mesasure stretch doesn't "stick"
Hello again
As part of the study exercises, I've tried to get a standardized measure length so that comparable measures align vertically when you compare 2 sets of piano staves (2 pairs, 4 staves--2 treble, 2 bass). These are exercises, not a piece score requiring measure variablity.
I shorten and lengthen measure length in Measure Properties layout stretch, then I reset each of the 6 when all the other measures lengths change and misalign. After 4-5 resets up and down the line I can get approximate vertical alignments between staves, but not as good as a fixed setting would be. i sure would love the equivalent of a "fixed font" for measure length.
Thank you
Comments
Please attach your score (or minimal example) here.
Someone might suggest a workaround.
In reply to Please attach your score (or… by Ziya Mete Demircan
This is a raw sample with inserted line breaks at 8 for compactness. Without the breaks the measure count varies per line. It's a lot easier to either study 4 measures each or 8 measures each per line. It aligns better than most but not exact. It'd be nice not to have to fiddle with line breaks and measure properties layout for each line.
In reply to This is a raw sample with… by mmserp
See:
https://musescore.org/en/handbook/tools#line-breaks
where you can set to break lines every 8 measures, instead of manually inserting breaks for each and every line.
Regards
In reply to See:… by Jm6stringer
I tried this on a test piece to set 4-measures-per-line score, but Musescore didn't apply breaks consistently. It broke one line into 2 measures each. I've noticed every now and then Musescore channels "Cats":
For he will do as he did, do
And there's no doing anything about it!
In reply to I tried this on a test piece… by mmserp
Not clear from your file what problem you are perceving - I see two line break, and the lines in question do indeed end right at those breaks. I don't see any lines with only two measures.
Anyhow, line breaks are commands to end a line prematurely at a particular place, just as they are in a word processor. But also just as in a word processor, there is no single command to force more to fit on a line than otherwise would given your current settings. If you want more to fit on a line than would fit given your current settings, you need to change your settings. Either the overall staff space size via Layout / Page Settings, or the default music spacing (Style / General / Measure) or the measure-by-measure override (Layout / Decrease Stretch).
In reply to Not clear from your file… by Marc Sabatella
I didn't attach the test piece where Musescore split a 4-measure line into 2 measures. I tried that after posting.
I'm not aiming to cram a line, I have measures that fit (4--6). I rather they span equally no matter the difference in note durations. This is an exercise series. For example, 7th chord in top 2 piano staves (1 in treble, matching 1 in the bass line), and 2d pair of staves below arpeggiates the same chords for comparison. 4-6 measures fit easily per line, but aligning them -- close but not exact.
In reply to I didn't attach the test… by mmserp
I'm still not seeing a line with only two measures? Anyhow, my guess is you increased stretch in one of the measures to cause it to be too big, or else the content of the measures is just too much to fit a third measure. Could say for sure if you posted the file.
As for alignment between the block chords and arpeggios, the easy way to get that would to not have this as two separate systems but instead one big four-staff system. Align measures between different systems is not standard practice, but if you want that non-standard effect, just keep playing with stretch.
In reply to I'm still not seeing a line… by Marc Sabatella
i deleted the test file where Musescore didn't break consistently--had no reason to keep it.. All lines had more than 2 measures each before my test.
The 2d posted piece didn't have any stretch other than inserted line breaks. I had tried stretch without much success because the other measures in the line wouldn't stay set. Alignment would have made the exercises a bit easier to compare for study. Not sure where you set a system to have 4 staves?
In reply to i deleted the test file… by mmserp
You can add as many staves as you want to your score, just go to Edit / Instruments. You can either add new instruments of one staff each, or add more staves to your existing instrument. Again, having all staves be part of the same system this is definitely the way to get alignment for free right out of the box. Otherwise, if you want different systems to have measures align, you will need to play with stretch and eyeball it.
In reply to You can add as many staves… by Marc Sabatella
No worries appending, inserting, deleting measures. Mastered line, section and page breaks too. And margin adjustments. That's the easy part.
Haven't found anything in the Handbook about varying/stacking staves. Where is that?
In reply to No worries appending,… by mmserp
WHOOPS--haven't found anything in the Handbook about varying/stacking staves * IN SYSTEMS *. Sorry!
In reply to No worries appending,… by mmserp
Again, to add staves, go to Edit / Instruments. Each system will contain all the staves for all of the instruments in your score. You can also use Style / General / Hide empty staves, to allow some systems to show fewer staves if you like.
In reply to Again, to add staves, go to… by Marc Sabatella
Will try this with Voices + Piano and see if this aligns better. Thank you!
In reply to This is a raw sample with… by mmserp
Time signature, Courtesy clefs, Close intervals (second), Accidentals, sometimes barlines and bar-repeats affect page structure.
With an invisible staff, it is possible to fix this situation a bit.
In reply to Time signature, Courtesy… by Ziya Mete Demircan
What is an invisible staff? when I clicked on the "bead string" below the staff, it chimes?
In reply to What is an invisible staff? … by mmserp
In reply to What is an invisible staff? … by mmserp
Triangle instrument. (Percussion staff (one line) and stemless half notes)
//I thought five line staff would take up too much space.
In reply to Triangle instrument. … by Ziya Mete Demircan
Ok.
Invisible didn't make much difference in how things align in my off-line test. but I learned something anyway. Never saw a percussion instrument score before!