Simultaneous Time Signatures

• Jul 23, 2011 - 21:23

Hello,

I was wondering if it would be possible to have a piece where in a middle section one or two bars just repeat in all instruments, each instrument in a different time signature, for a denominated number of beats (probably not all instruments are going to end on the last note of the respective bar(s) so it would probably be necessary to manually input a number of counts to wait), and then going on, most likely all back to a single time signature. This is done in Frank Zappa's "Toads Of The Short Forest" on the Weasels Ripped My Flesh album, and I wanted to transcribe this song. If this is not possible, is there any way this feature will be added to upcoming MuseScore versions?

Thank You In Advance!

Comments

• Jul 26, 2011 - 07:45

Yeah, I was talking about like, 7/8, 5/8, and 3/4 all at the same time.

And that link looks like what they're doing is taking one time signature and putting it into the equivalent of another. But what if the two are meant to be uneven? Like when the 5/8 starts repeating, the 7/8 still has two more beats to go.

Another idea is simultaneous alternate tempos, like a piano going at 80 and a sax going at 100 and the sax getting a certain number of measures in the time that a piano gets a certain amount and then both changing to the same tempo. I know this was done in some of Captain Beefheart's work.

Thank you for your time and response!

Reply

• Jul 26, 2011 - 16:35

You're kind of looking at limitations inherent in Western notation. I mean, sure, there is room for enhancement of MuseScore's capabilities, but standard notation can only do so much. Not all sounds can be represented this way. For the most part, you're generally better off using a sequencer to get the effect you want in terms of sound, and then notating the parts separately.

Reply

Do you still have an unanswered question? Please log in first to post your question.