Auto-adjusting note duration when changing time signature. (Or some way to bulk-change durations manually)
(Note, this is a heavily edited and shortened post since I made the video which explains things much easier. :) So some of the replies below might not make full sense, if they could be deleted.)
This is my first hour of using MuseScore. The last notation software I used was Encore. It's antiquated by comparison to MuseScore, but it handled notation in a way I haven't seen since. A score would start empty, no rests or anything. You added notes, and when the measure filled up, that was that. As such, it handled note durations differently as well. You simply selected a region, went to Notes > Duration in the menu, and change the notes to whatever you wished.
MuseScore and other notation softwares handle notation by starting with rests and notes replace them. This seems to affect the way note durations can be dealt with.
I'm converting a score passage from 4/4 into 12/8. The original composer used 4/4 time with 16th note sextuplet arpeggios as shown below.
By all means, this passage would be easier to read in 12/8 time so I changed it as shown below.
Now I need to convert the sextuplets into straight 16ths, but there doesn't seem to be any easy and quick way to do this.
I made a quick video to demonstrating how this would normally be accomplished in Encore:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhYoU-HqQIw
Is there an equivalent in MuseScore?
It looks like someone else had the same idea in mind 5 years ago:
https://musescore.org/en/node/12294
Comments
Question: What did Encore do when you converted 4/4 to 3/4 after the notes were in? Like below?
Seriously, the only occasion you would want this feature is when you want to go from triplets to compound meter. You are in the middle of a piece and decide it would be better to write it in compound meter. Every other change I can think of would lead to bizarre results like below.
![post.png]( "post.png")
That said, maybe for this special case such a feature might be on other people's wish-list. What do people think? Come to think of it I can't see an opportunity where one would change a time signature after having entered the notes other than this one.
In reply to Question: What did Encore do by azumbrunn
Sorry, I think I was editing my post while you were writing your reply! I found another thread related to mine and believe I've come to a more solid conclusion on the issue, if you're willing to read back my edited post. :) I guess I took too long!
In reply to Question: What did Encore do by azumbrunn
If I could download a copy of Encore, I bet I could make a short video to demonstrate how it handles durations and measures.... I know that Encore still exists. It's changed hands over and over, and very little development has occurred over the last 20 years! But there's still a following for it. Even after purchasing Finale years ago, and then playing with Sibellius, nothing has ever rivaled the ease of use that Encore had, even with its archaic quirks and bugs. MuseScore seems to be doing a hell of a job revitalizing notation software. Maybe I can influence the programmers into tackling this issue from a different perspective.
In reply to If I could download a copy of by Ratspeed
I've downloaded the demo for Encore 5.0.4 that Passport has put out. It's supposed to be compatible with Windows 7, but notes were handled as fonts, and there are apparently font problems or something because the notes and staff marks are entirely invisible. So I can't demonstrate until I solve this.
I also tried torrenting an old hacked 4.5 version of Encore, but it turns out 4.x versions aren't compatible with Windows 7 or higher. Meh. I'll figure something out! Maybe I need to reboot!
In reply to Question: What did Encore do by azumbrunn
I've uploaded a quick video demonstrating how Encore handles note durations in measures and how you can change the durations of notes really easily.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhYoU-HqQIw
(Is there a way I can embed YouTube videos inline?)
In reply to I've uploaded a quick video by Ratspeed
You can drag select a region of the score with Shift + Drag.
In reply to You can drag select a region by [DELETED] 5
Ah! Thank you.
.... But can you change note durations of the notes you select? :)
In reply to Ah! Thank you. .... But can by Ratspeed
So you want to change note durations without shifting the barlines?
Seems to me this is a big flaw (bug is too small a word for this!) in Encore. It allows you to write incorrect measures without even flagging them. You convert a 4/4 into a 3/4 bar and the program leaves the fourth note in place, though the playback tacitly corrects to the 3/4 bar by omitting the last of the crotchets. Etc.
I have been type setting from old (early 19th century mostly) printed music or sometimes from manuscripts. Incorrect bar lengths can be found quite often in them--and even in more modern editions. Mostly it is just a rest of the wrong duration or a forgotten dot on a dotted note. But this is the kind of error that can upend a performance (if there are many notes of short duration and/or notes of different durations in a measure even an experienced musician may well miss the error). It is also the kind of error that Musescore will never end up committing!
As I said above: Some shortcut that would transform a triplet rhythm into a 6/8 (from 2/4), 9/8 (from 3/4) or 12/8 (from 4/4) or vice versa may occasionally be useful (not being a programmer I don't even speculate as to the feasibility. Maybe a plugin?). But: Measures that have too many or not enough notes / rests in them must never be displayed on the screen (let alone printed). I don't care how many other useful applications of this duration change feature you can think of when you don't record a video. What is the good of software that commits exactly the kind of errors that computers are really good at not committing?
In reply to So you want to change note by azumbrunn
No, at this point I'm simply asking for a way to change the durations of these sextuplets, period. I don't care if it auto-shoves the notes forward to match the measure lengths. I just need to "un-tuplet" the notes.
(Similarly, I need to convert the quarter notes into dotted quarter notes.)
In reply to So you want to change note by azumbrunn
This is turning from a support request to a feature request, but I've come up with an idea.
I just published a little demonstration showing how beats and tempo can be preserved between differently-ratioed time signatures.
https://musescore.com/user/11383496/scores/2467751
So, in regard to time signature replacements: What if a dialog box prompting the user to decide how the ratio conversion should be handled when replacing a time signature of a different ratio? e.g.: from 4/4 into 12/8, etc.
Choice 1) Prioritize note durations over beats.
Choice 2) Prioritize beats over note durations.
The first choice would do what MuseScore currently does. It would preserve existing literal note durations, regardless of their effect on the measures' beats.
The second choice would convert note durations into their equivalents in the new time signature. (e.g.: if switching from 4/4 to 12/8 it would convert quarter notes into dotted quarter notes, tuplets into non-tuplets. Straight 8ths would be converted into duplets. So on and so on...
I could also picture a Checkmark box called "Preserve Tempo." This would ensure that 120 means 120, regardless if it's a dotted quarter note or whatnot.