avoiding accidental note input
I currently use Sibelius and am thinking about switching to MuseScore. I use Sibelius for composing new music rather than engraving existing music. When I'm composing, I often improvise on my MIDI keyboard for a bit.
In Sibelius, I use MIDI keyboard to enter notes, but I do that in the mode "note first, then duration." That means I have to press a note on the keyboard, but the note isn't actually entered into the score until I press the duration key on the keyboard. (This is also Finale's style.)
This is important because I sometimes take a break from entering notes to improvise. If I left the note entry mode in "duration first, then note" my improvisation would overwrite all my music. Depending on how long I improvise without noticing I'm doing this, I could generate pages of music.
I notice that MuseScore is set up for "duration first, then note." So I'm wondering if there's some way to prevent this kind of accident from happening when using the MIDI keyboard to enter notes.
Comments
Disclaimer: I very rarely use a MIDI keyboard for input, but I think the same problem affects both input with a MIDI keyboard and input from a computer keyboard.
In MS2, MS3 and MS4 the Esc key gets you out of Note Input mode. But in any MS version, even repeated use of the Esc key does not prevent changes to the currently-selected note or rest if you press a valid key for a note. This does trip me up all the time.
The existing shortcut Toggle score lock (shortcut Ctrl+Shift+L) seems to me to be useless in your case?
In reply to Disclaimer: I very rarely… by DanielR
Thanks for your reply. The main issue is when I forget to select a setting that prevents note input. If I start improvising I'll wipe out the score. I'm not worried about computer keyboard presses because I would catch that right away. I guess it could still trip me up regarding the currently selected note.
Have you ever noticed that selecting a note a couple times in a row removes the accidental? I was noticing that last night when I was playing with MuseScore for the first time. Seems like a bug.
In reply to Thanks for your reply. The… by Michael Mossey
"Have you ever noticed that selecting a note a couple times in a row removes the accidental?"
An over-enthusiastic "select" with the mouse can move a note up or down a semitone - which gives the illusion of a "disappearing accidental". I don't think it's a bug.
In reply to Thanks for your reply. The… by Michael Mossey
I also have Sibelius. Although the rather old 7.5 version. I also compose and have no interest in transcription. I have been working with MuseScore for the last few years because I fear that 7.5 won't work on some future version of Windows. So far I have it working on W11. There are strong and weak points to both programs. But you do have to spend some time figuring out how to use each program. As usual, spending time in the manual is recommended. You can't just dive into new software. The two are very different in many ways. I'm not a keyboard player, so I can't speak to that. But even mouse input is different between the two programs, also. To be expected.
Selecting a note several times has no effect on an accidental on my system.