Insert new time-signature without displacing following measures
I apologize in advance, as I'm sure this has already been dealt with- but I've not been able to find the thread. I need to insert a measure containing a different time-signature than what comes before and after. I've inserted the new measure, but when I attempt to change that measure's time-signature, it ends up rhythmically displacing everything after that. How can I keep the following measures intact while increasing the number of beats in the preceding measure?
Comments
You have to put the original time signature into the measure following the one with the changed signature. This is not a Musescore thing. Musicians reading the music need that reset time signature; otherwise they too assume the time signature stays the same from the changed measure to the end.
In your situation--squeezing the new measure between two measures of your piece--you might enter the time signature into the measure following the planned insertion before you insert the new measure. That should "proof" the tail end of your piece.
In reply to You have to put the original by azumbrunn
Thanks for the response. My assumption was that trying to place the same time-signature that already exists after the measure I intended to change would do nothing- since that time-signature was already in effect. But doing this is possible, and it "proofs" the music coming after from being displaced rhythmically. So the answer would be to insert the time-signature that already is there in subsequent measures, and after doing so, the time signature in the preceding measure can be changed without displacing what comes after.
My common-sense solution has been to just copy/paste the following measures after making the time-signature change. Perhaps there's an easier way to insert a measure with extra or fewer beats, in which case responses to this thread may prove helpful to others?
In reply to My common-sense solution has by lewisk
The problem with allowing the time signature change then fixing it later is that some notes longer than a beat might end up getting converting to notes tied across the barline during the initial pass, and this won't automatically be converted back later. Much better to use the solution of first protecting the area you *don't* want change with another copy of the original time signature.
BTW, if you have a passage of *more than one* measure you wish to change to a new time signature, there is a convenient shortcut for this. Select the region then double click the desired time signature in the palette. This will automatically place the new time signature at the beginning of the passage and then restore the old at the end. But we don't do this (restore the old time signature at the end) if only a single measure is selected, because it is assumed people would more commonly use that method to change the time signature more permanently. That is, if you want the time signature to change from 4/4 to 3/34 from that point forward, selecting the measure then double clicking 3/4 in the palette has this effect, and we are assuming that's more common than literally wanting it to change for just the one measure. This may or may not be a valid assumption; I second guessed myself quite a bit when implementing that.
In reply to The problem with allowing the by Marc Sabatella
THANK YOU!!!!!
I’m a little confused by what you say about “rhythmically displacing everything after that.” If the new signature occupies a fewer or greater number of beats, then of course it will “displace” what follows it.
If you want to change the time signature in just one measure, you simply do so, and insert another copy of the original time signature in the following measure. Do this every time the time signature may change.
In reply to Iâm a little confused by by mrobinson
Rhythmically displaced refers to note shifting in the measure and to the previous or next measure causing for example 1 half note to now span 2 measures and become tied 1/4 notes. Inserting the duplicate time signature after the measures that will change assures all the following measures will remain the same, you can then merge, split etc. the measures with the different time signature as needed.
Ideally you know you are making a temporary time signature change and you don't enter the notes in the following measure until you change the time signature back, but the reality is that in composing you sometimes change you mind too late for this. When I transcribe songs without local time signatures I always follow the ideal. When I transcribe or write songs with local time signatures I do the first method above and it just works better.
Very informative, thanks. Yes, it's good to know inserting a "duplicate" time signature protects that area from rhythmic displacement when inserting new measures with different time-signatures.
To be clear, since some seemed confused by my use of the term "rhythmic displacement," the problem was not that measures after a time-signature change were re-written in the new time-signature, but that the original first beat of the following measure was automatically being changed (or "displaced") to preserve the original number of beats of rest added when I inserted the new measure. E.g. given a 3/4 time-signature, inserting a measure gives 3 new beats of rest; but then changing that empty measure to 4/4 means keeping the previously added 3 beats of rest and dragging the original downbeat of the following measure to beat 4 of the new 4/4 measure.
In reply to Very informative, thanks. by lewisk
rests or notes, its the same idea.