Instrument/Staff names
Hi! I have seen this issue float around a bit, but am unsure of the current state of things. Essentially, I think it would be very useful to add Staff-specific names/labels, as well as single-system changes for instrument names. For example, if I have 2 flutes, I would like them to exist as one instrument with 2 staves. The instrument would be called "Flutes", and then the first stave would have the label "1.", and the second stave would have the label "2." (As shown in the first attached image). I know that this is possible to do with a horizontal frame. However, this method is time consuming, as the label has to be manually placed in the correct position for each staff in each system. Additionally, since systems aren't always spaced the same way, it's not really possible to leverage copy-paste.
I can imagine this feature in several ways. One way could be a layout palette item, which you drag and dropper copy-paste onto the first measure of the system. It then lets you set the label for this system. I imagine that this would be the easiest to implement. A much stronger way of doing it would be to have it native to the staff itself. Then, I imagine it would also be possible to configure things so that when only one of the staves is visible, the instrument name and staff label 'snap' together and read, for example, 'Fl. 1.'
I don't think this feature is incredibly critical, but it would save so much engraving time. Thoughts and ideas on this would also be really appreciated!! :]
| Attachment | Size |
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| flute-name-example.png | 37.02 KB |
Comments
You can add a flute staff to an existing flute staff. Then they have a common instument name and you can use multible lines for the name.
https://musescore.org/en/handbook/4/working-instruments#add-staff
In reply to You can add a flute staff to… by Mr Fox
This does work, but not reliably. In a large orchestral score, if only flute 1 is playing I want to hide flute 2, but then the name doesn't work.. It also requires the distance between the two staves to remain the same, which might not be the case...
I did find a workaround. I give up on the shared instrument name, and instead add 3 flutes – the first is called '2 Flutes', the second is called 'Flute 1' and the third is called 'Flute 2' That was when the flutes are playing in unison they go together on one stave, but if I have a system with only flute 1, then I use the 'Flute 1' stave.