Intelligent bar sectioning

• Apr 1, 2009 - 04:40

A feature I would very much like to see is automatic division of entered notes over the middle of a bar.

Example:
4/4 time - Dotted quarter, dotted quarter, quarter. At this time, that is exactly what you get, but the middle dotted quarter should show as an eighth note tied to a quarter so that the rhythm doesn't mislead one's understanding of the pulse.

The same intelligence should be active over each quarter section, at least, and probably ad infinitum

I believe this should be the default. However, there are times when the present default is wanted, so I would, at least, like the option to set this.

I hope I'm clear. It's getting late and long for me.

Thank you.


Comments

After writing 18 scores for the band, extracting parts and having 13 pieces performed, the most common complaint was regarding how MuseScore divided the time - there was most confusion when MS arranged 3 eight notes with a single beam,, causing a "triplet" understanding when that was not the case.

There has been no reply to my first raising of this issue, so I am curious if this is being considered as a fix.

Regards,
Don

In reply to by xavierjazz

Can you give an example of the three eight notes with a single beam?

As far as the automatic ties for beat divisions, it is an idea I am uncomfortable with because most scores these days do not force ties over every beat. For example 4/4 time: eight note, followed by three quarters, followed by an eight note. I agree that the specific example you cite (with dotted quarter notes) would have an eight note tied to a quarter.

In reply to by xavierjazz

That last measure is the only one that has misleading beams. A couple choices/workarounds: break the beats manually in that one measure, or change the quarter note B to two tied eighth notes. I believe the later is the most common way you would see it.

In reply to by xavierjazz

The problem is that you are advocating complex behaviour of simple editing commands. Entering a quarter note should always give a quarter note and not sometimes two tied 1/8 notes.
We try to follow some rules for the design of user interfaces. One rule is to make commands stateless if possible. The suggested behaviour introduces a fairly complex state dependency.

A possible solution would be a plugin which tries to detect and correct the wrong grouping of notes.

Do you still have an unanswered question? Please log in first to post your question.