Looking for Feedback on the formatting of measure numbers
So I'm writing an orchestral score and am looking for some feedback on what would be an ideal way to format the measure numbers. I understand that this is something that may vary by person, but is there some sort of standard or preferred formatting choice for conductors?
I've included a download to the score as well as a screenshot of what I currently have the measure numbers looking like.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Ballad of the Goddess.mscz | 211.39 KB |
| Screenshot 2023-07-18 213324.png | 57.94 KB |
Comments
I think it depends on the situation. For your own use, it's a personal choice, for your orchestra the conductor would be the best person to ask, for your marching band then ask the band leader, for a small ensemble ask the players and for publishing ask the intended publisher.
The most common standard is what MuseScore does by default - start of each system, above the system barline. Unless you are working for a specific publisher or submitting to specific teacher or competition that requires a different format, just leave it as is.
If you do choose to show them every measure, it will kind of be up to you to figure out how to avoid collisions with the score itself. Either pulling them in as close as possible to the staff, or high above as you are showing here, are both solutions I've seen. To me it's not normally worth the hassle, though. As a conductor, I'd rather see well-placed rehearsal marks, and I can count measure as needed.