Large gap appeared between Flute 1 and 2 staves in Orchestral Score
I am writing an orchestral arrangement using version 3.6.2 which currently runs to 4 pages. Pages 1 to 3 are fine, but on page 4 a large gap has appeared between the top 2 staves (Flute 1 and 2). This has happened a few times before but spotted it straightaway and I fixed it using the undo feature, but this morning's occurrence went unnoticed.
Any ideas? I've attached a screenshot of the page settings screen which illustrates the issue.
Colin
Attachment | Size |
---|---|
OrchestralStaffSpacingIssue.png | 190.31 KB |
Comments
It's impossible to tell from a picture but you may have inadvertently dragged something away from it's default position and Musescore's collision avoidance is moving the staves far apart to avoid something colliding with whatever is out of place.
Try CTRL+A to select everything followed by CTRL+R to reset everything to it's default position.
If that doesn't work attach the score (.mscz file) so that someone can investigate further
If nothing else, I can see a stray extra rehearsal mark "D" that appears to have been dragged below the top staff. Deleting that might be all you need, but it also might be there are other misplaced elements. If you continue to have trouble, please attach your actual score so we can understand and assist better.
In reply to If nothing else, I can see a… by Marc Sabatella
Thanks Mark. I tried the Ctrl-A/Ctrl-R hard reset and it reinstated page 4 but I lost all my carefully placed rehearsal letters which I had deliberately placed above trumpet 1 part and the voice part. These are a big help for me in entering the notes and also will be helpful for the conductor during rehearsal and performance. So ironically, the rehearsal mark "D" you noticed on page 4 I had actually deliberately dragged down using a lengthy workaround involving copy and pasting each mark from its default place above flute 1 and then unclicking 'auto-placement' in the inspector before dragging into the desired position.
I have another 4 pages of score to write so I have attached the score to see if you can find out what I did to cause the problem and hopefully a fix so I can avoid the problem in future and crack on with the arrangement.
In reply to Thanks Mark. I tried the… by CJSalway
Well, no. You have several multiple reheasal marks, A to D (3 times each) and E (6 times!). You can/should have only one per system, as reheasal marks attach to / apply to systems, not staves (asme as for example tempo markings).
Those (single reheasal marks) do get replicated into the parts (which you don't yet have, but could create via File > Parts > All parts, check the attached)
In reply to Thanks Mark. I tried the… by CJSalway
Also "dragging down" is not the way to go, really, much better is to use the Inspector and the offsets there, possibly along with disabling autoplace
In reply to Thanks Mark. I tried the… by CJSalway
"Trumpet 1" will never ever play directly from the main score (not in an arrangement with that many instruments for sure), this is for the conductor (and the conductor only).
Instead Trumpet 1 will play from his/her separate(d) part. And that will have the rehearsal mark right where it is to be expected (see the above attachment).
In reply to "Trumpet 1" will never ever… by Jojo-Schmitz
CTRL+R indeed resets everything to its default position. You were warned! But the default position is most often the correct position. Moral: let Musescore do its stuff with laying things out and only make minor tweaks where necessary.
In reply to CTRL+R indeed resets… by SteveBlower
And actually there's nothing in that score that is worth keeping its modified position. At least I dpn't see anything that would be worth it.
In reply to Thanks Mark. I tried the… by CJSalway
To be clear: what you did to cause the problem was your "workaround", but more specifically, the fact that you failed to disable automatic placement for one of those adjusted rehearsal marks. But also, the workaround you chose was not a good one - it was more work than necessary, and it's also "fragile" (meaning the adjusted position will turn out to be wrong if the score layout changes for any reason).
Rehearsal marks are not normally meant to be repeated on each section; that's just not how music is normally published. But in large scores like this, they are often repeated once above the strings. So that particular set of extras is good - just not the way you created them,.
Instead, simply add plain staff text to the desired staff directly, but assign the rehearsal mark style using the Inspector. Either way, you will also need to mark the extras invisible in the individual parts.
MuseScore 4 will provide a way to automatically show these marks above given sections, although it's not clear yet if that will actually be supported for anything but the specific case of strings in an orchestra.
In reply to Thanks Mark. I tried the… by CJSalway
BTW, I'm not sure what you mean about finding the duplicate rehearsal marks useful when entering notes, but perhaps it's because you don't know about the "FInd" command (Ctrl+F) that allows you to jump to particular locations quickly and easily. So you can jump directly to letter D by pressing "Ctrl+F D"). Or maybe you mean, while entering music for strings left to right, you want to see when you've reached letter D. A useful way to simplify writing in sections like this is to generate a specific part for each section specifically, using the "Single Part" button in File / Parts and adding the specific instruments you want. I think this was hinted at in the discussion, but I didn't see where it was spelled out directly.
BTW: your score did start its life before 3.6.
In reply to BTW: your score did start… by Jojo-Schmitz
thanks for that Jojo, I will take your advice and organise my score into separate convenient systems and then apply rehearsal marks as per your suggestions.
In reply to thanks for that Jojo, I will… by CJSalway
Not separate systems, but parts, generated from (and linked) to the main (conductor) score. I guess you mean that though
In reply to thanks for that Jojo, I will… by CJSalway
One last question, how can I edit my existing score to establish 3 distinct systems, each with its own rehearsal letter. FYI 1) the top 7 woodwinds, 2) Brass, Drumset and Piano 3) Voice and strings.
(This is purely for the convenience of the conductor and for me for entering music notes-I'm aware that individual players can have rehearsal letters printed on their own parts).
In reply to One last question, how can I… by CJSalway
sorry, just saw your last reply, so will I have to work with rehearsal letters only appearing in the main score view at the very top in the flute part?
In reply to sorry, just saw your last… by CJSalway
Yes
In reply to sorry, just saw your last… by CJSalway
Or use staff text with a style setting of Reheasal mark, as a workaround (which then will bite you in the parts)
In reply to Or use staff text with a… by Jojo-Schmitz
understood, thanks for the warning!
In reply to One last question, how can I… by CJSalway
You don't have three distinct systems. You have one system as you do now. But you can have separate parts for the sections for your own convenience, and you can add plain staff text for the convenience of the conductor (but do check with him/her first to see if they actually find it useful - as mentioned, most published orchestra scores do not do this except for strings).
In reply to You don't have three… by Marc Sabatella
thanks for that, all is now clear!