Measure numbers every two measures as well as at beginning of system; and centered on bar line
Simple question (for MuseScore 4.0.1): How can I do that? - the dialog, for some reason, let's me only select EITHER at beginning of system OR every two measures. But for a long time in my choral scores, I have (with another score editor) used both, which is very helpful for fast location during choir rehearsals.
Also, measure numbers are not centered on the bar lines, which I would expect. How can that be done?
Thanks for any tips how to do this.
H.M.
Comments
You can achieve this measure numbering, but only at the cost of some manual intervention:
![Bar Numbering.jpg]( "Bar Numbering.jpg")
In Format > Style... > Measure Numbers, use these settings:
- enable the Measure Numbers checkbox
- set Interval = 2
- set Horizontal Placement = Centre
Then the manual part... you have to create a Staff Text for the first measure of each system, to display the correct measure number. Set its font style and horizontal positioning to match your automatic measure numbering.
In reply to You can achieve this measure… by DanielR
Thanks for your explanation!
a) You show measure numbers centered on measures* - that's not what I want: They should be centered on the bar lines!
(* Well, the numbers are not even centered on the measures - they are significantly off to the right. Is there a way to center them on the measures?)
b) Your manual suggestion: I do not understand it - in different parts, the "first measure" is obviously different; and for many other reasons (changing of the font size, if choir needs it a little larger; etc.), the "first measures" will change often. So inserting manual texts at fixed places is not possible (and certainly not what I expect from a professional tool) - sorry ...
H.M.
In reply to Thanks for your explanation!… by hmmueller
"a) You show measure numbers centered on measures* - that's not what I want: They should be centered on the bar lines!"
Apologies, I misread your post. The setting should be: Horizontal placement = Left. That setting isn't quite centered on the barline, but it's as close as you will get with the current Properties panel.
" b) ... So inserting manual texts at fixed places is not possible"
![Bar_numbering_interval_1.jpg]( "Bar_numbering_interval_1.jpg")
Given the current properties of Measure Numbers, I think you might have to compromise and show measure numbers every single measure (instead of every two measures):
"... (and certainly not what I expect from a professional tool) - sorry ..."
Please don't shoot the messenger: I'm just a volunteer user, not one of the designers. ;-)
What I do in a case like this is to make a new entry in the Issue Tracker, with a Severity of 5 (5= Suggestion).
https://musescore.org/en/project/issues/musescore
If enough other users would like the extra feature and support your suggestion, then you have a better chance of seeing it in a future MS release.
In reply to "a) You show measure numbers… by DanielR
Thanks for your detailed reply - and yes, I tend to shoot messengers, they pile up at my door ;-): Sorry for this!
I learned the "every two measures; and at the beginning of each system" from Austrian brass band scores and found it extremely helpful in choir rehearsals - search time for places went down to almost nothing. That's why I want this (and my standard score editor can do it ...).
Another feature that is then necessary is to skip certain measure numbers that collide with slurs, crescendi, etc. in certain parts ... makes the whole thing more complicated than one might think. But I now start to think that I'll wait for a few months until MS4 is at its next minor version - too many small annoying things - like the "centered", but actually non-centered bar numbers -, and I don't want to write bugs and feature requests - I do this, unfortunately, as part of my job ... which I mostly hate.
H.M.
In reply to Thanks for your detailed… by hmmueller
"Another feature that is then necessary is to skip certain measure numbers that collide with slurs, crescendi, etc. in certain parts ... makes the whole thing more complicated than one might think."
MuseScore can already do this. Select the unwanted measure number, press V to toggle the element to Invisible. The measure number will still show faintly on your score while you work, but it will not appear on the final PDF for printing. See measure 1217 below:
![Measure_number_invisible.jpg]( "Measure_number_invisible.jpg")
In reply to "a) You show measure numbers… by DanielR
"(* Well, the numbers are not even centered on the measures - they are significantly off to the right. Is there a way to center them on the measures?)"
Yes, but (currently) you have to set the properties in two different places:
![Measure_numbers_centered.jpg]( "Measure_numbers_centered.jpg")
1. Format > Style... > Measure Numbers > Horizontal placement = Centre
2. On the score: right-click a measure number, Select > Similar, then in Properties choose Alignment > Align Centre
A bit clunky, but it works...
[EDIT] ... and it works even better by using Format > Style... > Text Styles > Measure number > Align > Centre
In reply to "(* Well, the numbers are… by DanielR
Ah - thanks! - now, this makes me a little bit happier.