MS4 spacing bug: Double-sharps get squeezed between notes
Compare these two cases:
A)
B)
In B) the x gets tucked under the leger line, practically disappearing from view.
I reckon this happens simply because double-sharps are “shorter” than the other accidentals and fit in a smaller vertical space. But this results in unevenness and lack of clarity.
Default spacing should provide all accidentals equal visibility.
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Comments
Well it is probably because there are no ledger lines in the way
In reply to Well it is probably because… by Jojo-Schmitz
... and the fact that MS 4.0 is much more compact in layout, because it deliberately calculates where it can "tuck" accidentals in towards the left. This allows a much more regular spacing which corresponds better to the note durations.
In reply to ... and the fact that MS 4.0… by DanielR
Regularity is exactly my point.
Some clever mind said once “good layout is tight layout”. I agree enthusiastically. But that doesn’t mean “always use up as much negative space as possible, because you CAN”. For this compromises legibility. And regularity AND, above all, coherence, if — as in my example — perfectly analogous passages look different, just because the shorter accidental is spaced differently and gets virtually hidden. Please check the image: it speaks for itself.
I don’t think this behaviour should be defended as a merit: Here MuseScore is rather doing too much of a good thing.
My point: double-sharps et sim. should have some kind of vertical padding, so as to guarantee visual balance in the default spacing.
Actually, what steps can be taken for this to be examined as a candidate for a bug fix?
In reply to Regularity is exactly my… by AValente1685
Tucking is definitely on purpose, and it is a good thing. Most publishers do this, and most style guides recommend it. Additional padding could indeed be useful though. I recommend opening an issue on GitHub to request it.