Pretty much, yes. Hide the time signature with "V", then use the join & split commands in Tools / Measure to build up "measures" of the desired length.
Nope, there isn't. It just has been made easier with the insert mode and the join/split measures tool.
Also better than making the time signature invisible go into staff properties and untic "Show time signature" there
Sorry. I did not express myself accurately. I meant: is there any limit to the "musical length", i.e. the total note value, of the bar/!measure? (If you use the continuous (non-paged; forget the term) mode, then there is no page width, and hence no page width limit.)
OK, I'll start again.
Despite that fact that Mark Sabatella is an expert on Musescore, which I am not, I think the answer is "Yes", not "No." If you switch to the so-called "insert" mode, and you use the continuous view (I hope that is the right term), you can then enter an almost indefinitely long piece of unmetered music (at least six hours' worth, if Jojo is correct). The term "insert" is a misnomer, because you probably do not want to "insert", you simply want to keep typing, but it is called that because of an extended series of complaints from people demanding to know why Musescore doesn't work like a word processor, and not being able to understand the answer.
The reason the answer though remains "no" is that internally MuseScore can't deal with "unmetered" at all. So your music technically doesn't become unmetered, but "custom metered".
In most cases and for many users this is a "same difference" approach, until they want to print their score and notice they'd still have to create some kind of "measures" to allow for system breaks.
Oh, you mean that when the length of the bar is 167 crotchets, then it is fixed ("measured") at 167, until you add or subtract some more, when it becomes fixed at a different value. You should rush to the programming forums, and tell everyone that we have to call variables "constants", since their values are always fixed until they get changed. No, perhaps go to philosophy... and describe the internals of a system which "technically" could offer unmetered.
If it turns out that Musescore simply cannot insert a line-break inside a bar, then that is a shortcoming, but essentially nothing to do with it. Exactly the same thing happens in "measured" music, if there is a very long bar.
Sure.. let's make fun of the reason why the answer seems irrelevant to you. There's a difference between being unmetered and having a duration vs being metered. And it has nothing do with variables vs constants, which you're well aware of or you wouldn't try to dismiss and ridicule it that way.
As I mentioned to most people this will be a "same difference" thing. But it isn't. And perhaps the mid-bar system breaks weren't the best example; so let's take another.
Beaming will still follows the Time Signature, which shouldn't exist in a truly unmetered approach.
When exporting unmetered music to MusicXML I do not expect to find time signatures within it, however MuseScore (due to those "technically internals") will put one in there. Reopen the same musicxml file and the time signature magically reappears.
Sure you can go ahead and just call that an "exporting bug" as well; and undoubtedly it can get fixed. And if we fix all of those "bugs" related to actually not really supporting unmetered music the end result will be support for unmetered music.
But until that time, the correct answer remains "No, MuseScore does not support unmetered music; but it offers a number of features that can bring you extremely close."
MuseScore indeed can't put a system break mid-measure. That's thw the Tools > Measures > Split function comes into play first.
That one of the reasone to say, "No, MuseScore doesn't really support unmetered. But you can do it with a couple workarounds"
Note I did say the answer was "pretty much yes" :-). Insert mode doesn't do anything different under the hood from changing measure duration in measure properties or using split / join, so it's just a matter of which method fits your way or working best. For me, it's usually join measures, because then I don't need any special fancy modes and can use all the standard note input techniques. For others, it's insert mode. I rarely use that, but I do occasionally use the individual "insert note" commands (Ctrl+Shift+letter) within standard step-time note input mode. Also, for removing beats from measures, you have similar tools - measure properties, split, and "remove selected range" (Ctrl+Delete).
But no matter which tool you use, the end result is the same - measures of varying length, where you are in complete control of the number of beats in the measure. So, while there are still measures, they can contain any number of beats. To me that is unmetered in a practical sense.
As for what limits might exist on the actual length of a measure, whatever limits are placed by the compiler, probably something like 2^32.
Comments
Pretty much, yes. Hide the time signature with "V", then use the join & split commands in Tools / Measure to build up "measures" of the desired length.
In reply to Pretty much, yes. Hide the… by Marc Sabatella
I thought there was now an unmetered option, so you can do it honestly, instead of the kludge you suggest?
In reply to I thought there was now an… by Imaginatorium
Nope, there isn't. It just has been made easier with the insert mode and the join/split measures tool.
Also better than making the time signature invisible go into staff properties and untic "Show time signature" there
In reply to Nop, there isn't. It just… by Jojo-Schmitz
Well, so-called "insert mode" appears to me to be an unmetered bar/!measure. Is there any limit to the length between barlines in this mode?
In reply to Well, so-called "insert mode… by Imaginatorium
Page width is the limit.
In reply to Page width is the limit. by Jojo-Schmitz
Sorry. I did not express myself accurately. I meant: is there any limit to the "musical length", i.e. the total note value, of the bar/!measure? (If you use the continuous (non-paged; forget the term) mode, then there is no page width, and hence no page width limit.)
In reply to Sorry. I did not express… by Imaginatorium
None that I'd know of.
When in doubt, try it out ;-)
In reply to Sorry. I did not express… by Imaginatorium
Actually, at least if believing the measure properties dialog, the max. actual duration is 10000/1
OK, I'll start again.
Despite that fact that Mark Sabatella is an expert on Musescore, which I am not, I think the answer is "Yes", not "No." If you switch to the so-called "insert" mode, and you use the continuous view (I hope that is the right term), you can then enter an almost indefinitely long piece of unmetered music (at least six hours' worth, if Jojo is correct). The term "insert" is a misnomer, because you probably do not want to "insert", you simply want to keep typing, but it is called that because of an extended series of complaints from people demanding to know why Musescore doesn't work like a word processor, and not being able to understand the answer.
In reply to fdhfhfg by Imaginatorium
The reason the answer though remains "no" is that internally MuseScore can't deal with "unmetered" at all. So your music technically doesn't become unmetered, but "custom metered".
In most cases and for many users this is a "same difference" approach, until they want to print their score and notice they'd still have to create some kind of "measures" to allow for system breaks.
In reply to The reason the answer though… by jeetee
Oh, you mean that when the length of the bar is 167 crotchets, then it is fixed ("measured") at 167, until you add or subtract some more, when it becomes fixed at a different value. You should rush to the programming forums, and tell everyone that we have to call variables "constants", since their values are always fixed until they get changed. No, perhaps go to philosophy... and describe the internals of a system which "technically" could offer unmetered.
If it turns out that Musescore simply cannot insert a line-break inside a bar, then that is a shortcoming, but essentially nothing to do with it. Exactly the same thing happens in "measured" music, if there is a very long bar.
In reply to Oh, you mean that when the… by Imaginatorium
Sure.. let's make fun of the reason why the answer seems irrelevant to you. There's a difference between being unmetered and having a duration vs being metered. And it has nothing do with variables vs constants, which you're well aware of or you wouldn't try to dismiss and ridicule it that way.
As I mentioned to most people this will be a "same difference" thing. But it isn't. And perhaps the mid-bar system breaks weren't the best example; so let's take another.
Beaming will still follows the Time Signature, which shouldn't exist in a truly unmetered approach.
When exporting unmetered music to MusicXML I do not expect to find time signatures within it, however MuseScore (due to those "technically internals") will put one in there. Reopen the same musicxml file and the time signature magically reappears.
Sure you can go ahead and just call that an "exporting bug" as well; and undoubtedly it can get fixed. And if we fix all of those "bugs" related to actually not really supporting unmetered music the end result will be support for unmetered music.
But until that time, the correct answer remains "No, MuseScore does not support unmetered music; but it offers a number of features that can bring you extremely close."
In reply to Oh, you mean that when the… by Imaginatorium
MuseScore indeed can't put a system break mid-measure. That's thw the Tools > Measures > Split function comes into play first.
That one of the reasone to say, "No, MuseScore doesn't really support unmetered. But you can do it with a couple workarounds"
In reply to fdhfhfg by Imaginatorium
(Sorry, he didn't say "No", but he appeared to ignore the possibility of directly entering an (almost) indefinitely long passage of unmetered music.)
In reply to fdhfhfg by Imaginatorium
Note I did say the answer was "pretty much yes" :-). Insert mode doesn't do anything different under the hood from changing measure duration in measure properties or using split / join, so it's just a matter of which method fits your way or working best. For me, it's usually join measures, because then I don't need any special fancy modes and can use all the standard note input techniques. For others, it's insert mode. I rarely use that, but I do occasionally use the individual "insert note" commands (Ctrl+Shift+letter) within standard step-time note input mode. Also, for removing beats from measures, you have similar tools - measure properties, split, and "remove selected range" (Ctrl+Delete).
But no matter which tool you use, the end result is the same - measures of varying length, where you are in complete control of the number of beats in the measure. So, while there are still measures, they can contain any number of beats. To me that is unmetered in a practical sense.
As for what limits might exist on the actual length of a measure, whatever limits are placed by the compiler, probably something like 2^32.
In reply to Note I did say the answer… by Marc Sabatella
It was me who said "No". My wife claims me to be a pessimist ;-)
In reply to It was me who said "No". My… by Jojo-Schmitz
She's pretty positive about it.