From GuitarPro 6 to MuseScore 2.0 ?

• Mar 13, 2017 - 17:42

Hello everybody,

I had been using GuitarPro ever since version 5 came out but currently looking for something better (my main complaints against GuitarPro are very poor note space management, poor support for high screen resolutions, only 32bit support and poor playback performance once the score exceeds a certain size).

I mainly transcribe 70s - 80s band music, often live performances, with a strong focus on electric guitar. This involves a LOT of trial and error to get the pitches, neck playing location and especially the rhythm part right. As such, at least 70% of the time is spent in editing/changing notes duration, note pitch and fret numbers in various bars throughout the score.

GuitarPro excels in that area. For example, with just one key stroke you can insert a note or rest of any value anywhere inside a bar without "eating" adjacent notes, or doing any maneuvers to make room for it. You can group 3 consecutive notes (of same value) in a triplet, and delete the triplet without deleting the notes (still one key stroke). Indeed, both these operation will "overfill" that particular bar (but any other measure is not affected) and that will be highlighted by the program. However I find that behavior and outcome to be perfectly acceptable/excellent actually as I can fix it as I go (eventually it fixes itself as I work out the proper note duration in that measure). I am a grown up adult, I can count, I am perfectly capable of adjusting note duration on my own, I do not need the software to do that for me.

I am just a beginner with MuseScore but as far as I can tell, the process of changing notes duration in an already written score is far more complex and time consuming here. It is like you'd better off having the rhythm part well figured out before you start entering it in MuseScore cause if you have to change it later, it'll be a daunting task. If you only had to copy & cut & paste once to make room for a note, that would be OK. But when you are talking about doing and un-doing that ten times per bar while you're figuring out the proper note duration for that bar (plus re-entering some notes because they were deleted when you removed the triplet), and multiply that for 100 bars and a few instruments, well ... it's just not practical anymore.

So, is there, or will it be a knob which when turned allows me to edit a bar the way GuitarPro does it ? Or is this not the intended case use for MuseScore and, as such, I should look somewhere else (like Finale maybe) ?

Thank you.


Comments

I think is more fair to say, the process of changing durations in MuseScore is *different*, not that it is more complex or time consuming. And like anything that works differently than you are used to, it can take time to adjust, but once you make the adjustment, you'll find it equally efficient if not more so.

In MuseScore, changing a duration of one note doesn't affect the time position of other notes - they stay right where they are. More often than not, that's exactly what people want - they went to the trouble of entering those notes at a certain time position - so this is a good thing. But you're right that this assumes you don't deliberately enter a ton of notes in the *wrong* positions first. Meaning yes, you shoudl know rhythm as well as pitch when you enter the notes. That's not less efficient - it's just different. Actually, if you literally count keystrokes, it's *more* efficient to enter pitch and rhythm first. But you do have to adjust your thinking a little.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

Thank for your sharing your thoughts but I respectfully disagree. In a way, what you are saying is that a bicycle can go as fast as a car, if not faster, assuming one takes the time to adjust to it.

Let's take a basic example which depicts a situation that is bound to occur pretty often. Suppose I entered B D G B in a new bar, all as quavers. Next I realize that D should have been a crotchet. In GuitarPro I select the D note and hit "-" key. Done ! If I try to do the same in MuseScore 2, the D note will "eat" the G note. So unless you know of a shortcut I haven't heard of yet, according to the online manual we need to exit note input mode (ESC), select G and B notes (SHIFT+2 clicks), cut them (CTRL+X), select the quarter note rest, hit "4" to split it in half, use the right arrow key to move to the second eighth rest, paste (CTRL+V), select the D note then finally hit "5" to make it a crotchet. That's quite a journey there ...

To recap, GuitarPro requires 1 click and 1 keystroke for this basic task. MuseScore 2: 4 clicks and 7 keystrokes. I mean ... it's not even a contest here. Multiply that by 100 bars ... So why don't we call a spade a spade ?

> [...] More often than not, that's exactly what people want - they went to the trouble of entering those notes at a certain time position - so this is a good thing. <

I have two issues with this logic. First, if one note is wrong in duration, then all that "trouble" was in vain and not something to hold dear because at least one other note on that bar must also be wrong and its time position will need adjustment too. Second, regarding the "what people want" part, I find it very, very hard to believe that people would rather prefer their notes be deleted without warning than being shifted to left or right.

When I am transcribing, I'm often facing passages where the lead performer (guitarist) plays very fast. The first step is capturing all notes he/she is playing. Attempting to decide on the note duration at this point is both premature and counter-productive, and frankly quite difficult, or outright impossible if the speed of playing is really high. It is far easier to just record all notes as quavers (or similar), then determine on which note a new bar starts by listening to the drummer. Thus you know which string of notes are inside a given bar, so now you can start figuring out the correct duration of each note and change them accordingly. Typically it takes several attempts to get the rhythm part right, even more so if the drummer beat is faint, covered by other instruments, or if he misses a beat, or the performer is not quite playing on the beat.

To sum it up, transcribing requires a lot of going back and forth in your attempt to make your transcription resemble the real thing as close as possible. It's the nature of the beast and not something you can "adjust". If MuseScore 2 makes the process of transcribing a royal pain, given the exaggerated number of moves it requires for simple tasks (compared to other available solutions and for this specific application), then it's no point in beating about the bush and dive into marketing spin talks such as "it's not worse but different". It's just not the right tool for the job. Which is fair enough. After all, no single tool is good for everything.

In reply to by SergentPeper

No, I am not saying a bicycle can go as fast as a car - I am saying that a car A can go as fast as car B even though maybe they have different control layouts. That is, it really is just a matter of getting used to a different way of working, whereas with a bicycle, no amount of "getting used to" it will make it as fast.

Right now you are, as you say, still a beginner with MuseScore, so it is understandable you might not yet be used to it enough to see how efficient it can be. You are still trying to use it the same way you used GP, and indeed, that's not going to work well. but trust me, as someone who has used both entry systems extensively for years - the method used by MuseScore (and Sibelius, and other programs too) really is just as efficient overall if not more so.

When you say notes are "deleted without warning", that nicely illustrates that you are still thinking the GOP way. I could just as easily say,m the GP way has notes "moving later in timne without warning". To you, that's *expected*, because you are used to it. To a MuseScore user, having notes stay where you put them is what is expected.

Like I said, it might take a while to adjust, but it really does work extremely well and efficiently once you do. I do a ton of transcribing and can absolutely assure you beyond a shadow of a doubt I am much more efficient with MuseScore than I ever was with Finale, despite having literally *decades* of experience with the latter. When I first switched, I had the same cognitive dissonance you are feeling, but I stuck with it, and now there is no going back.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

Marc,

When Maths will teach us that 1 = 7, then I'll reconsider my view about MuseScore being as fast GuitarPro. Till then, sorry, but I can't.

I disagree with your views and that's OK. I am under no obligation to accept them, nor under any obligation to convince you of mine (and equally you are not obliged to accept mine).

Finally, while both of us are humans, it doesn't mean I have to work the same way you do. It is crystal clear to me that I won't. Or that that your way is the only way, because it is the only right way. There are many ways to skin a cat.

Anyway, good luck with following your dream. I'll follow mine.

Hello

Same story here (GP user, using also MuseScore).
Both software are VERY different.
GP is a little bit like a text editor for music. You write, you correct, you change, you suppress.. without wondering what is the meaning of what you do. And this is very pleasant and make GP very easy to use.

MuseScore on the other hand, is a software design with musician in mind , that is great, but implies that when you do something you have to wonder what it means in a musical context.

The triplets are a very good example (it took me some times to understand how it works).

With GP you select your notes and click on the triplet button, the software manages the rest
With MuseScore you have first to know what is a triplet, and what is its duration.
If for example you want a triplet of eighth notes, you have to first consider that your triplet will have the duration of two eighth notes = a quarter note.
So you enter the first note of the triplet as a quarter note ( (the note duration of the whole triplet), and you select CTRL 3 to transform it in triplet form, the software will generate rests for the two other notes up to you to replace them with notes.

Another thing is that with MuseScore you have to switch back and forth between edit mode to changes various things. For example if in edit mode you enter the wrong note duration, quit the edit mode (N top left) and select the note to modify then clic on the new duration.. and it changes.

It's not less convenient or slower, it's totally different, you need to «think music» to use MuseScore, you are not forced to do so using GP.

Good luck

MuseScore is a very good learning tool in fact :-)

In reply to by lstelie

"Another thing is that with MuseScore you have to switch back and forth between edit mode to changes various things. For example if in edit mode you enter the wrong note duration, quit the edit mode (N top left) and select the note to modify then clic on the new duration.. and it changes."

It is not necessary to switch from the input mode to change the note values. Hypothesis: you entered an eighth note, eg a C eighth note. You wanted a C quarter note. So always in "N" mode: select the quarter note value and simply retype the C (it will overwrite the note with the new value).

Or, shorter, via a shortcut, namely "Q" (which divides the value in half) and "W" (which multiplies the value by two). And for the dotted notes, a PR is currently underway: https://musescore.org/fr/node/175461

In reply to by cadiz1

Hello cadiz1

I dont know if this is a platform specific issue, I'm on a Mac with OSX Sierra with MuseScore 2.0.3.1

If i type a quarter note, then change the value (to let's say eighth note) and retape on the very same note (this requires to make the cursor doing a step backward) and try to rewrite the note I end with two (2) eighth notes...

It's quicker (at least for me) to switch out of edit (N) mode, select the note I want to change and double click on the new value I want..

Maybe there is something I didn't understand

Luc

In reply to by lstelie

Well, yes, if your goal is to shorten a note and replace the remainder of the duration with a rest, dong it outside of note input mode does that, but then, it's just one more keystroke ("0") to replace the second eighth note with a rest if you stay n note input mode. So it's still less work to stay in note input than to leave, change, and come back. But sure, if you weren't planning on coming back, and intended to leave the rest, then exiting note input mode makes more sense. All depends on where you are now, your reasons for shortening the note, what you were planning on doing next.

In reply to by lstelie

Thank you for sharing your experience - however, maybe you can clarify a few of you thoughts:

... You write, you correct, you change, you suppress.. without wondering what is the meaning of what you do.

Now why would you perform a change if you do not understand the reason and the outcome of your change ?

... MuseScore on the other hand, is a software design with musician in mind [...]

As opposed to GP which was designed with ... what in mind ?

... With MuseScore you have first to know what is a triplet, and what is its duration.

Thank you, but I learned what a triplet is as a kid in high school. I know very well what that is, I've been playing it for so many years, so I do not need MuseScore neither to teach, nor remind me any of that.

... With GP you select your notes and click on the triplet button, the software manages the rest

Which is excellent and exactly what I want because I know what I am doing.

... For example if in edit mode you enter the wrong note duration, quit the edit mode (N top left) and select the note to modify then clic on the new duration.. and it changes.

Yeah ... now try to do that in the middle of your score, in a bar choke full with notes ... It involves far, far more than just one click. Also, in GP "/" removes a triplet without removing the notes. In MuseScore all notes are deleted if you want to get rid of the triplet/tuplet. Not funny !!! I read here that the reason for this behavior is that allegedly it is quicker to add those notes back than to fix the overfilled bar. Well ... I'm not buying that (beside, you'll need to do some adjustments before you can add them back, otherwise what would be the point of deleting them in the first place ? Hope you can still remember what was deleted when the time comes to enter them back ...). If I went to the trouble of putting some notes on a score, then under no circumstances should the software even dare to remove any of them at its own will, and without a warning !

I am more than capable and willing to fix the rhythm in a messed up bar as a result of my editing myself, but I cannot fix a part in a score if that part is no longer there !!! That's some food for thought for developers.

... It's not less convenient or slower, it's totally different

I guess convenience is a relative term. What is perfectly OK with you may well be very inconvenient to me. For my needs, GP does the work in far less key strokes and with far less disruption to the existing score. Therefore in my book that means GP is both faster and more convenient at least for the job I need it for.

... you need to «think music» to use MuseScore, you are not forced to do so using GP.

Not sure what you mean by "you need to «think music»" but if you are already a power user and know what you are doing, then you don't need babysitting but appreciate the flexibility and power of a program with fewer constraints.

MuseScore is a very good learning tool in fact :-)

While that may be true, I do not need MuseScore for learning.

*****

At this point I think I came out as somebody heavily defending GP ... That's really not the case but sugar coating the shortcomings of MuseScore 2 and exagerating some questionable advantages, where often, there aren't any, is not going to help anybody. GP is very long in tooth today and I now tend to believe Arobas won't address any of its issues because they know their 'editor' part is likely still the best in the market, and by a good margin (so people will continue to compromise with their mediocre printing results and other glaring issues ...).

In reply to by SergentPeper

Hello

... You write, you correct, you change, you suppress.. without wondering what is the meaning of what you do.
Now why would you perform a change if you do not understand the reason and the outcome of your change ?

In my case (may be a very specific one), I'm not a composer, I use MS (or GP) for various tasks often to transcribe bass solos (I play bass). I don't have an internal clock in my head (and I really regret it) so I write the notes as I hear them and after try to set their real duration. So most of the time, when I write I don't think timing or even measure, but first step, I think just note. GP more or less allows to do that (more or less because obviously there is the measure limit)
After only I try to recreate the correct timing.

... MuseScore on the other hand, is a software design with musician in mind [...]
As opposed to GP which was designed with ... what in mind ?

The triplet example is a good one, you don't really need to understand what is a triplet (in term of rhythm) to enter a triplet in GP (and this can be sen as a pity by the way). You need to understand what a triple is and how long is its duration to enter a triplet in MuseScore.

I don't think one is better, I have a paid licence for GP and use most of the time MuseScore, but they are really very different under a lot of aspects.

Luc

In reply to by lstelie

Hi Luc,

I think I was a little abrasive on my response to you. I sincerely apologize.

My background is piano although for a while (years) I find myself enjoying playing guitar more. I studied piano and music theory extensively when I was young but eventually decided not to have a career in music.

Because of my youth music-oriented upbringing, I've always thought music in terms of measures, note duration, etc. Took me a looooong time to accept TAB format, although I found it invaluable now for certain things ha, ha ... So reading that you just add notes in GP without any concern about their duration baffled me a bit :-) I take great care in GP that all my measures have the correct number of beats. I spend a long time tweaking note duration till the melody sounds right rhythmically to me (so it's crucial that the program doesn't get in the way, and frankly MS does quite a bit). Although GP does automatic beat counting, often I do that myself.

Maybe that's why I am so irked by the MS heavy handed approach in managing the way you add/edit your score. I don't need the program to hold my hand - I actually hate that. I want the program to let me do whatever I want to do, cause I know what I am doing. I do not need the program to be the boss. I want to be the boss. I loose freedom when I work in MuseScore. And I can't stand that. Not to mention that some actions and design decision just feel utterly wrong to me, no matter how you spin them (I will NEVER favor DELETION over shifting. EVER). MuseScore has many checks and fences in place to make sure you do the right thing rhythmically but I don't need those, so their presence and the fact I cannot turn them off annoys me to no end. But others might love those. Personal preference I guess.

Anyway, based on what I have read, if I don't like MuseScore, I surely won't like Sibelius either (although they have a free trial, so no harm in checking that out). I'll give Finale a try and see how that goes (apparently Finale works more the way I like). Too bad that I can't get along with MuseScore - loved the fact it has a Linux version. Been an active Linux user well before Ubuntu came to existence ...

Best of luck to you on whatever product you decide to use :-)

In reply to by SergentPeper

Again, I think your inexperience with how MuseScore works is coloring your impressions. This is understandable, but you should at least consider the possibility that, like thousands upon thousands of others, you might eventually get used that way of working and start finding it natural.

Right now, when you speak of MuseScore having a heavy-handed approach, that just emphasizes the fact you do not yet "get" it. MuseScore isn't any more heavy handed than GP. Both programs do things you don't ask so that they can preserve what they think you want to preserve. GP *moes notes earlier or later in time* without your ever asking it, so that it can preserve the visual appearance of the notes. To people expecting a program to leave notes where you put them, *that* is heavy handed. But to someone who *expects* notes to move, this feels natural. And I promise you, if you adjust to how MuseScore works, you will comes to see it that same way - MuseScore keeping things where you out them will fee natural, and programs moving notes that you didn't ask it to move will feel "heavy handed". You say you will never think deleting notes feels natural, but that's simply because you keep trying to do things thgat result in deleting notes because you are too accustomed to what GP would have done, instead of doing it the way you would need to do it in MuseScore. As someone who has gone back and forth a bit, I can absolutely assure you the reverse is true as well. UIf you're used to how MuseScore works, you will constantly do things in other programs based on how you would need to do them in MuseScore and get aggravated when the program responds differently from how you expect.

So no, you don't lose freedom. You *can* do whatever you want, whenever you want. You simply need to learn how the program works in order to work with it efficiently. Just as you did when first starting with GP, presumably - but there you probably weren't hampered by expectations formed from using another program.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

Hi Marc,

... You say you will never think deleting notes feels natural, but that's simply because you keep trying to do things thgat result in deleting notes because you are too accustomed to what GP would have done, instead of doing it the way you would need to do it in MuseScore.

I think "trying to do things that result in deleting notes" goes a bit too far.

I entered a triplet. Soon after I realized I made a mistake - all notes in that triplet need to be converted to their normal, non-tuplet value.

In this case, what is the MuseScore way of achieving that goal ?

I did read the handbook, and googled the subject more, but as far as I can tell it only covers the tuplet creation.

Hello !

I would like to ask if the code in MuseScore that determines the behavior of note entry is modularized enough so that it can be replaced/or chosen from a list of modules.

Let's say that someone prefers the behavior of GuitarPro (or Finale or something) when it comes to entering notes via a keyboard: is it possible to write a module so that note entry via the keyboard in Musescore behaves like for example in GuitarPro ?

Thanks

Ariel//

In reply to by ArielAr

I can't answer the above question, but I would like to make a comment. It seems to me that the behaviour of MS is going to be clearly the best way, for 99.something% of musical applications. I mean, you've written a symphony, and you decide to shorten the solo trombone note in bar 3. Does the software have to recompute everything in the whole symphony, or just the first movement? (There is a question here: is this what GP does, or does it mean it simply move barlines and everything? In just this staff, so the barlines don't always line up? Or what?)

I sometimes wish there could just be a magic way of doing this, so at least this question would not come up so often. But in fact there are good motivations for having unmeasured input. I once had to transcribe a Gregorian chant, and it was certainly doable, but really a horrible kludge: I used 16/1 time signature, with one bar on each line, leaving a clutch of hidden rests at the end of each line. I think all that is needed is a function for a bar (measure) to be unmeasured, and then I think "insert mode" input (like GP) would be the natural mode to use. It is still hard to see how this could be made usable on multi-staff music, though.

In reply to by Imaginatorium

Hi Imaginatorium !

And thanks for your answer !!

Maybe my question was then easier than I expected. It is just to code the feature of having two "note entering modes: metered and unmetered", where unmetered can be enabled only for music consisting of one staff ( or 2 staffs in the case one is notation and the second is tablature).

To discuss which entering mode is best/optimal is - in my opinion- like discussing religion or politics, something I gladly avoid.

Interesting to note, though, is the fact that you pinpoint, namely that this issue seems to arise over and over again. Maybe it is "cheaper" in terms of time&energy to code that feature than to keep discussing in all eternity advantages and disadvantages of metered over unmetered input.

Your answer gives me the impression that you are much better qualified than me to present this feature request to the forum "feature request". Would you like to post it ? shall I do it ?

Thanks,

Ariel//

In reply to by ArielAr

We are all talking about 3 different things...

1/ The current way: Measure respects the time signature. You cannot put more notes than the time signature allows or you need to change the actual time signature of the measure. When you enter notes in a measure, you will override the chords or rests in this measure.

2/ The measure insert mode (GP if I understand correctly). You can add as many notes you want in the measure, the measure will grow automatically and it will not respect the time signature. You can delete rests or chords too and the measure will be smaller than the time signature. You can insert or delete chords in the middle of the measure, it will not delete anything just make the measure bigger. It's easy to add or delete a tuplet, it's since nothing move, it's just the measure getting smaller or larger. I guess it provides a function to "rebar" the music to fit correctly in the bars later on. All of this is local to the measure. Main question is how does it work with more than 1 instrument? I guess you can have measures of different duration for different instruments or they pad rests at the end of the measure.

3/ The full insert mode. What Imaginatorium described. If you insert a 8th note at the start everything move by a 8th note in this staff. Very easy to get funky 128th notes linked to triple dotted quarter... Same when you delete a chord or a rest.

So now, imagine MuseScore provides the 3 modes in the main MuseScore UI. You believe we will have less questions on the forum? I don't think so, people will just ask why they have 128th notes linked to triple dotted quarter and how to get ride of it or why they are in 4/4 but the measure contains only two quarter notes, or why can't you implement an insert mode (which will be there but just too hidden among the hundreds other features...). So I think it's a terrible idea to have several different input (insert) mode in MuseScore. It will make the product harder to use, to maintain, to document and to support.

Now, that being said. There has been some work in master to implement 2 and 3... but currently they barely exposed to the UI. I hope we can find a better way to expose these features than having 2 more input modes...

insert_mode.gif

In reply to by [DELETED] 5

ok. Let me tell you about how GuitarPro works.

I particularly appreciate GPs way of handling note entry. I have been using GP for some years now.

The issue here is about correcting mistakes.

When I type music I make mistakes all the time. Sometimes I "forget" notes and then I need to INSERT the missing note in the middle of the measure...or I enter notes with wrong duration...or sometimes I see "too late" that 3 notes are a triplet.

The issue is how permissive/flexible is the program in allowing you to correct the mistakes in whichever manner/order you like.

I make a lot of mistakes also when I type text in microsoft word.

I believe MS-Word could be used as an analogy. Imagine you start typing, you make several mistakes in a sentence. You choose ANY of the mistakes to correct....you go back...add (insert) the missing letter and the word temporarily maybe becomes longer...maybe too long...and then you see that by mistake you wrote a duplicated letter while correcting other mistake...you go back and delete that letter...and all the time the rest of the line adjusts, and you can correct your mistakes in any order.

Let's say that you are writing a 4/4 piece in GuitarPro. As long as you are working within the measure it will let you temporarily put more notes than valid for the time signature. As soon as the cursor leaves the measure, the staff will become red to indicate any mistake, like the measure having too many or too few notes.

If when you enter the last note of a measure the duration is correct, then GP will move the cursor to the next measure.

If you still have time to allocate it will show you that the measure is not complete.

If you try to go to next measure by leaving the previous measure incomplete it will allow you, but it will mark with red the previous measure, to indicate the error. if you leave a measure with too many notes it will allow you, but it will complain by marking the measure with red.

So as soon as you leave a measure ( = as soon as the cursor moves to the next measure) GP will enforce the time signature. But as long as you keep working within the measure, it will let you insert, add and delete stuff IN WHICHEVER ORDER you prefer, even putting more notes than there is space for ( allowing therefore for "an insert followed by a delete", or entering the 3 notes before making them a triplet)

You can indicate BEFORE or AFTER if 3 notes are a triplet. You do not get "blocked" as entering the first two notes in a triplet. And if your mistake is that you swapped two notes, then you can correct it in any way you want, like adding first and deleting after, or viceversa.

So GuitarPro definitely enforces that measures will have valid amount of notes. It is just that as long as you are editing within a measure it will let you break the duration in order to make it flexible to correct the errors.

Regarding playback and many staves
=======================
if you try to play a measure that is red marked it will skip the extra notes ( if the measure is too long), or it will add silence if the measure is too short. All the time it will play 4/4 and all the time it will complain by marking in red the faulty measure.
So there is no problem if there are several staves.

The power is the flexibility to correct mistakes that imply adding, inserting, deleting, changing notes IN ANY ORDER you please as long as you are keep editing within the measure.

I often enter scores reading from a poorly handwritten originals so I make a lot of mistakes ALL the time and I appreciate the flexibility is correcting my mistakes as I do with Ms-word

I strongly suggest two exercises:

- Enter a score making mistakes...like forgetting it is a triplet...or swapping notes...or incorrectly duplicating a note in the middle of a measure, or incorrectly swapping the duration of two consecutive notes. Then just look at how easy/intuitive/microsoft word-resembling/ the correction work is. Do you have to mentally "plan" how to correct the mistake ? or in which order to make the correction ?

In GP you do not have to think in which order to correct mistakes. It is like Microsoft word.

- I suggest also downloading an evaluation version of GuitarPro and playing around with entering mistakes and correcting them.

I hope this clarifies how GP handles note entering. I would gladly clarify more if anyone is interested or if it helps this thread.

Ariel//

In reply to by [DELETED] 5

Thank you for your feedback lasconic !

A few more details just in case more clarification is needed on how GP editor works:

The bars are always aligned in a multi-instrument score in GP. If you "shrink/enlarge" a bar with your editing for one instrument, the others will be adjusted automatically so that the bars are always aligned. The time position of any other instrument does not change, regardless of what crazy editing you do in that measure. If you exceed the time signature (by adding new notes or increasing duration of existing notes), the "extra notes" will end up at the right side of that measure with no "corresponding" notes from any other instrument above or underneath (and as Ariel said above, the playback will skip them). If you do not have enough beats (you deleted a bunch of notes, or reduced their duration) GP will place all your existing notes (in that bar) at the beginning of the bar, and align them with the corresponding bar of the other instruments, leaving space at the end for you to complete the measure.

I can provide some screen shots if you think it'll help. It's much easier to visualize than explain.

I have never tried to have different time signatures on a multi-instrument score in GP (I doubt it is possible).

In GP your changes affect only the bar you are currently working in. It doesn't affect any other bars, on the current instrument you are working in, or any other instrument. I think there are some "rebar" functions in the tools menu but I have never used them (I don't leave a measure with incorrect number of beats), so cannot comment how good those are.

Hope this helps rather than confuse the mater even more ... :-)

In reply to by [DELETED] 5

How about having a "special editing mode" where when selected, you can edit a bar "a la GP way". Any changes you make affects that bar only and you cannot exit that mode unless you either cancel all changes, or once you've done editing the number of beats on that bar is correct.

Does that sound acceptable ? Will it be hard to implement ?

In reply to by ArielAr

Nicolas is no longer on board for 3 years! 😱

I quote an excerpt of one of your comments in this thread (2017...) : "When I type music I make mistakes all the time. Sometimes I "forget" notes and then I need to INSERT the missing note in the middle of the measure...or I enter notes with wrong duration...or sometimes I see "too late" that 3 notes are a triplet.
The issue is how permissive/flexible is the program in allowing you to correct the mistakes in whichever manner/order you like"

See this "new" plugin (since a few weeks ago): https://musescore.org/en/project/duration-editor

In reply to by cadiz1

Thank you Cadiz1 for the update !!! I am shocked by the news !! Nicolas was an asset to the group and I am sad by these news. I love and support Musescore, but I do not participate regularly in the forum, as you now have noticed :-)

and thank you also for the info about the new plugin
Ariel//

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