Active Menu Items

• Jun 9, 2018 - 18:32

This could possibly be under the Feature Request section, but I'm simply more interested in understanding the way certain aspects of Musescore function.

Preamble: I run Musescore on two monitors - on one, I display the main score editing page, and on the other, I place the mixer, inspector and play panel, along with a script window and/or rhyming dictionary, etc. (Musescore very kindly remembers my window placement, so I can view a large amount of information at a glance.) I like this, because I can work with these items without covering up parts of the score.

The Mixer, inspector and play panel can remain open while I edit on the score page, and this is very helpful.

Other menu items, such as Edit Instruments, Page Settings, and the Style windows must be actively closed before I can return to editing work. (I suspect there are basic underlying OS issues that require this.)

In particular, I am most interested in the Edit Instruments dialogue, as I often toggle the visibility of groups of instruments within an editing session. (Emphasis on the word "often".)

After all that, here is my question:
Why do some menu items allow active back and forth with the score window and others do not? I would find it very helpful if I could toggle instruments without having to open and close the instrument menu every time I select a group.

Side question #1: Why do the Page Settings and Style menus have an "apply" button, and Edit Instruments does not? I actually think this would be really helpful, in that you could see the effect of your instrument editing before closing the dialogue menu, and possibly having to re-open to make further adjustments.

Side question #2: Why is the Apply button even present if you have to use "OK" to return to your score?

Again, I suspect there may be some OS issues that determine some of these capabilities, so it's no big deal if the answer is "just because". I'm really just wondering if there is a more flexible way for me to work with the Edit Instruments menu, as it is a highly-used tool in my process.

Thanks,
Tom

Comments

• Jun 9, 2018 - 18:58

Main question: windows that block you from continuing are called "modal"; ones that allow you to continue working are called "non-modal". Many programs have both types of windows. The idea is to to use modal ones for things that you would normally do then be done. And changing instruments is one of those things - I think what you are using it for is a little unusual and probably something you should be doing differently (see below).

No major reason Edit / Instruments lacks an Apply button. Probably it's the fact that the changes it makes are pretty significant and keeping track of them with the dialog still open is hard from a programming standpoint, but that's not to say it would be impossible. When Apply is present, it's there so you can see the effect of settings you've changed and possibly tweak things further. Very useful in many situations.

Back to my observation about your use of the Visibility control in Edit / Instruments - as I mentioned, this isn't really what it's designed for. It's really meant more for making something invisible permanently, not temporarily hiding it to make editing the other stave easier. For that purpose, it's much better to create a "part" using File / Parts. Like, in an orchestra, you could define a woodwind part containing those staves only, similarly for brass and strings, etc. Much more efficient than constantly fiddling with staff visibility. Although it's not exactly the same, in that manual adjustments made in such a part won't reflect in the score. So understanding more about your actual use case - why you are changing visibility so often - would be helpful in advising further.

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• Jun 9, 2018 - 19:12

Thanks, Marc. I appreciate the definition of the terms.

My understanding was that it is (usually?) best to create parts at a later stage of the process, as they are a major drain on memory resources.
Also, doesn't "parts" give you a separate window for each instrument? At times I may wish to see all vocal tracks, or rhythm section, or brass, etc. Seeing only a single instrument is not nearly as helpful.

The fact that you are suggesting parts indicates that it is more flexible than I am accustomed to working. Is it common or even possible to display parts in groups?

Regardless of its intention, I find it VERY helpful to use Edit Instruments to temporarily toggle instrument groups.

[EDIT] In particular, in my editing I often toggle visibility of differing groups. I toggle piano to view with the brass, or brass and strings, etc. Are you suggesting that there is a way under File/Parts that does this more efficiently? I see that I have much to learn.

Thanks,
Tom
(Back to my non-modal editing.)

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• Jun 9, 2018 - 20:25

Yes, I'd wait to you're done with most note entry and editing for the final generation of parts. But having a few special parts for sections is useful enough that I'd recommend it unless your score is so huge that it is already slowing down. And while the "New All" button does indeed generate one part per instrument, you can use the "New" button to generate parts individually however you like, including as I suggested, a woodwind part, etc. Or a piano + brass part, or whatever you like.

I'd be thinking of this as your easy / quick way of toggling a view, think of Edit / Instruments as literally only for adding or removing instruments or making them permanently invisible, not for simple view changes.

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• Jun 9, 2018 - 20:33

Thanks, Marc. I'll definitely give that a try. I assume it's easy enough to generate and/or discard these temporary part groups.

[EDIT] I tried it, and it works. I had never generated part groups before. Thanks!

You may be giving me too much credit as regards knowing what I have in mind while composing. As I've said before, there's a lot of organic randomness to my composition process. It works for me; some of my best moments are the ones that sneak up on me.

Thanks again,
Tom

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• Jun 9, 2018 - 21:12

New question:
Is it possible to make the Parts menu Non-Modal? (See, I learned a word!) If I use this feature the way I envision it, I may wish to create/discard reference parts, and I would find it helpful to keep the dialogue available during a session.

Tom

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• Jun 12, 2018 - 17:42

It's possible to make the Parts dialog non-modal, just as it is for Instruments, but both are complicated for the same reason - they potentially effect pretty major changes on the structure of the score, and having to track those in parallel with whatever other changes you are making to the score is much more involved what goes on with the Play Panel or other non-modal windows. Still, I can see the value for sure.

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