Two columns in one page
Hello all :)
I mostly use musescore to write down exercise I want to do on the drumset and I would like to recreate a two columns layout were with two measures each and have them play vertically (so first one column then the second).
Since I couldn't find a better way to achieve this I am using spacers and breaks, but still the software plays each line horizontally instead going vertically since the "columns" are not really there.
Is there a way to actually create two columns so that the measures inside them will be numbered and played properly?
I hope I managed to make myself clear :)
Thanks for helping! :)
Comments
If I understand you correctly, no, thus isn't something MsueScore can directly support, but then, it also isn't something most musicians would be comfortable reading either. So maybe I'm misunderstanding. A picture of a published or even handwritten example would be useful for us to understand better.
Meanwhile maybe the best way to achieve what I think maybe you mean is to simply set the page with to be half of what it actually is. Then you can export to PDF or PNG/SVG and combine the results when printing.
In reply to If I understand you… by Marc Sabatella
Hello Marc and thank you for your answer :)
a good example is "Stick control for a snare drummer book" and yesterday, after writing the question here, I tried achieving that result with the given tools and I am attaching the file here.
You will see that I did use the spacer to create the two columns and then added a text to number each measure so to clarify the order.
Unfortunately, you will also notice that the space between the measure, even if always set to the same value, does not always appear even and the number have to be updated manually.
In terms of playback, given this specific case like, were every measure sounds the same, there is no problem, but usually whne I have more difficult exercises paper I also like to play the score to better learn how it works and this is not possible in musescore, with this "columns layout", since it is playing each line horizontally.
In such case I simply change the layout to be more "traditional", but I have to say that it would be nice to have the two columns layout I am used to.
In reply to Hello Marc and thank you for… by Hebininja
Make your pages half as wide and show them side by side?
In reply to Make your pages half as wide… by jeetee
this could work to some extent, maybe...
I have to check about Title and printing...
In reply to Hello Marc and thank you for… by Hebininja
OK, I understand, it's not one piece of music that runs down one column then to the next, but a bunch of totally separate exercises that happen to be arranged in columns. If you want to hear the playback run through these in order then, probably best to follow my original suggestions of creating the music on half=wide pages then assemble it all later.
The widths of the measures are being affected by the widths of your stickings - R is wider than L. Normally, unrelated measures like this wouldn't be expected to align, but in this special case I can see why you'd want them to. So try setting a larger minimum measure width in Format / Style / Measure to force the measures the same width (other settings there might also prove useful).
BTW, you've entered these as lyrics, be aware there is a built-in sticking feature that generally works better for this purpose (see Add / Text).
In reply to OK, I understand, it's not… by Marc Sabatella
You are right, it is not an actual piece of music but just exercises placed together on the page so I totally understand it is not a priority for musescore: the result I got is anyway good enough :)
I decided to go for the Lyrics because, in the past I had issues with stickings and I found somewhere the suggestion to use lyrics instead: I will surely try sticking again.
Thank you for the answer and all help, even the one you don't know you already gave through all your answer to other users on the forum! :)
In reply to You are right, it is not an… by Hebininja
Thank you for the kind words!
There were definitely any number of bugs with sticking when the feature was first introduced, but as far as I know we've fixed pretty much everything reported. Still improvements that could yet be made, like supporting multiple "verses" of sticking better, but in general I think it should be working well now.
The two-column layout is pretty standard for a thematic index in a traditional score.
I’ve done this with frames and IMO the suggested ‘one narrow page, and fit them together later for print’ is the way to go, even for print-only projects (no playback needed).
Using frames to create two (or more) blocks of music per line causes at least two problems:
1. The ‘columns’ will not align:
[frame] Melody1 [frame] Melody2 [frame]
Musescore adjusts measure width based on the density of the music. Melodies 1&2 will not be the same width. The Layout Stretch of each will have to adjusted by hand. Any edits to the music will require a new Stretch adjustment. This must be done for every line, separately.
Three or more columns make alignment much more difficult: every Stretch adjustment affects the width of all three columns.
Exercise 1 Ex. 5
Ex. 2 Ex. 6
Ex. 3 Ex. 7
Ex. 4
Say I want to add an exercise between 2. and 3. Since the music is still horizontal to MuseScore, the exercises 3-7 must be copied and pasted by hand into their new positions, which may also require new key/time signatures. The Stretch of every line will then have to be re-adjusted.