New tempo mark in 3.6 has notehead placed too low
Reported version
3.6
Type
Graphical (UI)
Frequency
Once
Severity
S3 - Major
Reproducibility
Always
Status
active
Regression
Yes
Workaround
No
Project
Steps to Recreate :
1. Make an empty score.
2. Place a Tempo mark e.g. quarter note = 80
3. Edit the Tempo mark to: Andante (quarter note = 96)
Expected result: the bottom edge of the notehead should align with the baseline of the text "Andante" and with the baseline of the bpm digits, and the opening parenthesis should extend below the notehead
Actual result: the bottom edge of the notehead goes below the baseline of the text "Andante" and below the baseline of the bpm digits, and the opening parenthesis does not extend below the notehead
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Notehead alignment in Tempo marks.mscz | 10.15 KB |
Comments
Is your assessment, "This is how it should appear, base of notehead aligned on text baseline", backed by any authoritative style guide, such as perhaps Gould's?
Citing Dan from the forum topic:
This is contrary to almost all published music. Usually the bottom of the notehead aligns with the text baseline and the bottom of the bpm digits, while the stem rises well above the opening parenthesis. This baseline alignment ensures that the opening parenthesis goes below the bottom of the notehead.
and:
See also the tempo examples in Gould's "Behind Bars" pp.183-184, where the bottom of the notehead does align with the bottom of the bpm digits (text baseline).
How's this? Yes, the note still extends slightly below the text baseline. The reasoning here is that the augmentation dot is at approximately the same level as a normal . in text; the reason I'd like the symbols to not extend too far upwards is that it makes setting tempi which span multiple lines (which happens often in parts) very awkward.
In reply to [inline:metronome.png] How's… by oktophonie
@oktophonie - I understand your reasoning for wanting the stem not to protrude too high above the parenthesis. Some editions get round this by shortening the stem a bit when used in a Tempo mark (though it still rises above the parenthesis).
But to my eye, the notehead and the curve of the opening parenthesis match much better visually when adhering to the baseline alignment. The effect is more elegant in MS 3.5.2:
![Tempo mark and augmentation dot in parentheses - MS 3.5.2.png]( "Tempo mark and augmentation dot in parentheses - MS 3.5.2.png")
I would agree the alignment of the parentheses and notehead looks nicer in the picture just above from 3.5.2. However, that's not using defaults. The default notehead was way too small in Emmentaler Text in 3.5.2, so I assume you increased its size to 18pt or thereabouts? I would also observe that the desired alignment of parentheses and notehead could be obtained by using alternate parentheses glyphs specially designed to match the notehead (and then presumably made available in the Special Characters dialog), if we decided we wanted to keep the below-baseline note glyph but fix the alignment with the parentheses.
In reply to I would agree the alignment… by Marc Sabatella
"I would agree the alignment of the parentheses and notehead looks nicer in the picture just above from 3.5.2. However, that's not using defaults."
Correct, and in the forum post on 7 January 2021 I mentioned increasing the font size to 18pt for the notehead/stem in MS 3.5.2:
https://musescore.org/en/node/286444
And four years ago I posted about the tempo notehead/stem being too small:
https://musescore.org/en/node/126786
All I am looking for is a default tempo mark where we don't have to fiddle around with custom positioning or custom font size. But it has to look elegant too...