Custom Time Signature

• Oct 5, 2014 - 05:25

I have compiled 2.0 from source today and had these problems. I could not test them on the nightly builds because they are not running, at least here in my computer, giving some strange error, but I think probably it would be the same as the code compiled here. (Btw I never know if I should post stuff like this in Technology Preview or Support and Bug Reports)

I tried to open the Master Pallete and create a new time signature. I created a 5/4 measure that shows as 3+2/4. When I click add, it appears in Master Pallete alright. First problem is that if I drag this new time signature to my score it appears as 5/4, even if it appears as 3+2/4 in the Master Pallete window. The second problem is that I can't add it to the normal Pallete. I does not allow me to drag this signature to the Pallete or nothing like that. The same thing is happening to Key Signatures. They all appear as a empty signature when I drag my custom Key Signature to the score.

Also, in 1.3 I once used a tupled based signature (like 8/6) and it almost worked. The playback was right, but in the notation program just approximated the duration in 64th notes. I was really expecting to be able to do this correctly in a future version, but it looks like the possibility to put a denominator that is not a power of 2 was just removed instead. Pretty sad.


Comments

For being able to add it to the normal palette you first need to create yourself a custom palette, the ones that come with MuseScore, advanced and basic, are read only

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

Well there's really no way to post a score, but I can guide you through the proccess.

1 - Open the Master Pallete
2 - Create a new time signature filling the custom text, (a 5/4 bar with custom text 3+2/4) and click Add.
3 - It will appear in the pallete as 3+2/4, just as expected.
4 - Put it in your score
5 - It will appear as 5/4

The same thing with ccustom key signatures. They always appear in score as a empty signature.

Or maybe this is happening just to me... but I'm using the most recent code.

In reply to by Jojo-Schmitz

Thanks. Reading one of those pages I just discovered that custom time signatures are already implemented and you can edit the properties of an already existing time signature on the score to make one that appears correctly. But still, dragging a time signature from the pallete does not work. The problem must be with the pallete itself, instead of the time signature

I also noted the limitations of the master palate and I can specifically enter two numbers and if there are no complications toss it in manually, but I believe I have come across a section of my composition where I want to use 11 and a fourth/four but that seems to be impossible. Rly wish this could be addressed or if there is an alternate route please share.

Thanks.

How about a time sig where the bottom element is expressed as a note symbol? For example, 6/8 as a 2 over a dotted quarter-note. The top element indicates the number of beats per measure, and the bottom element is the unit or structure corresponding to 1 beat.

Also how about compound time-sigs like, say, 5/4 + 3/8 which technically is a subgrouping of 13/8 but would be nice to show explicitly.

In reply to by dhfx

See the discussion above and/or the Handbook. You can already create custom time signature displays via Time Signature Properties, as explained. This supports additive notation. It does not currently support non-standard notations like use of note symbols, however.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

One way to do e.g. 6/8 as 2 over a dotted quarter note would be to represent the time signature as a graphic. Set the time sig in the score as 6/8 but mark it to not be visible; then import the graphic as e.g. a .gif with the background set to be transparent, and overlay it wherever it should appear.

This would also work for the practice in many contemporary scores of having a single large time signature vertically centered, by using an enlarged graphic (it would still have to be imported and overlaid on each of the individual parts).

Requirements to be able to do this are (1) to be able to import a graphic and (2) to position it on the score/staff/system and have it keep its relative location. Also, how can the fonts for notes and time-sig numerals be accessed?

In reply to by dhfx

I haven't looked around for where MS puts its fonts, but you should be able to copy them to your system font folder and all you other programs could then access them. I don't know what the other OS require, but Windows just needs it in the correct folder.

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