 7 shutting down when HALion Sonic 7 is unloaded and not being able to restart again right away. MediaBay 1.0.20 and Dorico 4.3.30 together fix this problem.
Bar numbers
If the staff governing the bar numbers has a local time signature and begins with a pick-up bar, the bar numbering would incorrectly start from 1 at the pick-up bar instead of at the first full bar; this has now been fixed.
Chord symbols
Under some circumstances, edits to chord symbols at the end of one system could result in the position of chord symbols on the previous system from moving unexpectedly; this has now been fixed.
Cues
When cueing an unpitched percussion instrument onto a pitched staff, Dorico once again correctly respects the Voice direction property instead of forcing the direction of the stems.
Dynamics
If a text-based gradual dynamic is offset horizontally by an immediate dynamic to its left, Dorico would not correctly avoid collisions with the right-hand extent of the gradual dynamic; this has now been fixed.
Guitar tablature
If a fret number is shown in green (because multiple notes are assigned to the same string) or purple (because the note is not playable), these warning colors are no longer incorrectly included when printing or exporting graphics.
Jump bar
Sometimes, hitting J followed by Return to execute the last-used command in the jump bar would execute the wrong command; this has now been fixed.
Key Editor
Under some circumstances, the Key Editor would not display the percussion editor when selecting a note in a percussion kit; this has now been fixed.
Library Manager
When changing the selected type of options with a search term already present, not all matching categories were displayed; this has now been fixed.
Lyrics
Under certain circumstances, opening a project with lyrics could cause a crash; this has now been fixed.
MIDI import
When importing a MIDI file into an existing project, Dorico no longer incorrectly creates extra staves when importing a track to a player holding multiple instruments.
Playback
When determining which switch to use for a combination of playback techniques that are not all found in the expression map, Dorico now takes the note length condition into account when determining the best matching switch.
Dorico now sends the “all notes off” and “reset controller” MIDI messages to all used endpoints, including ports other than the first for VST3 devices that support multiple ports.
When independent voice playback is active, adding a staff or a divisi section to an instrument will now automatically load the required new sound, and the new voice will appear in the track overview in Play mode immediately.
Playing techniques
Under certain circumstances, deleting a playback technique could result in a crash; this has now been fixed.
Project files
If you save a project template with the same name as a factory template but with different capitalization, both your project template and the factory template would be shown in the Hub; now only your template will appear.
Under some circumstances, Dorico could crash after opening or saving a project on MacOS X 10.4 Mojave; this has now been fixed.
User interface
When the list of players is sufficiently long that the Players panel shows a scroll bar, the click area for the + button to add an instrument to the single player is now correct.
Selecting a note with a “z on stem” tremolo now shows the correct button lit up in the Tremolos section of the Repeats panel.
Localization
The guided tutorial projects now correctly appear in the Learn page of the Hub in languages other than English.
Installation
We recommend that you read the official blog post regarding this update for detailed instructions on how to download and install the update, particularly if you use Halion and MediaBay.
Next major version of Dorico; Sale on updates to Dorico 4
Barring another maintenance update to fix critical issues, it is expected that version 4.3.30 is the last of the Dorico 4 releases.
In his official blog post announcing the update, Steinberg marketing manager Daniel Spreadbury said, “We are hard at work on the next major version of Dorico, which will arrive later this year. In the meantime, we hope this last little bunch of fixes for Dorico 4 will help make your daily use of Dorico more pleasant and successful.”
In the meantime, Dorico is currently on sale for 30% off through April 5, 2023. The sale applies to all updates, upgrades and full versions, except for educational versions.
Availability
Dorico 4.3.30 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.
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 4.3.20, 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 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.