Simultaneous vertical alignment of dynamics symbols for the entire staff
Hi,
does anyone know how to simultaneously vertically align dynamics symbols (f/p, crescendo, diminuendo) for the entire staff? I do it manually for each staff by dragging the symbols, which takes a lot of time. Maybe there is a shortcut. Also, sometimes after I align the symbols, they get misaligned again, presumably because a measure moved from one staff to another. It would be nice to know how to avoid it.
Comments
See https://musescore.org/en/handbook/4/selecting-elements#select-similar
and https://musescore.org/en/handbook/4/adjusting-elements-directly
Also see https://musescore.org/en/handbook/4/positioning-elements#autoplace-alig…, but ignore "Disable autoplace". That is generally only useful when you want to do something non-standard.
And https://musescore.org/en/handbook/4/dynamics#dynamics-style
In reply to See https://musescore.org/en… by SteveBlower
Thank you. I am aware of this information. If I select all the similar elements on a staff, I can select all the f/p but not the cresc./dim. I can select all cresc. but not dim. I can select all dim. but not the rest of the dynamics. If I drag them when selected, their relative position remains the same, so this does not align them vertically. As for the properties panel, it does not allow editing of the vertical positioning, not in MuseScore 4. This can be done using the format->style->dynamics and hairpins menu. Once I open that menu, the window covers the score, so I cannot see if the dynamics symbols are moving or not. I did resize it and tried to change the vertical alignment (I tried each Y coordinate that is possible to adjust), it does not move the hairpins. If you have a solution to this issue, please let me know. What I would like is to align all the dynamics and hairpins on a staff, simultaneously. By "staff", I mean a single stave in a system of four voices (S/A/T/B). Aligning all the dynamics and hairpins vertically for an entire score would be fantastic.
In reply to Thank you. I am aware of… by obihunphd
Having dynamics and hairpins at the same distance from the stave is the default. You can reset the locations to default by selecting everything and using CTRL+R. That is a bit of a sledgehammer as all positional adjustments will be lost, including staff/stave text etc. So, in your case select all the dynamics followed by CTRL+ R and then the hairpins followed by CTRL+R. If there is then something that has a different alignment, it should only be because the dynamic or hairpin is avoiding something e.g. a very low pitched note or a not so low pitched note with an accent or a low-hanging slur . You would need to either move/remove that "something" or set the default locations to be further away from the stave so that there is no need to avoid whatever is in the way.
It is difficult to give more specific advice without seeing the score itself (.mscz file) to see a) how things are currently aligned, and b) what settings are currently applied.
In reply to Having dynamics and hairpins… by SteveBlower
Hi, thanks for following up. Ctrl+R (or command+R for a mac) did not work for the example I am attaching. I would like to avoid resetting all positioning to default though, because I am working with a set of complex scores in which the positioning of some lyrics, etc., has been adjusted. Losing all that would be worse than adjusting the dynamics manually. The attached score has the settings I have for my scores. The only setting that pertains to dynamics is the size of f/p, which is 110%. It does not seem to affect the vertical positioning because it was not aligned in the attached score even before I uploaded my style file.
The type of vertical alignment I want to achieve is shown above the first stave. If there are lyrics above the stave, I am fine with the dynamics above it being higher than the rest. I would like the remaining dynamics to be aligned vertically.
To achieve the alignment above stave 1, I turned off the automatic alignment for the dynamics symbols above the lyrics "oo, oo" in the first sopranos. I did it to move the dynamics symbols above the lyrics. But I kept the automatic alignment for the remaining dynamics.
If you have an idea about how to align the dynamics vertically without dragging each symbol manually, please let me know. I found a video on YouTube that showed how to do it in MuseScore that had an inspector, but it does not apply to MuseScore 4.
Thanks again for looking into this. If we figure this out, it will save me a lot of work.
In reply to Hi, thanks for following up… by obihunphd
Try this Dynamics_alignment_ADJUSTED.mscz
The "oo"s were causing most of the problem.
Dynamics are positioned below lyrics by default (i.e. with autoplace enabled on both voice 1 lyric (with position set to above) and the dynamic (also with position set to above) the dynamic is placed below the lyric and nearer the stave. If you disable autoplace on the "oo"s they will sit nearer the stave and the dynamic and hairpins can be moved futher away by selecting similar and adjusting the vertical offset in the appearance section of the properties panel.
Perhaps the collision avoidance logic should be changed so that lyrics above the stave are positioned below dynamics above the stave - or to put it another way, lyrics should always be near the stave than dynamics.
In reply to Try this [inline:Dynamics… by SteveBlower
Hi, thank you. So this is what I have done to align the dynamics vertically:
1) Click on a symbol such as p/f. Command+click on a Mac (presumably right-click on a PC) opens a menu. Choose Select -> More, and check the boxes "Same staff" and "Same voice." In the Properties tab on the left, choose the tab "Appearance". Adjust the "Offset" value.
2) Repeat the same for crescendo/diminuendo on the same staff.
3) Repeat 1) and 2) for each voice.
4) Disable auto-place on the lyrics above the staff so they sit nearer to the notes and readjust the positioning of the dynamics above the same notes.
Does that sum up your suggestions? This is certainly an improvement compared to what I did before. Is there a way to select all the dynamics on the same staff and voice, f/p, cresc. and dim.? That way I could adjust the offset for all of them at once.
I agree with you about the auto-place logic. It would make sense to have the lyrics being always closer to the notes than the dynamics.
In reply to Hi, thank you. So this is… by obihunphd
I think step 4 might be best done first. Otherwise you are still fighting autoplace when you adjust the vertical offset. You can do that by right clicking and in the pop up use >Select>More>Same voice which will select all the voice 1 lyrics as a group. You can then turn off autoplace on them all with one click.
No need for step 3 either unless you have different dynamics for voice 1 and voice 2. You can do that and set the scope of the dynamic to a single voice if you need to. But in your example your dynamics apply to both voices (the default).
If you right click on one dynamic and in the pop up click on Select >Similar you will have selected all the dynamics in the score (ppp to fff) You have to do the same with < and > hair pins separately , so three operations or perhaps 5 if you also have cresc. and dim. lines. They would need to be selected and then adjusted as a group of cresc, and then a group of dim.
I have a vague recollection that there is already an issue logged in github that deals with the relative vertical placing of something or other - perhaps it is dynamics and lyrics above the stave. I will take a look and add a link here if I find it.
In reply to I think step 4 might be best… by SteveBlower
Hi,
I need to select the dynamics for a particular voice because when I adjust the position of dynamics symbols for soprano, I don't want to do the same for alto, tenor, and bass. Usually, the remaining parts need separate adjustments because they have their own high notes or lyrics above the notes. Not choosing dynamics symbols for the same voice leads to a selection of all the dynamics for all the four voices.
As for turning off the auto-place for all the lyrics, I prefer not to do that. I want the lyrics to readjust automatically in case I change something. Instead, I prefer to turn off the auto-place for the dynamics I want to move further away from the notes. That way, in case of some collision, etc. due to changes I make, I will only need to readjust that dynamics instead of every syllable in the lyrics.
I am glad we figured out MuseScore's possibilities for simultaneous vertical alignment of the dynamics signs. What we came up with is a long process that requires the following, times three: command+click, choose a menu option (Select), a sub-option (More...), two checkmarks (same staff and same voice), and then an adjustment of the offset. Even then, for some reason, setting the same offset value and other values in the Properties->Appearance does not produce vertical alignment of the selected dynamics signs. So, I prefer manual adjustment of individual dynamics signs. If I have a piano, a crescendo, and a diminuendo above one staff, it is easier to drag two of these three signs to align them than to go through all the menu options, etc.
To sum up, this could be an area for improvement in a future version of MuseScore. Unless someone has a better solution using the current MuseScore capabilities.
In reply to Hi, I need to select the… by obihunphd
" What we came up with is a long process that requires the following, times three: command+click, choose a menu option (Select), a sub-option (More...), two checkmarks (same staff and same voice)"
To shorten the process and make the experience less painful (or more pleasant...), use a shortcut in Preferences / Shortcuts.
![aselect.jpg]( "aselect.jpg")
One of these ("Select similar elements with more options" - image below ) is ready to use. All you have to do is define it yourself. For my part, I've chosen the "M" (as in More), the old shortcut for multimeasure rests. To try it is to adopt it! :)
A single click + M (e.g.), and you're in the dialog.
Then, if you're allergic to clicks, you can use the Tab key to navigate, Spacebar for a checkmark, and finally Enter for the final OK.
Personally, I don't use this Tab key here. On the other hand, the "More options" shortcut, all the time, systematically... I can't live without it... :)
Then, setting offsets in Properties is trivial. And even if you repeat it three times, it's for the whole score, once and for all.
In reply to " What we came up with is a… by cadiz1
> simultaneously vertically align
related to https://musescore.org/en/project/align
In reply to > simultaneously vertically… by msfp
That is a find, thank you so much! I will try it.
In reply to " What we came up with is a… by cadiz1
Alas, no, it's not for the whole score. I wish it was that simple. Every stave in every voice in the score has the highest notes and/or lyrics in different places. So the alignment that works for one stave leaves too much space between the dynamics and the lyrics/notes in another. And I need that space to fit a reasonable amount of music onto the page so the singers don't have to turn pages too frequently.
Thanks for mentioning the shortcuts, I may use that for something else.
In the score you provided, the problem I see is not mis-alignment. But rather mis-placement.
The p dynamic in the soprano and alto staves in measure 5 are on beat 3. In the other parts it is on beat 2. In this case, dragging the dynamics doesn't help. When I deleted the dynamics and placed them properly (range select beat two in the soprano and alto parts) and hit the p dynamic, things started to line up better. I had to move the hairpins a bit.
Similar problem in the soprano pat in measure 12.
In reply to In the score you provided,… by bobjp
n/a