Trills in playback

Dorico Pro plays back trills by using a combination of sampled trills, when available, and triggering multiple notes.

  • You can find options for trill playback on the Trills page in Play > Playback Options.

Dorico Pro can play back sampled half-step (semitone) and whole step (tone) trills automatically if these playing techniques are defined in the VST expression map, which is the case for a number of instruments in HALion Symphonic Orchestra. For sample libraries that do not provide sampled trills, or for intervals beyond a whole step, Dorico Pro generates trills. If your project contains some trill intervals that can only be generated, you can disable sampled trills and use generated trills throughout to produce a more consistent result.

When playing generated trills, Dorico Pro incorporates grace notes immediately before and after trills. A single unslashed grace note on the initial trill note produces an appoggiatura, while multiple grace notes on the initial trill note are included in the trill pattern. Grace notes on the note immediately following a trill are also included in the trill pattern.

Figure: A trill with grace notes at both the start and end

Variable speeds within trills are included in playback. You can determine the default playback speeds of slow, normal, and fast trills on the Trills page in Playback Options, and you can change the playback speed of individual trills. Additionally, you can hide trill speed changes in trill extension lines whilst retaining the speed changes in playback.

In contemporary performance practice, trills are usually performed starting on the written note, while in the historical performance practice of the Baroque and Classical eras, trills are usually performed starting on the upper (trilled-to) note. You can change the default starting pitch for trills individually and by changing the default setting.

Another common performance practice, in particular for Romantic piano music, is to perform all trills with an acceleration, starting slowly and getting faster during the trill. You can choose this setting on the Trills page in Playback Options. It applies to all trills whose speed has not been changed.