Transient dotting!!!!

• Nov 10, 2017 - 14:05

Love the new(ish) Rhythm/Re-pitch entry methods; much faster! I find I just use the numeric keypad for rhythm, which makes even better, almost encouraging 'touch-typing'. However the increased speed 'encourages' ( ;) ) me to make two types of error, quite frequently. Most importantly, when pressing the '.' key to extend notes, I sometimes forget to press '.' again to unset - and there are rarely successive dotted notes. When, some measures later, I look up at the screen I realise I have many corrections to make.

So, my suggestion is an option to make the '.' key transient, instead of (or as well as) a toggle. Whilst it is held down, any length key entered (3-7ish) will be extended. When released no further extensions occur and the '.' indicator is 'unlit'.

I could make a similar, less powerful, case for the '0' rest key.

I have tested this proposal using AutoHotKey software and it works well improving quality of note entry. It would however by better to have this built-in to MuseScore

Ron
Ron


Comments

On a first glance, I’d prefer having the dot just reset itself after being used. Perhaps as an option, to choose between all three behaviours.

That said, the dotting I usually encounter is
* in 3/4 or 4/4, (dotted-fourth, eigth) in which case hitting the key 4 will reset dotting anyway
* in 6/8, (dotted-fourth, dotted-fourth) in which case you’d want it to stay
so, normally, the current behaviour is good enough.

In reply to by mirabilos

Thx for your quick thoughts. Unless I have it wrong, there seems to be a difference between the default N input, where the dot does reset, and the new ryhthm input, where it doesn't. Auto reset would be fine, but my suggestion of holding down would - just about - cover both cases. Cheers

In reply to by mirabilos

In Rhythm mode, pressing the 4 does not reset the dot. Pressing ".34" will give you a dotted 1/8 note followed by a dotted 1/4 note. In 6/8 where dotted 1/4 followed by dotted 1/4 is more common, pressing ".5R" will give you consecutive dotted 1/4 notes so there is no reason for the dot to persist from one note to the next in this case. In practice even in a time with an 8 on the bottom does not generally have a large number of consecutive dotted notes except possibly in some of the harmonic lines.

In reply to by mike320

Ah okay. I never tried the new input modes in 2.1 yet, so I didn’t know that.

Why is this so? I think it’s inconsistent and would consider it likely a bug.

I’ve seen 6/8th pieces that almost solely consist of dotted fourths and dotted halves. (And dotted quarter and half rests.) Mostly old chorals.

In reply to by mike320

Sounds like an interesting discussion (I speak as a lapsed programmer).

I only got Musescore just before the latest version was released and I must say I soon found the rhythm/re-pitch method so good for fast bulk entry, a comment about dot dottyness should be seen as a peccadillo

My script for autohotkey works fine 90% of the time; perhaps I can ask your help with the 10%? Firstly a word of explanation how autohotkey works: when I hold down the '.' key then press the (say) '5' key, autohotkey sends '. 5 .' to MuseScore. This toggles dot on, creates quarter note, then toggles dot off. 90% time great, unless dot had prev been left on in error.

So, my question is: is there (in rhythm mode) a key shortcut I can send that is guaranteed to turn dot off? Ditto rest?

Regards Ron

In reply to by cadiz1

Thx. I hoped that might be 'it' too, but now I think not. It decreases duration by a dot - so, a quarter goes to a dotted eighth, a dotted eighth goes to an eighth etc. The dot icon turns on and off accordingly. Or have I misunderstood?

In reply to by rl347

" It decreases duration by a dot - so, a quarter goes to a dotted eighth, a dotted eighth goes to an eighth etc"
That's right.
So, I probably did not completely understand your request.
In my mind eg, you type a dotted quarter note by mistake: so, with this shortcut, you can receive the wished quarter note easily.

In reply to by rl347

In Rhythm input mode, the only time you know the dot is turned off is when you first enter note input mode. You can use this knowledge to your advantage.

When you first enter note input mode, the dot is always off. "How might that help me?" you ask. When you turn off then back on note entry mode with the default N shortcut, the last note entered is selected. With this knowledge, you can send the . NOTE N N RIGHT ARROW to MuseScore and it will enter the dotted note, turn off the dot and advance the cursor to the next note. In my manual testing it seems that is should always work, even with voices. I was actually afraid it would fail in any voice but 1, but it seems to work.

In reply to by mike320

Mike, thanks for taking the time. The concept of your answer seemed perfect and worked manually, but somehow when I made up the script, it didn't work (added an extra note one up from the first). I think I'll give up on this and stick with my 90% solution. Thx all for your help

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