Drumset instrument panel UI

• Mar 11, 2014 - 04:44

The drumset panel is confusing and the version in current musescore is better.

3 points:
1 - The line on the notes appear in the wrong place
2 - Why not replace the whole Drumset UI with a DrumMachine pad just like the piano keyboard?
3 - Why does the drumset panel only appear when entering note modes is pressed?

Attachment Size
DrumsetKeyboard.png 126.1 KB

Comments

What makes you say the current version is "better"? As far as I can tell, they are identical except for placement at bottom versus at left, and arrangement of the notes in a row versus a grid.

The issue with stems being drawn wrong is already reported - see #24014: Stems of notes on drum palette incorrectly positioned.

A drumpad would be a nice addition, but I can't see it replacing the current setup. As a non-drummer, and someone who has never used a drum machine, it's controls are very foreign to me. I much prefer actually seeing the actual notation I am going to be creating.

As for why the drum palette only appears when entering notes, it seems to me it would be a waste of space otherwise - I like that it goes away when not needed, which is most of the time for most people with most scores. One could say the same about the piano keyboard, but the difference here is that the piano keyboard is always optional - many people would probably never use it when entering notes. So requiring an explicit command to show it makes sense. Whereas the drum palette pretty much has to be visible in order to enter notes. Requiring users to explicitly display it every time they want to enter drum notes seems mean.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

1 - With the instruments in the left tree palette it was easier to enter the notes
As to being visible, I didn't mean to say the drum palette should always be visible but
only, like the piano keyboard, it could be toggled on/off using a button or menu command

2 - Hope stems will be corrected soon

3 - Both the current version and the recent build don't show which instrument the note
represents in the drum set, nor do they have consistent separate noteheads for the
different instruments. A drumpad palette could include both an image of a drumkit
with the instruments in their usual positions (like most of the drumset apps
on tablets), as well as its notational representation. I'm sure this would be equally
helpful for non-drummers as well as drummers. One image is worth a 1000 notes.

In reply to by avronp

I'm not understanding what you find easier about a palette on the left rather than below. Having the palette on the bottom means less mouse movement - just position the drum staff toward the bottom of the canvas while entering notes and it's always close by. With the palette on the left, the mouse movements get bigger and bigger as you enter notes left to right.

As for requiring a key to show/hide the drum palette, that's specifically what I am saying would be *bad*. Right now, pressing N to enter note input mode *automatically* shows the palette. And pressing N again to exit note input mode *automatically* hides the palette. What possible advantage could there be in requiring users to press N and then *also* press another key to show the drum palette? And then require them to press N and *also* another key to hide the palette when they are done? Or waste screen space while not in note input mode with a palette that can't be used?

Names of drums do display when you hover over them. And assuming you've taken the time to customize your drum set definition (and the new Edit Drumset button made possible by moving the palette to the bottom makes it more obvious how to do this), there shouldn't be a lot of notes you don't about. But sure, as I said, I could see people who are familiar with drum pads wanting that in addition to the notation-based method most of us would probably prefer.

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