Steinberg has released Dorico 6.2.30, a free maintenance update to Dorico 6 that deepens the Cantai vocal synthesis integration introduced in Dorico 6.2.20, adds new options for glissando lines, and continues a steady run of MusicXML export improvements. More than 40 bug fixes are also included.
The version history documentation for this release thoroughly documents the improvements as well as the bug fixes.
Here’s what’s new in Dorico 6.2.30.
Cantai support
Dorico’s integration with Cantai gets a meaningful extension in this update. Cantai is the vocal synthesis plug-in from Turing Opera Workshop and Edge Audio Labs that launched with Dorico 6.2.20 last month, and reviewed in depth here by David MacDonald.
Independent voice playback. It is now possible to enable independent voice playback for instruments routed to Cantai. Click Enable Independent Voice Playback in the Track Inspector panel in Play mode, as you would for any other instrument. If you are using the Cantai playback template, Dorico will automatically load and assign the required additional Cantai instances for each voice; if you are managing Cantai yourself, you will need to add new instances in the VST and MIDI panel and assign them to each voice in the Track Inspector.
This update also brings several Cantai-specific fixes, including improved handling of lyrics in repeated passages, correct behavior when a non-zero pre-roll value is set, and better handling of player names — including transliteration of non-Latin characters and unique naming in cases where multiple players would otherwise share the same name.
Glissando lines
Custom wiggly line appearance. A new Draw wiggly glissando lines using option has been added to the Design section of the Glissando Lines page of Engraving Options. You can now choose between the default wiggly line (which uses the traditional trill wiggle glyph) or any line style in your project. In new projects, the Wiggly line horizontal line style is used by default; existing projects are unchanged. A new Line style property in the Properties panel also allows the appearance of individual glissando lines to be overridden on a case-by-case basis.
MusicXML export improvements
Dorico’s MusicXML interoperability has been a focus of sustained development since the end of Finale sent a large wave of users in search of a new home, and 6.2.30 continues that cycle.
Pedal lines. Piano pedal lines — for both sustain and sostenuto pedals — are now included in exported MusicXML files. Una corda/tre corde pedal lines, which are not supported by the MusicXML format, are exported as text items.
Hidden notes. Notes hidden in the layout to be exported now have their hidden state respected. Notes with stems are exported as hidden if both the notehead and stem are hidden via their respective properties; whole notes and longer require only the Hide notehead property to be set.
Tuplets. Tuplet brackets and digits hidden by engraving options — for example, tuplets whose duration matches a beamed group — are now exported to MusicXML accordingly.
Several other MusicXML import and export issues have also been fixed, including a rare case in projects with custom music frames where exported files could contain no musical material at all.
Other improvements
Default output level. The Default output level slider on the Play page of Preferences is now paired with an editable value field, allowing you to type an exact dB value directly rather than relying solely on the slider.
Circa spacing. A new engraving option allows you to control the spacing between a circa abbreviation and an approximate metronome mark — accommodating the different publisher house styles that prefer either c. 112 or c.112.
Bug fixes
The version history documentation documents more than 40 bug fixes, including improvements in dynamics editing, messa di voce appearance, guitar bends and harmonics, repeat structures, Engrave mode workflows in projects with multiple music frame chains, MIDI export of alternating time signatures, mixer synchronization, percussion kit handling in Play mode, and user interface sorting behavior, among others.
Availability
Dorico 6.2.30 for Windows and Mac desktop is a free update for current registered users of Dorico Pro 6, Dorico Elements 6, and Dorico SE 6, and is available now via the Steinberg Download Assistant.
For full coverage of Dorico 6, please read our comprehensive review of Dorico 6 and the posts about Dorico 6.2.20, Dorico 6.2.10, Dorico 6.2, Dorico 6.1, Dorico 6.0.22, and Dorico 6.0.10, and listen to our podcast episode featuring an interview with Daniel Spreadbury.
Dorico 6.2.30 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 Sibelius, Dorico, and MuseScore Studio, as well as links to the latest news and reviews about product releases, please see the Scoring Notes Product Guide.