Highlighting Actual / Nominal Bar Duration

• Feb 9, 2023 - 04:10

I see that Bars/Measures where the Actual vs Nominal Bar Durations are different MuseScore alerts to this with a small grey + or - sign. I gather that this sign will not print so I am wondering if this sign could be in a bright red colour or bright purple so it is easier to see.

I have imported a number of scanned to xml files where the import seems to regularly make the Actual bar duration for example 7/8 where the nominal duration is 4/4 and should in fact be 4/4.

Highlighting this break from the norm is useful and I like the way it is currently done in MuseScore but i would find it easier for editing purposes if the error mark was easier to see.

Is there a preference/setting I could alter to bring this about or would this have to be a feature request?

Please note that the score mark to which I refer is at the end of the straight line in this image but is partially obscured by the selection boundary line.

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• Feb 9, 2023 - 04:51

Mcl1552 wrote> I have imported a number of scanned to xml files where the import seems to regularly make the Actual bar duration for example 7/8 where the nominal duration is 4/4 and should in fact be 4/4.

I get this sort of error sometimes when importing MusicXML of Encore or Overture provenance. Thanks to the advice of Doug Kerr and discussions with Leon Vinken I've been guided to some good workarounds ... but they're not always reliable. Plus Leon improved the EML import to account for Encore and Overture MusicXML coding.

That said, when MusicXML problems persist— in MuseScore3.6.2, post import—I can fix each measure individually by changing Measure Properties>Nominal (as in Mc1555's example) from 7/8 to 4/4.

scorster

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• Feb 9, 2023 - 05:13

Following up on the previous post, there's something awkward and limiting afoot with the Measure Propereties dialog:

When I select a range of measures, MuseScore 3's Measure Propereties menu item is enabled, allowing me into Measure Propereties dialog, but any property changes apply only to the last measure in the selection! Bummer, as this would be an easy way to correct this type of meter corruption.

Interestingly in MuseScore 4, on opening the Measure Properties dialog, MuseScore changes the selection to the last measure of the user's range selection—as if a coder realized the problem without fully addressing it.

I'd venture that it's bad UI to change the user's selection spuriously and without warning.

I don't see what the conflict is with setting Measure Properties on a range of measures. If MuseScore want to restrict that facility for certain properties, why not disable them in the dialog?

Scorster

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• Feb 9, 2023 - 08:40

Thanks jeetee! I got your "Time Signature Enforcer" plugin working on selected measures, so that will be quite helpful at times. I'll try it the next time I encounter metric corruption where the notated measure content "looks" fine, and the Actual Meter is correct, but the Nominal meter differs and/or isn't a proper fit.

That said, the plugin's instructions are rather terse. In total:

• Clip or Expand measures to fit their current time signature.

• The plugin runs either on measures within a range selection or on the full score if no range is selected.

The second line speaks for itself.

However, regarding Clip or Expand measures to fit their current time signature—does that mean that the plug-in sets the Nominal time signature to the Actual time signature?

• If so, perhaps a word of caution is in order when the score or the selected passage includes pickup bars.

• If not, what does the plugin actually do?

Lastly, do you think the MuseScore v3 & v4 Measure Properties behavior is oddly and needlessly restrictive?

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• Feb 9, 2023 - 08:51

>> "does that mean that the plug-in sets the Nominal time signature to the Actual time signature?"
The other way around. The plugin will alter the measure duration so that the actual time signature of it will match the nominal set for it.

If you have an anacrusis/pickup included in the selection on which it runs, it'll lengthen that measure to match the time signature as there is no difference internally between an anacrusis or any other shortened measure.

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• Feb 9, 2023 - 08:56

As for the measure properties dialog being restrictive; it's one of those "hysteric raisins". It just was never developed with multi-measure selection in mind. To that end I prefer that it currently alters the selection to make it visible that that is the case.

But yes, there is no reason for it to not be redesigned and/or consolidated into the properties panel in MS4 to allow for more multi-measure settings to be easier changed.

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