PDF Upload

• Jul 18, 2023 - 23:17

I have uploaded a PDF and on some bars there are too many notes for the time signature designated by a small grey + sign at the end of the bar. Is there anyway to correct this other than by deleting the bar and re-entering it.
Thanks.

Comments

underquark

• Jul 19, 2023 - 08:42

For most practical purposes the best way is to enter a new bar, enter the notes and the delete the old bar. You could correct the bar so that its actual duration matches the time signature but then you'd have to get lucky with the note placements and they are likely off or the bar wouldn't show up as non-standard duration in the first place.

jsmooney

• Jul 19, 2023 - 22:06

Thanks for the response - what you describe is my experience. It is no big deal to correct it in the way you mention and certainly a lot quicker than entering the score from scratch.

HildeK

• Jul 19, 2023 - 09:54

PDF upload? Do you mean importing from a PDF into Musescore?

If so, there are always errors when doing this. Common is that triplets were not recognized and are imported as normal notes. This lengthens the measure.

Since we don't know what the original and what the import result looks like, a simple correction or just deleting and rewriting the measure may be the way to go.

jsmooney

• Jul 19, 2023 - 22:15

Thanks for the response. Yes, I did mean importing from a PDF into Musescore.
The problem I often experienced was that notes were all loaded as voice 1 rather than as voice 1 and voice 2 (although sometimes it was loaded correctly). I spent a long time trying to correct measures that were incorrect, but moving the notes to the correct voice still meant that the rests were wrong.
Generally, however accuracy wasn't bad and easier than typing in the score from scratch.

HildeK

• Jul 20, 2023 - 08:27

Yes, with a good template, the result can also be very good except for a few measures.
Why do you have to separate voice 1 and voice 2? It looks the same on the printout! You only need voice 2 (or 3 and 4) if the rhythms in the voices differ.
There are also the functions 'Swap voices' and 'Explode' or 'Implode'. And the pauses of the voices 2-4 can be deleted if desired.
But in the initial question you told about wrong bar lengths, that's another topic. And there it is indeed useful to rewrite only this measure by hand; not the whole score.
It would be helpful if you could attach an example to your problems. It doesn't have to be the whole score, a part of it that shows the problems is sufficient. Then you could give the further tips.

jsmooney

• Jul 20, 2023 - 21:13

The score is Fantasia by Alonso Mudarra for the Guitar.
The attachment shows a line from the original score, the same line produced by the PDF import and the same line after the corrections were applied by myself. The corrections applied were as follows and typical of those I applied throughout the score:

1) Measure 1 and 5 - Reduced the number of voices from 4 to 2 using Tools -> Voices -> Exchange voices
2) Measure 2 is a quarter note short and has a - sign above the bar line. I couldn't find a way to correct this so I inserted a new measure, copied the notes from the old measure, corrected them and then deleted the old measure.
3) Measure 4 is a half note too long and has a + sign above the bar line. I couldn't find a way to correct this so I inserted a new measure, typed in the correct notes (copying them would result in something to long again), and then deleted the old measure.
4) I inserted the Ties, and fingering

I am new to music, so apologies in advance if some of my terminology is incorrect or I am using voices in the wrong way. I am learning as I go along !

Attachment	Size
Screenshot 2023-07-20 204632.png	48.54 KB

bobjp

• Jul 21, 2023 - 00:02

Can you post the PDF of that page. I'd like to experiment.

jsmooney

• Jul 21, 2023 - 21:57

I have posted a copy of that page and the whole score just in case. I have had to compress the files to upload them but hopefully that doesn't affect the quality.

Attachment	Size
Fantasia Mudarra 2_compressed.pdf	36.52 KB
Fantasia Mudarra_compressed.pdf	132 KB

HildeK

• Jul 21, 2023 - 07:52

Okay, let me tell you my approach.

Measure 62: change measure duration from actual 3/4 to 4/4 (right click on measure, choose measure properties). You will get a rest on beat 4. Duplicate the quarter note into beat 4 (select beat 3 and press 'r'), select the half note and make it a dotted half note (select it and simply press '.').
Measure 64: delete the half note, decrease the duration in the measure properties / measure duration from 6/4 to 4/4 and rewrite a half rest and a half note in voice 2
select all / apply implode. Unwanted rests of voices 2-4 will disappear.
Measure 61: swap voice 1 and 2, apply implode to beat 1, swap stem direction with 'x'.
Measure 65: optionally swap voice 2 and 3, apply implode and swap stem direction
Add the unrecognized notes - I left that out here.

In this case, a complete rewrite of measures 62 and 64 is not necessary. But beware, if you shorten measure 64 to its nominal value, for example, this half note (F) will be deleted. Therefore, you have to rewrite it in the 2nd voice. Here it was relatively easy, if it is a more complex sequence, a temporary copy e.g. into an empty measure can be helpful.

I do not claim that this is the only or the optimal solution. It is at least better than rewriting whole measures. But sometimes it is still necessary, especially when in scores with several instruments, for example, only one has an overlong measure. This is often the case with unrecognized triplets.

jsmooney

• Jul 21, 2023 - 22:04

I have learnt some new things about measure properties and implode which will make similar changes easier in future. Thanks very much - This is very helpful.