System/Staff option for measure numbers
It would be great to have the option for measure numbers either to be treated as staff text or system text (and in the latter case to have the option for above first staff or below last staff).
My reasoning is that measure numbers on the bottom of a conductor's score is standard, but currently the workaround in MuseScore makes an extraordinary amount of visual clutter. (Applying to all staves, making non-visible for all but the lowest staff.) It may look acceptable in the attached screenshot, but once you start adding in articulations, dynamics, staff text, and chord symbols it turns into an unholy mess.
| Attachment | Size |
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| measure numbers.jpg | 39 KB |
Comments
Yes, this is a common request that we hope to implement someday. Meanwhile, if you don't want to see the invisible measure numbers on screen, simply turn off View / Show Invisible. But, better to me would be to not bother duplicating the measure numbers on every staff until you're done with the basic editing. Then it won't matter how it looks on screen because you're essentially done dealing with it at that level.
Also, FWIW, measure numbers on every measure and below the score is common in some genres (eg, film scores, big band arrangements), but overall, the normal standard is as in MuseScore - above the start of system only.
In reply to Yes, this is a common… by Marc Sabatella
Thanks, Marc, glad to know it's on the radar. I do tend to like to do score setup before writing any music, but that's just personal preference, and I can certainly use your "show invisible" workaround to make it easier to look at.
Fair point at the end. It's standard in medium-size jazz ensembles, too, for the full score. Probably doesn't apply to chamber pieces like a string quartet, and I'm not personally familiar with conductors scores for orchestral music, but I could see it not being standard there, even if the conductors might benefit from it. Out of curiosity, what is the standard for full orchestral scores, every measure left aligned above whatever instrument the first staff is?
In reply to Thanks, Marc, glad to know… by abnyc
Not every measure - top staff, start of system only. Although centered above each barline is also something I see - just not as commonly, and not what is most recommended in engraving textbooks.
In jazz or any style where chord symbols are used, below the staff is more like to not cause problems when numbering every bar, and you don't want it below the top staff only because then it's kind of buried between the staves. So my guess is that's where the convention of moving them to the bottom of the page comes from.
Even so, though, jazz charts often use rehearsal letters more generously than other styles, making bar numbers every measure less important. So I tend to just focus on those.