Rhythm mode improvement (closer to Finale's speedy entry)
This suggestion is about improving the rhythm mode input, by making it closer to Finale's speedy entry.
See this thread for more info and further discussion:
https://musescore.org/en/node/312544
There's 2 key steps:
1: Remove the possibility of note input by letter key shortcuts while in rhythm mode. This is currently quite confusing, as it's somewhere between a true rhythm mode and step-time. The only way to input notes while rhythm mode is selected should be by using the duration keys.
Letter key shortcuts should then work only as a toggle to decide which note to add next.
2: Make rhythm mode accept MIDI input as well as letter keys. That way one can easilly input chords while i rhythm mode.
Rest input would still be toggled by the 0 key (allthough this might be up for some discussion).
Comments
I would note the original request was about creating a new mode that worked more like Sppedy Entry in Finale. But I realized our current Rhythm Mode was almost this already. The only real change is that we would need entering a pitch in rhythm mode to not actually enter the pitch, but instead merely select the pitch to use for the next note, which would continue to be entered via the duration commands. So, letter names, MIDI, and built-in piano keyboard would all need to work this way.
I would add that prior to 3.5, we always used the middle staff line in rhythm mode. I added code to use the most recent pitch, so you could enter a note, change it with arrow keys, then hit a duration key to enter a new notes and it would keep that same pitch. This was designed to mimic another program - Capella? - a bit better, and also just seems very logical, especially for percussion.
The way I implemented this doesn't actually involve maintaining any "state" as far as what that current pitch is - we just check the pitch of the selection. So, to implement the suggestion here, we might need to add some notion of pitch to the current input state.
Another way of achieving the overall goal somewhat differently would be to change the behavior of the pitch commands to not enter a new note but instead alter the pitch of the most recent note - basically, act like repitch. This would result in a workflow that is functionally equivalent to what is being requested,d but the you'd actually press the duration then the MIDI key, rather than the other way around. So an adjustment to make for Finale users.
In reply to I would note the original… by Marc Sabatella
> instead merely select the pitch to use for the next note
That's almost how it works in Finale. In Finale you don't choose the next note, but rather the current note - meaning that you have to press and hold the key on your midi keyboard, or move your "input cursor" to your selected line, then you enter your note whit the duration keys. If you press a duration key without holding a chord on your midi keyboard, you'll get a rest.
> This would result in a workflow that is functionally equivalent to what is being requested,d but the you'd actually press the duration then the MIDI key, rather than the other way around.
To me, this is less desirable. The "power" of finale's speedy entry is that you can sit noodling around on your midi keys without any notes being entered. When you've found your wanted note/chord/voicing (this is especially helpful to me when writing non-traditional harmony), you hold the note and enter it at your desired duration. Very quick and clean, and gives you the power of using your midi keyboard to play around without having to eneter and exit note input mode.
Pressing the duration key then the midi key takes away from this lovely workflow, and would be a step in the wrong direction, I think.
OK, thanks for that insight, I hadn't considered that type of workflow. So maintaining "current pitch" is definitely more desirable. But, when you mention chords, that makes it a bit more complicated still, now we can't just remember the pitch but need to actually look at what keys are currently being pressed, since there might be more than one. Not sure if that's easier or harder to implement, but anyhow, I guess that is what is needed.
In reply to OK, thanks for that insight,… by Marc Sabatella
I'm not at all the one to say what's more complicated in terms of coding - that's above my pay grade! :-) But. if it's possible to look at which keys (midi or computer keyboard) are being pressed, then that would take rhythm mode very close to that of Finale's speedy. If one then discarded the rest toggle by pressing 0, and substituted rest input by duration key alone, we'd be all the way there.
Now - that possibly takes it to far from rhythm mode as it exists now. Maybe it would then be better to make an additional input mode, using rhythm mode as the template and adding the changes above?
I apologize for commenting so late on this entry, but I do believe it's an important consideration for the future of Musescore, so I wanted to give my input.
"The 'power' of finale's speedy entry is that you can sit noodling around on your midi keys without any notes being entered." -from
Marius Munthe-Kaas
This I think is the most important part of his posts. Currently in Musecore, there's no way to doodle on your keyboard unless you turn off note entry (which requires switching modes with your mouse or a shortcut, it wastes mechanical time-efficiency for more skilled users). This seems incredibly rare of a tool in any notation program, and it seems Finale just happened to think about it and implement it years ago. I think that's why so many engravers have gravitated towards it, because its intensely useful for composers who like to work in notation programs first because they lack timing skill to record real-time in a sequencer. Being able to doodle without note entry allows one to preview with sound how they'll decide durations in one pass. With 2-3 tools in Musescore already acting much like Finale's "Simple Entry" (where any note played on a keyboard instantly produces a note/rest duration) it's difficult for composers/engravers who got used to this type of note_pitch > note_duration entry.
I'm unaware of the programming side as well, as I'm only a beginner in that field, but the focus goal might remain in having a way to hear the keyboard being played without a duration being generated until both the piano keyboard and typing keyboard have been pressed. I've always guessed that it could be a patent of Finale requiring a different method of implementation to avoid lawsuits, but I don't know if that may be difficult to program as well. That's my thoughts on this topic and I hope they help.
These lines may be of relevance: https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore/blob/master/src/libmscore/score…
Yes, and it's the lines right before that block where we first try to re-use the previous note, which was the improvement I referred to in my first reply.
In reply to I apologize for commenting… by jrubz
I completely agree: "The 'power' of finale's speedy entry is that you can sit noodling around on your midi keys without any notes being entered." -from Marius Munthe-Kaas.
All the examples of note entry I've seen, imply you know what you want to write before you commit the note. I don't write that much music, although would like to write more. I know the harmony I want to produce, but not the skill or intuition (yet) to be able to know what not to enter all the time.
Messing around, finding the notes THEN comitting them with a note value just makes way more sense to me than the other way around. As a side topic, being able to play along with a score to audition stuff during play back would also be a really useful feature, but that's not possible either - but is seemingly compatible with Finale style note entry.
This issue tracker has been discontinued, so re-request on GitHub