Template button

• Jul 19, 2020 - 00:51

I use the same score setup every time - classical guitar and acoustic bass. I would much rather have a Template button that to have to use the New Score Wizard every time. The NSW treats every score as if it were a special situation, when it's not. I want the same score every time and don't need the New Score button every time. A Template button would be perfect. I can customize it and it's done, forever. If I want to change the set up before the end of forever, I can do that in Preferences.


Comments

Indeed, I am not understanding how you'd see using this button - it would literally give every score not just the same instruments but the same title, the same key signature, the same time signature, the same length, etc. Since these are things you normally need to select anyhow, I am not understanding the resistance to the wizard. Choose your template, choose those things, done.

It's unlikely there are many users who would having exact clones of a score useful, but if some do, perhaps one can code up a plugin to perform this special function. Personally in the few cases where I want this, I just use Save a Copy.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

I must not have explained it very clearly. They would not have the same title. One click would set up a grand stave score and date it so it could be filed. The dates would appear like so 200801 for today, then 200802 for tomorrow. They could be logged alongside my Tascam audio log. When I hit record on my Tascam, it automatically dates the file just as I described. I can easily find things this way. It's the same thing that i did while doing scholastic work in college. i set up a journal and dated each entry. I did this for 8 years solid and it was a great resource for me.

It's a pretty simple idea that more people use, or would use, than you might expect. It's a journalistic principle, to keep a dated log for scratching out raw ideas. I do this every day and I would like a button for it. If the button were there, we could then promote it. Then we could gauge how popular it actually is. But, popular or not, I consider it a necessity, just as the figured bass is a necessity for transcribers.

If this is not possible, a template button for setting up a Grand Staff with one click would help. That way i can bypass the Grand Wizard.

In reply to by Rockhoven

If I’m understanding correctly what you are describing - simply creating a new grand staff score in one click - could easily be done via a plugin. So I’d recommend seeing if you can find someone with experience in writing plugins who would also find that useful. It could probably be put together in a matter of hours by someone who knows the plugin framework.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

The only person I know who might be able to write a plug in is here at Musescore - You. I just need someone to realize how useful this Log button could be. The Tascam recorder is useful for jotting down musical notation. I can sing a melody and the file is dated automatically. When these files are copied into a Log folder, they are ordered by the date and a serial number.

They appear like this:
200802_0001
200802_0002
200803_0003

The year is 20, the month is 08 and the day is 02. But since there are multiple entries in one day, the serial number also keeps them in order. If I could keep a Musescore log with the same field format, they would fit into my audio log in order with my wav files.

In short, most of the time, I do not like the Grand Wizard. It is clumsy and requires too many steps for a routine task. If I had template buttons, I could bypass the Grand Wizard and get a grand staff of any other arrangement that I want, simply by programming it once. This is a better option than the Grand Wizard because I only use a few arrangements to begin projects. I either use a grand staff or a combo of classical guitar and acoustic bass. I would rather not have to go through all of the steps to set up scores. The Grand Wizard works on the assumption that every score is unique, when this is not the case. The grand staff is probably the most commonly used stave and ought to be easily accessible. I should not have to use CTRL+N, fill the Title field, select Grand Staff, and Finish to get a simple score. A four step process could be reduced to one step. There are even more steps if you have a special combo that you always arrange for. In the case of the Classical Guitar and Acoustic Bass, I have to do even more steps. There are exceptions to these situations, and they are the unique situations in which the Grand Wizard is most useful. But, generally, I find it to be a needless obstacle.

In reply to by Rockhoven

For the record, there is no such thing as a "Grand Wizard", and that term is somewhat culturally offensive in the US, so it's probably best not to use it in this context. What you are referring to is the "New Score Wizard", which is designed to help you go through all the steps of creating a new score. Since in normal usage, most new scores are fundamentally different from each other, it is indeed signed to help you with that entire process. You just happen to have an unusual unique case where most things happen to be the same. And so indeed, it takes four clicks instead just one just to create the score. And because there is no automatic filenaming like this, it does indeed take additional steps when you save your file. So I can certainly see that, for those users who happen to work this way, such a feature would be useful.

It's entirely possible that if enough other users request such a feature, it could be added for MsueScore 4, where everything about the score creation process is being redesigned form the ground up. I'd encourage you to make the suggestion in one of the threads devoted to MuseScore 4 design.

But meanwhile, I'm trying to help you today. That's why I suggest finding someone here on the forum who could write a plugin for you. No doubt it could be set up to use your favorite naming scheme. Or really, there is no special reason it would have to be written as a plugin within MuseScore. A simple shell script / batch file could create the file and open it in MuseScore. Then it could just be button on your desktop to click. But, if you prefer to do it from within MuseScore, a plugin would be the way to go.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

Marc - Why do you say that it is very unlikely that many users would need "exact clones?" First, they are not exact clones because they are coded. Second, I think there is some misunderstanding about how Musescore is actually used, due to not understanding what is now considered to be "common practice." I think we should investigate the question of how people are using this program. I doubt that many people use this to score in the traditional sense. We don't score for an ensemble to read. We jot ideas to generate sound clips. The actual score is produced in a DAW. The score is not read, but heard and reinterpreted from ear. That is the score of modern times.

I don't need the Wizard to treat the making of a score as some unique situation, most of the time. If I know that I need Acoustic Guitar and Bass, then it's a settled matter. I would prefer that the Wizard were treated as if people only need to set up special scores for special circumstances. Most of the time,w e ought to be working with default settings. Now, that might not be the case for you, but let's see what is actually happening. Musescore 4 seems to be aiming toward modern musicians, musicians who learned their craft post-Beatles. After the mid 20thcentury, common practice was drastically altered by Cage and Stockhausen and became mainstream with the Four Headed Monster. All of the Beatles work was left for the transcribers to score, in the traditional sense of the word. They originally scored their work on analog tape. That is what I do. same as Cage, Stockhausen, Lennon and McCartney. Except I score with digital in a DAW. The point is that today's musicians work directly with sound.

Anyway, the idea of keeping dated logs and journals is fundamental for any artist, musician, scientist, anyone working in the Humanities. If people are not doing this, it's probably because they have not been properly taught. Do you think Einstein and Feynman did not keep logs and journals? 50=90% of what i score is in logs. Raw ideas come randomly and the first way to set them in order is with dated logs. I find the Wizard to be tedious.

In reply to by Rockhoven

What I mean is, there are any number of people who mostly use the same template over and over, yes - whether it is always creating lead sheets, or always choral arrangements, or always piano music, or always brass quintets, etc. But many people are likely to use different titles, different time signatures different key signatures, etc. So I believe the current New Score Wizard serves most people well, and that is why I can't ever recall another request like yours.

But the idea of at least simplifying the process of reselecting the same template, and perhaps providing an option (even if most users would not use) of automatically generating filenames - that is something that could benefit everyone. So I like the way you present the idea in the MuseScore 4 - it's something that could benefit everyone,. whether they happen to like creating dated journals or not.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

OK. So that would be one step forward to just get some kind of default setting or a Template button. I know that I can call up the Start Center and access my stored templates, but that is not something that even an experienced user would know. The Start Center on most programs is something that most users will dismiss entirely after they have mastered the basics. It seems counter-intuitive to have an advanced function like Templates accessed in the Start Center. It could be moved into the Wizard?

In reply to by Rockhoven

The Start Center wouldn't usual way to open a file, instead simply File / Open. It would not normally be useful for templates, though it's for opening the file itself. So you'd use it for editing the template, not fur using it. The whole point of a template is when creating a new score from that template. And that's exactly the purpose of File / New - creating new scores.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

Anyway you look at it, this system can be streamlined and improved. Perhaps a Template button that had my templates there for access?

I see that someone is posting about scoring for barbershop quartet. If that's all they ever score for, they might want to be on board for a redesign. I don't know, Marc. think we need more info on how people are actually using this software, and a theory forum might be a good place to get into the nitty gritty about how people think about music and how they work. There is probably a quartet template, but that's besides the point. It would be great to be able to design and easily access your own version of a quartet. And a customizable function is going to suit everyone to their liking.

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