Changing the played duration of notes

After reducing the final tempo of the poco rit. in the previous task, it sounds like the played (sounding) duration of the last chord in bar 42 should be adjusted for a smoother transition back into the starting material. You can change the played duration of notes in Dorico without affecting their notated duration.

These adjustments are subjective, but we suggest making the quarter note (crochet) sound a little shorter and the eighth notes (quavers) sound a little longer to create the effect of a breath before the start of bar 43.

Prerequisite

Make sure that Played Durations Played Durations button in the Key Editor toolbar and Select Select button in the Key Editor toolbar are selected in the Key Editor toolbar.

Procedure

  1. If required, adjust the size and zoom of the Key Editor, so that notes in the piano roll editor appear comfortably wide and tall for you to make adjustments.

    • You can use Resize Lower Zone Resize Lower Zone button in the Key Editor toolbar and the zoom controls at the right/bottom of the Key Editor. You can also press G to make notes appear wider, and Ctrl/Cmd-Shift-G to make notes appear taller.

  2. In bar 42, click and drag the right end of the E♭ quarter note on beat 3 to the left a little to shorten its sounding duration.

    Reducing the duration of the E♭

  3. Click and drag the right end of the other notes on beat 3 to the right a little to lengthen their sounding duration.

    Increasing the duration of the other notes

    • They don’t have to line up; in fact, having them end at slightly different times creates a more natural effect.

Result

You have overridden the default played durations of some notes without changing how they are notated in the score.

Played durations overridden

After Completing This Task

  • Click in the ruler in the Key Editor or track overview anywhere in bar 41 to move the playhead there, then press Space or Enter to start playback and hear how this sounds.

  • If you want, you can continue tweaking the played durations of notes, dynamics, and/or tempo fluctuations throughout the piece.

    Note

    Moving the start/end positions of dynamics and tempo marks in their respective editors, such as making a rit. start on beat 1 rather than beat 2, affects where those items appear in the music. This also applies to moving or lengthening/shortening notes with Notated Durations Notated Durations button in the Key Editor toolbar selected in the Key Editor toolbar.