Fill measure with notes
On my tablet without a keyboard, note entry is often slower than note editing. As a result, I generally paste full measures, with the rough voice/temporal structure I need, then adjust pitches and durations. This is particularly true when doing transcriptions. I often begin a new score by pasting in 32 bars of eighth notes in voice 1 at A above the staff and quarter or half notes in voice 2 at A below the staff. Then I adjust as needed. It would be a big time saver if I could click a palette entry with a measure template that would flood the current selection. Perhaps this is something I could tailor for myself...I'm not sure about the current state of customization and add-ins. Thanks for any suggestions.
Comments
You might find the "Repeat" shortcut useful—with one measure filled, select the measure and tap [R] as many times as necessary.
In reply to You might find the "Repeat" by Isaac Weiss
Thanks, yes this is helpful, but doing this involves extra steps. Basically, I'd like "R" to be able to copy from a template, or from another score, as well as from other measures within the active score. I can certainly manage with the current capabilities, but since this usage case is a little unusual I thought it might be helpful to flag it. For me, note editing is often faster than note entry, and that fact might suggest a different interface paradigm for some situations.
In reply to Thanks, yes this is helpful, by spinality
I'd rather address the root of the issue - making sure note input is easy on a tablet. In my brief trials running MuseScore on a system with no keyboard (a "smart board"), I foudn the Piano Keyboard window the msot efficient entry method. Have you tried this? What other ideas do you think might make note input more efficient with no keyboard? The main issue I had with "mouse" (touch) entry was accuracy - there was no feedback as to which line/space my finger was "hovering" over. I could imagine a system like we have with tab in which you can move the cursor up and down as well as side to side, using buttons. But this too seems awkward.
In reply to I'd rather address the root by Marc Sabatella
Thanks for the reply. Yes, the piano keyboard is very helpful for entering a single melody line. However for the guitar transcriptions I'm currently working on, I find it more efficient to paste a template measure with roughly the right number of notes/voices, and then manipulate the notes.
BTW with an active stylus on the tablet, I do have quite precise control over selection. However, I frequently wind up in contexts where the expected action doesn't occur, e.g. I've selected the note with the stylus but can't seem to drag it to a different pitch. Sometimes I can, sometimes I can't, depending on various factors.
Underlying this is the fact that stylus operations are subtly different from mouse operations (and that's why I've posted wish-list items for more stylus awareness). There is no real "click-hold" equivalent on the stylus, but that is an important aspect of mouse use. Right-click is also an issue.
It would also be useful if we could recognize a stylus button press as an erase mechanism (as in most stylus-aware apps). Likewise, it would be helpful if stylus taps and finger taps could be treated differently. Obviously all of this would be greatly complicated by platform issues; but still, the system could presumably be aware that a stylus is in use, and have some stylus-aware behavior. It probably will take a stylus-using developer to address this, if it is feasible at all.
Here are a few UI ideas that might be helpful: a) let me resize the piano keyboard, b) provide some easy way to assemble a chord on the piano keyboard before engraving it, c) provide a floating mini-toolbar with shift/ctrl/alt/esc/N/arrow/undo keys -- this would help enormously since bringing up the soft keyboard to get to an arrow key is annoying, d) add a floating "zoom" window that makes it easy to tap the precise note/pitch you want, e) add "timeless" note entry (maybe in a separate "pre-entry tool" window) that lets me place notes to go within the current measure without regard to duration or voice.
The most useful thing would be the floating control-key palette. Just floating N/esc/undo keys would save me a lot of time getting in and out of note-entry mode. I am constantly accidentally adding notes when trying to select notes due to unexpected transitions into note-entry mode.
Hope this is helpful input.
In reply to I'd rather address the root by Marc Sabatella
I should add that my needs are colored by my focus on guitar, which means that I am generally creating scores in a lead-sheet form with 2-3 voices on the staff and chords on many notes. This is why piano keyboard entry is not always the simplest choice for me.
In reply to I should add that my needs by spinality
You should be able to make the piano keyboard bigger with Ctrl + Scroll (no idea how you can do that without a mouse...)
Any toolbar can be floating. Drag the left part of the toolbar to another place of the screen.
Hopefully, it helps a bit.
For developers, it should be possible to use http://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qtabletevent.html#details to get some information about the stylus, including buttons pressed.
In reply to You should be able to make by [DELETED] 5
Thanks much for the comments. My point about the floating control key window wasn't about the floating-ness (yes, I drag my palettes all over the place) but about a having a toolbar/palette where a mouse- or finger-click would get the result of key-press for the all-important editing keys (ctrl, alt, shift, esc, arrows, etc.). Since these aren't easy to get to without a keyboard, it makes operations more complex. Still, despite these limitations, I am tending to prefer using MS on my keyboardless tablet on a stand, next to a music stand, with my instrument in hand -- rather than at my desktop, where the UI functionality is better but where I can't really use my instrument.