Copy and paste time signatures

• Oct 24, 2014 - 13:19

Copy and paste of multiple entire bars doesn't copy the time signature changes within those bars.

Comments

• Oct 24, 2014 - 15:28

Indeed, I find, like you. This is surprising because the behavior is the same with the 1.3 (you report this issue to the 1.3, or 2.0 Beta1 or Nigthly)? Probably Beta1 or Nigthly since you are in the Technology Preview forum?

So, it seems clearly as a bug, but since as its the same in 1.3, I have a slight doubt!

Unfortunately, I just found an other issue, related maybe. Copy and paste empty measures with a certain sequence of Time signatures leads to a crash. I will report the bug.

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• Oct 24, 2014 - 15:38

I use the github repository and compile it myself.

If it's been in existence since 1.3 then it is most likely an oversight that has never been corrected.

I have just been working on a score (Gaudete) which has some very strange time signatures, and changes every couple of bars in the chorus. Copying and pasting said chorus messes up the pasted section completely as those time signature changes just don't come across.

You can see it even when just highlighting the bars - the time signature doesn't highlight like the rest of the content. It's like the time signature is part of the measure itself, and the copy and paste only works on the contents of the measure, not the actual measure itself.

There needs to be a way to select the entire measure as well as the measure's content.

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• Oct 24, 2014 - 16:30

Thanks Marc to take away my doubt. I did not know what to think at the end!
Alas, for the crash, I am sure, I can reproduce:(

For the "But now that we have the Selection Filter, it does seem like it would make sense sense to allow time signatures to be copied by default, and then you could use the filter to prevent that", will you make a feature request?

And what about the bad copy of the content itself of the 3/8 measure (see example above) and followings. One is it the consequence of the other?

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• Oct 24, 2014 - 16:57

I don't know anything about a crash. Did you report it?

As for the 3/8 bars, in your picture, it looks to me like it was copied correctly. A quarter note followed by four eighths in the original, and a quarter note followed by four eighths in the copy. Were you expecting something different?

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• Oct 24, 2014 - 17:03

I concur - the musical notes themselves are copied right, but the layout of them is wrong because of the lack of the time sigs. I had the same problem with mine, but more extreme, as it would split long notes across measures with ties, then after correcting the time sigs I then had to manually go through them all resetting them to the right length of note to get rid of all the redundant ties.

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• Oct 24, 2014 - 20:40

Bottom line, 5th note should be after the bar (that measure should be 3/8) with notes 6 and 7, then the last 4 notes should be in their own 2/4 measure.

Here's the same tune done in the latest Git version, and the copied is aligned with the original:

badlay.png

As you can see, the original selection doesn't include the time sigs, and when you paste it, yes the tune would play the same, but the whole layout is broken (compared to the original) due to the wrong time sig throughout.

A more extreme demonstration, which ends up in many ties, and if you have lyrics, lots of duplicated syllables:
badlay2.png
Anything more complex than ba ba black sheep gets completely messed up, and recovering from it afterwards (inserting all the right time sigs, and collapsing the ties) is a right royal pain - especially when you want to do it 6 times throughout a song.

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• Oct 24, 2014 - 21:28

What I'm saying, though, is that if you accept that time signatures are not copied, the layout is actually completely correct. The layoutnis just as it should be for the time signature that is actually there, not the time signature you wish were there. Again, unless I am missing something.

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• Oct 24, 2014 - 21:54

Yes, the note timing is right. If we could just have the time sigs copied the layout would be fixed.

In a word processor, when you copy and paste, you get all the letters, font, colour, etc, unless you specifically paste just the text (paste unformatted). If you copied and pasted in Word, and found that it didn't give you any e's you'd be a bit confused, no?

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• Oct 24, 2014 - 21:56

I think, Marc, that he thinks (Majenko) that the expected result is that the act of copying and pasting is to strictly reproduce the same set of measures, with the same time signatures and the same notes (same layout) that the passage selected. A duplication, pure and simple.

Actually, the notes are copied and pasted, but they adopt the time signature immediately preceding the measure where you go copying your selection.

It's funny, because I practice MuseScore since over two years now, and I had never paid attention to this issue! :)

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• Oct 24, 2014 - 22:09

That is certainly the kind of behaviour I'd expect, yes.

It's actually not very common to be doing much copying of time sigs, since most music doesn't alternate time sigs much, but when you get a piece that does change time sigs a lot, and you find you need to do lots of duplicating of sections, you certainly start to see (and be annoyed by) the problem.

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• Jun 8, 2017 - 15:12

I have a score in which time signatures change almost every measure (between 3/4 and 4/4, but it doesn't matter (and, in case one would ask, no, it isn't a 3+4/4 piece)).
Copy/paste in this score is extremely frustrating lacking the ability to include the time signatures.
Or do I miss something and it is possible in current version?
Thanks.

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• May 6, 2022 - 21:37

Agreed - I change the time signature ever measure, and that does not copy with the rest of it, so I have to manually set the measures up before I can transfer the notes. "copy" should mean copy the whole darn thing and put it "there."

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