List of perspective features for consideration

• May 8, 2020 - 14:05

Dear users and developers. In this thread I would like to make a list of feature requests under general idea of integration and optimisation of existing features and workflow-modes of musescore. I've seen a few posts, where especially former Sibelius users ( I'm sure other experienced music notation programs users too) wish for the features that they are used to and that are proven effective. There could therefore be a good reason to have them in musescore as well. Those features are usually not fundamentally different to what musescore already does, but are just more optimised, or maybe automatised. So I'm talking about a fairly minor things, that cumulatively would make musescore easier to use. Even if the other ways of doing same operation exist in musescore, it's always a good idea to allow different methods to achieve the same goal . It makes program more versatile and suitable for different workflow habits. So the purpose of this topic is not to discuss the need of those features in detail, but to create a comprehensive list of such changes, that would be relatively easy to implement and would improve the efficiency and flexibility, of the common routine tasks for creating , editing and layout formatting in musescore or tailor different workflows and user habits.

So here are the few of those. Please add more that you think are relevant to the focus of this thread:

  1. Range selection out of step input mode (pressing "shift left/right" to exist step input and instantly create a selection). So the idea is to switch the command of "move note/rest left, or right" in the input note to a different shortcut, while pressing "shift left, shift right" shortcut would exit the note input and extend a range selection at once. This way the same shortcut does the same thing in both modes.
    https://musescore.org/en/node/304903#comment-998056

  2. "R" Repeat command behaviour in normal mode (request to allow the repeat of the ctrl selected notehead/chord)
    https://musescore.org/en/node/303858
    https://musescore.org/en/node/304051

  3. Make tremolo toggle(able) . Argument: Tremolo on individual stem is basically a playing technique, similar to articulation, and I think should be toggle enabled.
    https://musescore.org/en/comment/996984#comment-996984
    (more references?)

  4. Cue notes: - allow selecting and copying both small notes and small rests at the same time.
    (references? )

  5. allow multiple ctrl-selected notes to be copy pasted, and/or "r" repeated
    (references?)

  6. Create a one sided tie from a note in a normal mode and in range selected notes/chords
    (references?)

The following three might need separate discussion, but I include these in case some of them were discussed already.

  1. Make adjusting distance between individual staves easier.
    Spacers are doing their job, but firstly, it would be good to be able to create a stave spacer with the keyboard shortcut, secondly often there is a need to adjust space between individual staves throughout range of systems, or even the entire score. So I imagine an additional type of "spacer(s) for selected systems" that would be linked together.
    @MarcSabatella, was it discussed already? How difficult would that be?

  2. Make possible a selection of upper, middle or bottom notes of the chord also on multiple range selected chords at once, with the ability to copy paste those notes. Right now it's only possible via "ctr alt up/down arrow" on individual chords. Preferably as addition to the feature of multiple ctrl selected notes (as in feature №5 above). For example the method for it could be - range select the passage, select the upper, or lower notes of the chords with the key shortcut. The selected notes then should become not range selected, but ctrl. selected. Manipulate as necessary. This would be a simpler alternative to "explode" method, or Prune Stack plugin. There could also be a dedicated plugin for that, or implemented as a function in musescore.

  3. Selection filter:

- Possibility to assign keyboard shortcuts to the various options of the selection filter i.e. check/uncheck all, check/uncheck 2nd voice, etc.
- make selection filter to be applied only to the currently selected area and only for a current single selection command, so that once you've copied/cut out the passage the filter would be automatically reset.
- unchecking "all" option basically disables the selection that was made already. Wouldn't it be better in this scenario to make the filter "wait" for a selection option, instead of cancelling selection?
Another idea would be to make a filter to work either "exclusively" or "subtractively". Like in a DAW the "mute" button, mutes the given channel, and the "solo" button mutes everything else. For example this could be done by adding another "check" option, that switches between two modes. @MarcSabatella, what are your thoughts on that? (any references)

Please correct, or supplement if I've missed something on those, or add more requests, that were discussed already. Let's see if we can make some kind of a short list at the end.

Best,
Anton


Comments

Re No. 1: To clarify, all I did was clear the default shortcuts so that while in note input mode I am no longer able to use Shift+left or Shift+right to move a chord/rest. I still have to exit note input mode to be able to use Shift+left and Shift+right to make or extend a selection. As I never wanted to move a chord/rest and the only time I actually did make such a move it was a mistake, the loss of this function is no loss to me. But I have not added or changed any other behaviour.

It is no big deal for me to have to exit from note input mode before making a selection, but I am happy that I no longer can move chords/rests by mistake while in note input mode.

For the suggestions that are already being discussed elsewhere, I'd prefer to keep the discussion there - some of it is actually already being duplicated between separate threads and multiple issues. I'd rather see this thread focus on the new suggestions.

So:

3) seems like a no-brainer

4) they already can be copied, maybe you mean, ability to set the small property for mixed selections? it's pretty much a given that MuseScore 4 will support a greatly improved Inspector and will probably allows operations on mixed selections, so most likely this is covered already by existing design proposals

7) is worth a separate thread

8) has definitely been proposed often enough, there may even be a pending PR?

9) also worth a separate thread

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

Thank you Marc.

"4) they already can be copied, maybe you mean, ability to set the small property for mixed selections?"
- yes that would definitely help! To look a bit deeper I think the cue notes are a fairly common type of notation symbols, so much so, that they deserve to have their own "species" in the palette, or inspector. So that when I want to make a passage into a "cue note passage" it would natively include notes, rests, slurs etc. It would be just a little more convenient IMO.

And what about №5 ?

In reply to by antonjazzsax

Yes, cue notes deserve their own feature for sure, they should also turn off the playback, and they should optionally appear in parts but not score, and ideally they would be linked back to the original content also so if you change the notes they refer to, the cue is updated, etc. So that is a whole separate can of worms. There are some existing threads/issues on that, but no really concrete design proposals.

5) is indeed one of the many complexities of 2) as I described in one of the other threads on that topic, and as I said, I really want to avoid further duplication. Best to try to keep all discussion on a single topic in a single thread.

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