TEMPO LIBERO / Free Time Available in Musescore?
I am brand new to Musescore. I need to creats a score with some parts in a set time 2/4, 4/4, etc. I also need to be able to set some music for chant - in a 'Free Time' setting. Is there a way to do this in Musescore.
thanks for any help.
Desmond A.
Comments
There is no way to do free time stuff per se yet, but the development version of 2.0 has a Split measure facility in it which enables you to set a time signature larger than you require - I tend to use 30/8.
You can then use the split meaure facility at the end of the bar to split off the unused rests and set the actuial time signature to the notesd you have entered.
You would then CTRL+delete the measure full of rests.
Nightly builds of the development version are available from the Download Page
HTH
Michael
In reply to There is no way to do free by ChurchOrganist
Dear Michael,
Thank you very much for responding to my question. I've never used a computerized compostion program before - so this manner of scoring music is completely new to me.
How do I get the developmental version which has the split measure feature?
Thanks again.
Desmond A.
In reply to Dear Michael, Thank you very by DaBirch41
Click on the DOwnload Page link in my last post.
Then navigate towards the bottom of the page and choose the Nightly build link appropriate to your OS.
In reply to There is no way to do free by ChurchOrganist
Michael,
Thank youi very very much.
Desmond A.
You don't need the nightly build and the split measure feature to do that. I would not recommend nightly builds to beginners, it may destroy their first experience of MuseScore and free software in general.
In MuseScore 1.2, stable, you can create measures with the duration you want.
If you are not transcribing but composing chant. Select a long duration like 40/4 for your measure. Put notes in it. Count them and then reduce the actual duration of the measure. If you need to split the measure, use copy paste (click on first note to copy, shift click on last note)
As MuseScore is meant for measured music, it's probably better to try to enter a couple of measured piece to get the way it works before doing an unmeasured chant.
In reply to You don't need the nightly by [DELETED] 5
Well, I can certainly see that I've come to the right place for advice. There seem to be quite a few of you who have found ways to get around musescore's lack of a 'free time' motif.
Thank you very much.
Desmond A.
In reply to You don't need the nightly by [DELETED] 5
Dear Lasconic,
My knowledge is much much lower than that. I need to know what 'things' to click on, what basic choices to make when I first attempt to establish-set up-start a new score. I haver never before worked with a computerized music composition program. Sorry is I'm a little bit on the slow side here. I have zero experience with computerized scoringl.
Desmond A.
In reply to MY INSTRUCTIONAL NEEDS MORE PRIMITIVE by DaBirch41
Have you read the handbook and watched the tutorials? They do explain how to set up a score.
In reply to Have you read the handbook by Jojo-Schmitz
I watched the tutorials. They did not seem to go into such basics. I have read parts of the handbook. I shall read all of it today - and see if it answers my questions,
In reply to I watched the tutorials. by DaBirch41
Sorry, but are you trying to say that this tutorial and this handbook page are not basic enough?
In reply to Sorry, but are you trying to by Jojo-Schmitz
I'm saying it's a lot to learn. It mayu seem easy to a veteran. I took a brief look at the handbook - and opted for the tutorials. I didn't see any breve explanation in the tutorials for how to have the following appear in the following descending order:
1, Top line has guitar chords and instructions, arp. rasq., p, i, m, a, etc.
2. Melody line of chant
3. Lyrics
Some types of programs [not necessarily music - e.g., spread sheets, word processors, gant charts, etc., etc.,] have brief sketches as to how to get started in such basics --- and later how to expand from there. I've been on computers since the 1960's - not a beginner at computing. Am considered a fairly sophisticated end user.
I was trying to have something done for this coming Sunday. Perhaps I hoped for too much & got in too much of a hurry. But I've been able to accomplish beginner tasks in many other programs over the last 45 years plus. Had hopes that would work in this music program as well.
So I have begun studying the Manual page by page. I had hoped I wouldn't have to do that to get this first short composition done for this Sunday. Had told our Pastor I would really tryl.
Desmond A.
In reply to I'm saying it's a lot to by DaBirch41
You just need one line of music, i.e. one instrument, for voice. Add the notes , then chords and lyrics , that's all.
For instructions you can use staff- or system text or rehearsal marks, and I have no idea what "arp. rasq., p, i, m, a," might be
In reply to You just need one line of by Jojo-Schmitz
Thank you very very much.
[arp = arpeggio
1. The sounding of the tones of a chord in rapid succession rather than simultaneously.
2. A chord played or sung in this manner.
rasg = rasquedo
rasgueado generally uses only one digit (finger, thumb, etc.) for each strum; this means that multiple strums can be done more quickly than usual by using multiple digits in quick succession.
p. i. m. a. = the first letter of the latin names for the thumb, index finger, middle finger, and ring finger of the hand which is plucking the strings to produce the sound on them. In a complex arpeggio - for those who are not highly experienced at playing same, it is customary to name the finger which is to pluck each string - by placing a 'p', or 'i', or 'm', or 'a' above the note to indicate the proper plucking pattern.
Desmond A.
In reply to Thank you very very by DaBirch41
Ah, OK. rasq. might need to be entered as staff text.
Read Arpeggio and fingering .
I use this method for writing out cadenzas but I suggest splitting any very long measures into chunks of 20 or so (or whnever a natural end-of-phrase presents itself) and hiding the bar-lines in between, If you go straight for a very long measure it can get messy when you have to correct things and also MseScore doesn't seem to cope too well sometimes when stretching the measure to make it look good. The maximum measure size is 63 and if you try to go one over that you will run into problems. If you make them all 20-ish then you can easily add a few notes by increasing the beats in that "measure" and copying and pasting just a smaller chunk of your piece rather than risking disaster as you move everything about.
In reply to Tempo libero by underquark
Dear Underquark,
I was hoping in the beginning that I might get one response from someone with first hand experience finding a way around the lack of 'free time' modus in musescore. So far, I've got 3 highly experienced users all giving me well-seasoned advice. I've been in computers since pre-Apple. I've been on quite a few message boards over the last 3+ decades - and have never experienced one which appeared to be more competent or helpful than this one.
I thank all of you.
Desmond A.
In reply to Tempo libero by DaBirch41
You're welcome.
The following piece has two cadenzas in it. For the longer one the strategy I adopted was to create some big measures (40/8 or so) and place an end-of-line marker on each. I entered the notes for each part of the cadenza until a natural break appeared. Then I shortened the measures to the exact number of beats (you could, of course, just hide any rests at the end of the measure) and shrunk ( Shift - ] ) each to fit on one line of printed music.
http://musescore.org/en/node/16879
In reply to Tempo libero by DaBirch41
If it helps here is one of the plainsong Alleluias I recently did in MuseScore 1.2.
It is more of a pain to do without the split measure facility, as you have to count beats, but it is still possible.
HTH
Michael
In reply to If it helps here is one of by ChurchOrganist
Why have free time when MuseScore has perfectly cromulent time-signatures at your disposal?
(Note - I jest; this illustrates exactly why free time is useful. I, too, have been writing a piece and fine the nearest "normal" time sig I can get is 6/4, 5/4, 4/4 followed by 6/4. 3/4, 5/4 etc.).
In reply to If it helps... by underquark
I love it :)
My choir would boggle at that :)
In reply to If it helps... by underquark
FWIW, I actually use those sort of constantly shifting time signatures reasonably often, and find they *do* help on a number of levels. For one thing, if I (or someone else) is conducting, notating this way provides regular places to signal the downbeat. It also allows people to mess up some rhythms but still recover gracefully. That is more of an issue when people are reading from individual parts rather than from a choral score. Also, even when I write pieces like this, they do tend to stay in one time signature for more than a measure at a time on average - sometimes 2, sometimes more. I don't think I'd be ready to notate one of these pieces in totally free time. Although I suppose I should try it sometime. Right now, when I use free time, it's usually for passages that are don't even have a steady pulse.
In reply to FWIW, I actually use those by Marc Sabatella
From the angle I approach it from, there is already a standard of unmeasured music in the neumes of traditional plainsong notation, which bases its rhythm completely on the words being sung, apart from any melismas.
Traditional plainsong notation, however, is not widely understood - a previous choir member once referred to it as "space invaders". Also most of it was written for the Latin language, and therefore has to be adjusted to cope with (modern) English texts. For this reason I translate the neumes into modern notation, using quavers for most of the notes, and crotchets for those which are longer - a dot after a neume doubles its length.
As we are dealing with completely irregular texts, the word rhythms, which naturally fall into 2's or 3's are indicated with beaming, and barring indicates phrasing, rather than bars. This is why I am so keen to have the half bar and tick signs added to the bar line palette. Given that the rhythmic structure is dictated by the words, adding time signatures is an un-necessary complication for the singers.
OF course this is quite different from the angle Marc is approaching it.
Regards
Michael
In reply to From the angle I approach it by ChurchOrganist
Dear Michael,
THIS...is that exact same task I'm facing. Can you refer me to something I can download from online to see what you are dealing with and how???
THANKS
In reply to From the angle I approach it by DaBirch41
Sure, there is the Alleluia's for Easter 7 further up the page, and here is the Antiphonal setting of Psalm 118 from the end of Benediction.
If you need more, just let me know :)
In reply to Sure, there is the Alleluia's by ChurchOrganist
Thank you for this example from Benediction. It is similar to that that I need to compose - with some 2/4 and 4/4 included within for good measure.
Please don't laugh - but this is set for solo voice and classical guitar. I need to be able to show 3 basic things:
1. melody line for solo voice,
2. Guitar chords above the melody line [they will not for the most part be played as chords - but as arpegios and some rasquedos by a solo classical guitarist ], and,
3. Lyrics below the melody line.
CAN YOU SHOW/TELL ME WHAT CHOICES TO MAKE IN THE SETTING UP OF THE SCORE SUCH THAT I CAN ACCOMPLI9SH THIS???
Desmond A.
AT THE VERY BEGINNING TO THE PROCESS
In reply to How to set up score like your Psalm 18 in musescore??? by DaBirch41
Have you read http://musescore.org/en/node/16868#comment-60063 above?
That should do for this purpose too, shoulsdn't it?
In reply to Have you read by Jojo-Schmitz
The method in the handbook and outlined in Katie Wardrobe's excellent tutorial is exactly the way I set up this score.
I used no key signature and set the time signature to 20/8
Once the score was open I made the time signature invisible.
HTH
Michael