controlling the size of each measure
I need some abilities to edit, alter, &/or control the size of measures and I am simply not finding this in Musescore. Any pointers, clues, suggestions, workarounds etc. would be much appreciated. Examples:
how can I create uniform sized measures whose size doesn't later self-adjust depending upon the contents(i.e., the number of notes &/or rests) of the measure?
Style / General / Edit Style / Measure allows establishing a "minimum measure width" but not a fixed measure width . . . is such an option hidden elsewhere?
Edit / Tools / Add/Remove System Breaks allows me to determine how many measures appear per line(useful), but again, the width of the individual measures aren't uniform but rather controlled still by their individual content . . .
any solutions?
What other alternative software programs would allow me, for example, to simply select and drag the bar line to widen or narrow an individual measure regardless of its content?
Does Musescore, or any other program, allow me to pre-set the width of all measures to a customizable measurement such as 1.5 inches?
Is there a way to alter the width of a single measure?
In advance, thank you folks!
~mikey
Comments
a way to alter the width of a single measure
https://musescore.org/en/handbook/layout-and-formatting#layout-stretch
HTH
To create consistent width measures, pick the shortest note that will be in any of the measures, then put in that length note repeatedly to fill the measure. Put this in an unused voice and then make it invisible and make it not play in the inspector. You can copy this to all the measures you want to (mostly) make the measures consistent in width. Accidentals will increase the width some, but you can minimize this difference by selecting the beam and checking local relayout. You will also see that any measure with a key or time signature inserted will always be wider than a measure without these and there is little that can be done about this.
There are definite advantages to this for specific purposes but should not be routinely used for notating music. There are major disadvantages because a measure with only a whole note will be the same one with 16 16th notes.
In reply to To create consistent width… by mike320
@w3id4ms, see: https://musescore.org/en/node/100741#comment-448486
In reply to To create consistent width… by mike320
I agree with the above - if you really need fixed width measures, you can do it by filling them with invisible sixteenths or whatever and/or fiddling with the stretch of individual measures one at a time, but I highly recommend against this unless you have some very specific purpose for it, because it is counter to standard engraving practice and actually decreases the readability of music.
I realise this is old, but in case somebody else needs to do this If you set the minimum width of a measure to a percentage of the page width, all the measures will be the same unless you have a busy measure. I set my minimum width up until I get N-1 measures per line, then go back down 1 on the width. I use it to print pages for my students to have blank space for filling in theory exercises and the like. When a measure is really busy it will grow, but for my purposes it works well.
My 2¥
In reply to I realise this is old, but… by billyrbennett
Can I get a copy of that score to fiddle with? I'm trying to get something similar done (actually I'd like to set the score as the attachment)
In reply to Can I get a copy of that… by emilianoheyns
That example should be straightforward to engrave. and the measures should already come out the same width because they are all full of eighth notes. And even if they weren't, as soon as you add horizontal frames to each system to keep the measures from stretching to the right margin, the measures would be forced to the same width.
So if you're having some sort of problem, best to start a new thread and attach your best attempt, and then we can understand where you are having trouble and assist better.