make width of measure accommodate staff text
Hi, I'm sure this is a simple thing but I couldn't find the answer in the manual or the forums.
I have staff text above a note that overruns the right edge of the measure. (See attached score.) Since the measure is the 1st ending of a repeat, this means the text extends into the 2nd ending, which is confusing and a bit ugly.
I can (I think) manually widen the measure, but in a multipart score, this would widen the measure on all the parts, creating weird gaps in those parts that do not have this lengthy staff text. So what I would like to do is tell MuseScore to adjust the measure width as needed to accommodate any staff text. (In a first-ending situation like this, I would think that ought to be the default layout, as I'm skeptical anyone would prefer the layout as it now appears.) Is there a way to do this? Thanks for any tips.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| long_staff_text.mscz | 4.18 KB |
Comments
In inspector you may change the offset of the repeat barline:
https://musescore.org/en/handbook/3/inspector#categories
or change the text alignment to center (this may be set as default in the Text Styles):
https://musescore.org/en/handbook/3/text-basics#text-formatting
Just attach it to the 1st note/chord/rest, not the 3rd
In reply to Just attach it to the 1st… by Jojo-Schmitz
That could work in some cases, but here the instruction applies midmeasure. I'd also prefer something that continues to work if the length of the text needs to change. The lyric idea has promise, though—I'll give that a try.
Wouldn't it be neater to have the instruction on two lines?
Or use lyrics
In reply to Or use lyrics by Jojo-Schmitz
Ah, yes, this is almost it. In your example it's not clear that the text applies to the third note, as it hangs over the second. But if I change the text alignment from centered to left-aligned, it begins in the right place and adjusts the measure with as needed. Thank you!
What's the difference between lyrics and staff text that makes this work automatically for the former but not the latter? Is there a property that can be changed on staff text to make it work this way also?
In reply to Ah. In your example it's… by Amaiza
Well, you're just experiencing what the main difference is...
Also lyrics don't work too well with rests, see #330269: Layout issue in lyrics for rest.
And no, there's no property for staff text to make it work the same way
In reply to Well, you're just… by Jojo-Schmitz
OK, thank you. It seems there must be some setting "under the hood" for this, since MuseScore can place text according to the two different algorithms. Would it be feasible to make this setting user-adjustable?
The usual approach for long instructions though would be to add a footnote instead.
In reply to The usual approach for long… by jeetee
Thanks, jeetee. The original example might have been misleading in saying "very long instruction": it's not much longer than what's in the example, overshooting the end of the measure by only a word or two. Putting a footnote here is not as user-friendly, as then in the midst of following the music on a page, the player has to take their eye off the staff and look around for something elsewhere on the paper, then go back to the spot on the staff where they were before, just to find out "tacet third time through" or whatever.
In most measures, staff text running past the edge of the measure wouldn't be an issue; it's only the bracket above that makes it one. I feel MuseScore's default layout in this case ought to accommodate staff text underneath a bracket; I can't envision a situation where the layout as rendered in the example file would be what a user would want. I'll open an issue for this if others agree with this.