Is MuseScore really buggy on Macs?
I am trying to arrange my first piece. I have little experience with notation software, none with Finale or Sibelius. Obviously I wanted to try MuseScore because it is free, but it seems incredibly buggy to me. Trying to do simple operations makes me want to pull my hair out. Example:
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playing back my score through my USB headset only worked after relaunching MS (itself a slow process); the headset did not appear in MS preferences till after the relaunch (no issue w/Mac system prefs)
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after inserting a measure, when I tried to add a note to that measure by selecting the measure and then entering note input mode, the note entered jumped down to the next measure; I could not enter a note in the inserted measure
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at one point early on, I had a 4/4 bar that had 4-1/2 beats in it(!); the only way to fix was to delete the bar and re-input
There's more, but you get the idea. I don't mean to bash something that's free and popular, but I personally do not have the patience to deal with constant bugs for standard operations (I am not smart enough to be writing complicated music) and would gladly pay hundreds of dollars for peace of mind. I just don't know if the notoriously difficult pro programs are better. Anyone have any insights? FWIW, I'm using Mojave 10.14.6.
Comments
It is not particularily more buggy on Mac then on other platforms or than other software in general. There are some odd Mac specific bugs (most notable, disable the accessibility "hover text" setting on your Mac).
Playback devices can be selected from "Edit > Preferences > I/O". This page has a button to restart/redetect connected devices. There is a bug in the (usage of) the third party library for cross-platform audio device handling which results in MuseScore not being notified about device changes correctly.
A lot about the playback implementation has been changed for the upcoming 4.0 version but I'm not sure how much of this interaction has been changed
It is most certainly possible to enter a note into any given measure. By default MuseScore uses "overwrite" logic (step-time) input. Check the handbook page on Basic Note Input to see how this is supposed to work
There are multiple ways to fix measure duration. One would be via the Measure Properties (available in the context menu), another would be to select the superfluous time and use "Tools > Remove Selected Range".
More importantly is that a measure would only be lengthened as part of an explicit command for that (such as insert mode things).
Feel free to write about the "more" issues you have in getting started, but also note that at least glancing at the Basic section of the online handbook might solve a lot of the initial hurdles.
In reply to It is not particularily more… by jeetee
Thanks for your reply. I had checked I/O preferences and thought I clicked that button but perhaps not. As for note entry, I somehow got into Re-Pitch mode. If you click on a rest in that mode, the cursor jumps to the next note – in this case, the next bar. I don't believe I was doing anything other than normal note entry when I ended up with an extra half note in the measure, but of course I can't swear that I didn't inadvertently hit a shortcut. I have checked the handbook multiple times, but sometimes things happen that the handbook doesn't have an obvious answer for.
I don't yet trust MuseScore to not make changes I didn't intend, but you have given me a bit more confidence to persevere. I managed to get some work done on it today without issue. Thanks again for taking the time to help.
In reply to Thanks for your reply. I had… by drifterusa
I can't think of any notation software that is easy and obvious right out of the box. There is a lot to it. I think MuseScore is a little easier to hit a wrong key and go down a wrong path than some of the other programs.
I find even in Windows that I have to make sure that headphones need to be plugged in before starting MuseScore.
In any event, keep at it. It's all doable.
In reply to I can't think of any… by bobjp
Thanks for the reply. Yeah, it does seem easy to go down a wrong path. Next time something weird happens, I'll try to pay more attention to what I might have done to cause it. Good to hear that it's a solid app.