Defined "beat 3".

• Oct 1, 2013 - 23:18

I would very much like the option to break a duple bar at the center, as 2 - 1/8 notes ties rather than a quarter note, as referenced here: http://musescore.org/en/node/22965#comment-87653 (thanks).

Regards,


Comments

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

Sorry I wasn't clear.

For example:
In a 4/4 score:
Write an 1/8 note,
change to a quarter value
write 2 quarter notes.

At the moment, (in many's opinion correctly) you see exactly that: an 1/8 followed by 2 quarter notes.

I would like an option to set this to be keyed in as described but the result to appear as an 1/8 followed by a 1/4 followed by an 1/8 tied to another 1/8, tied over the middle of the bar in the same fashion as one can "extend" across a bar line.

In reply to by xavierjazz

Hmm, sort fo a "do what I mean, not what I say" option, then?

I don't think I'd like to see that during entry - I'd much rather get exactly what I asked for. But a utility - possibly a plugin - to run after the fact and clean up notation would be most welcome. Although it would put me out of a job - just today I gave my jazz theory class a test that covered exactly this sort of thing (taking an incorrectly written rhythm and writing it correctly) :-)

In reply to by xavierjazz

OK, but then consider, would you want a half note entered on beat 2 to similarly be automatically split up into two quarters? Or for that matter a dotted half or whole note on 1? The actual rules are kind of tricky, and as your example shows, somewhat subjective. Even in that case, the people who don't mind a quarter note straddlong beat 3 in one situation (a simple eighth quarter quarter quarter eighth rhythm) might object in more complicated cases. Sometimes, you don't even know until more notes have been entered whether it makes sense to allow that syncopation or not.

Getting this "right" is a lot more complex than simply choosing to break everything at beat 3. So it could never be as simple and absolute as the actual barline. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about notation across a barline, but quite a few about exposing beat 3. And of course, whatever algorithm is decided upon for 4/4 would not apply to other time signatures.

That said, some of this must already be done on MIDI import - perhaps not so well in 1.3, but I believe improved in 2.0. So the logic presumably already exists; it's just a question of whether/how to expose it better. I suspect that having it be a utility you run on a selection after note entry makes more sense from an implementation standpoint as well. But as long as it's an option you cam turn off, I guess I wouldn't be opposed to seeing it on note entry if that's really possible.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

I'm not talking about MIDI import, but note by note entry. As to your question about the 1/2 note over the middle, yes I would like to see 2 tied quarters.

In my quite considerable experience, when I first started to use MS I had numerous comments on these particular aspects, so now I change it for readability. As to my personal taste, I prefer the way MS handles it now. BUT, I sure would like the option..

In reply to by xavierjazz

To be clear - I realize you were not talking about MIDI. I was just observing that the necessary logic is probably already there for MIDI and could be borrowed to implement a facility to be used either on note entry or as a separate pass after entry.

But if this were done, would you really want to see the rhythm quarter, half, quarter renotated as quarter, quarter tied to quarter, quarter? I don't think I've *ever* seen that in any published music anywhere.

In reply to by xavierjazz

Unless I'm missing something, there isn't room for a half note in that measure, at least not in 4/4. But yes, as I said, the rules for when a note needs to be broken up to expose 3 are rather complex, and there are indeed some situations where a note lasting two beats needs to be broken up. But not quarter-half-quarter - that rhythm is universally notated without ties. So the algorithm needs to be able to udnerstand some of these complexities to be of much use.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

My bad, but you get the idea. Anyway, that's not the important issue - I am talking specifically about a quarter note bridging the middle of a bar, and the numerous complaints I get when it is that way rather than 2 tied 1/8 notes. I would like a facility to select either way as a default, just as a quarter ties over a bar line.

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