3/4 to 3/8
I have an andante movement written in 3/4 that's turned out to be seven minutes long. I was thinking that if I reduced the meter from 3/4 to 3/8, then I could get the music on a condensed-easier to deal with part. I already tried just changing the meter, but the info didn't translate. Any ideas on a short-cut for reducing by half everything written? Thanks for any ideas.
Comments
There is nothing built in to MuseScore for thaat. I tried to write plugin once to help with that, but there were two many limitations for it to work. So sorry, as far as I know, you'd have to rewrite the pieceif you want to make that change. Although I suppose you could export to MusicXML, see if you can make the change in some other program, then import the results back into MuseScore. You'd probablt lose info along the way, but it might turn out to be less work to fix that up than to do it from scratch.
BTW, I can't really imagine what you'd actually gain from the change. The piece would be just as long either way. I supposed the spacing between eighth jotes is closer by default thant the spacing between quarter notes, but all the extra beams required would just clutter the page more, and you can always just add less stretch to your existing piece to tighten the spacing if that's your goal. I mean, make the change if it makes sense for purely musical reasons, but I can't imagine any way in which it would then become any easier to read.
In reply to There is nothing built in to by Marc Sabatella
Thanks, Marc, for the reply. I didn't think that there was a way to do this, just thought I'd check with the experts. To answer your "BTW"... Mozart, Beethoven, etc. often wrote slow three movements using 3/8. It's easier to conduct 3/8 than 3/4 with eight note subdivisions. Also, I've found that reading a slow 3/8 is easier to hold concentration than a subdivided 3/4.
Maybe it's an optical illusion, but 3/8 seems to take up less space. I'm going to leave this piece "as is" until it's played. If there's any problems or complaints, then I'll reduce it "the slow way" to 3/8 before submitting it to the publisher. Thanks again, Marc. I hope this clarifies and and colors my request.
In reply to Thanks! by Dada
As I said, there may indeed be musical reasons for writing 3/8 rather than 3/4; I was just responding to the notion that it would take up less space. But I should also say, I wasn't thinking about 3/4 with eighth note subdivisions, but rather, 3/4 in which each note value is simply doubled compared to its analogue in 3/8. That is, a measure containing three eighths in 3/8 time being equivalent to one containing three quarters in 3/4 time. These should take up exactly the same amount of space. And I mean exactly, because they would have the exact same number of notes and the exact same number of measures. But the 3/8 version would look denser on the page because it would have more beams. For example, no beams are required for the three quarter notes in 3/4 time, but a beam might be used for the three eighths in 3/8 time. I suppose the fact that that the music is denser in 3.8 might create the optical illusion that it is actually taking up less space as well.
As an example of what I mean, here is the result of filling 32 bars with quarters in 3/4 time and eighths in 3/8 time, all using the default stretch settings:
As you can see, in both cases, MuseScore fit the same number of bars per line (I put a manual break after the final system of 3/4 so the 3/8 section would start on the next system)). The 32 bars of 3/4 take exactly the same amount of space as the 32 bars of 3/8.
So again, if you have musical reasons to ant to rewrite, that's fine, or if you have something in mind other than a quarter in 3/4 becoming an eighth in 3/8. But don't expect the result to end up taking up any less space.
I would like to go the other way. When I import MIDI files, some of them come through in 4/8 time, which gives me a lot of 1/16 and 1/8 notes when they can be 1/8 and 1/4 notes which are easier to read. Changing to 2/4 doesn't do anything, and if I try to set the longest note to 1/8 on import, MuseScore crashes.
So, I wish there were a way to 'de-time' the notes by a half. Sounds like there isn't.
In reply to I would like to go the other by AntonLargiader
You should be able to change the time signature with a MIDI editor.
I'm commenting on this thread in hopes that a plug-in has been created to augment rhythms. I, too, wish to "double" the time of each rhythmic value to reduce the number of 1/64 and 1/32 notes - which are difficult for most grade school musicians to read, let alone transcribe. Any developments?
In reply to Augmenting Rhythm by [DELETED] 800356
Wouldn't the plugins HalfTime and DoubleTime help here?