Song cycle

• Jun 15, 2024 - 15:53

I am composing a set of five songs and want to make one continuously paginated score. How do I copy the separate soings into one album? There seems to be nothing in the handbook about this. I can make a frame with the new song's title, but can't add any measures.

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• Jun 15, 2024 - 17:07

If the instruments are the same, one method might be to add a measure at the end on the first song and add a Page Break from the Layout palette to the measure before the new one. Then you can C+P the second song into the new page. Or add measures to write new music. Don't forget to add a meter the new section.

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• Jun 18, 2024 - 01:26

I have tried both suggestions that were forthcoming a couple of days ago. With a LOT of fiddling about, both work, but Musescore seems totally unable to even envisage the idea of someone composing several songs, and then wanting to make one file of them all together under a different title.
Adding an extra bar does work sometimes, but I am now trying to copy a song with complicated time signature changes. This makes the software have a fit of hysterics, and it refuses to copy the material. The handbook offers no suggestions that I can find.
Help (again), please.

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• Jun 18, 2024 - 09:17

Can you post the score, or at least a truncated version, e.g. delete all but the first two bars of each section? Then folk here might be able to spot what is going wrong. I use section breaks regularly to do what you want without any problems (in MS3).

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• Jun 19, 2024 - 01:49

MuseScore does not copy/paste time signatures. To do what you want, you'll need to enter the correct time signature at the place where it begins in the new file, then copy/paste the notes from the old file extending from that time signature to the next time signature change. Then enter the new time signature and then notes that fit into it.

Yes, really a PITA!!!! ("pain in the @$$"). There are other notations that will not be copied as well, time signature is simply the one I remembered off the top of my head.

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• Jun 19, 2024 - 17:45

Very interesting to come across this as I was hoping to do the same. I have 5 (will be 7) separate compositions that are, effectively, part of a "cycle" so was wondering how to copy them into one overall composition with clear breaks, new titles, key and time signatures etc. Unfortunately each is quite different in layout - they are all choral but the first is SATB+Organ, the second SATB Closed score + organ, the third S + organ, the fourth SA + organ and the fifth is back to SATB closed score + organ. I suspect it will not be easy so probably won't bother but if anyone thinks it is possible then do shout out!
Thanks

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• Jun 20, 2024 - 01:52

One possibility would be to combine them only in the PDF. Make each separate file as it should appear in the final product (e.g., the second piece should not begin at page 1 but at page 5 (or whatever). Export them to PDF and then use Acrobat to combine them into a single document.

Depending on exactly how you will be displaying/printing the scores, this may not be helpful at all, at all ... but it could be.

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• Jun 20, 2024 - 11:10

Yes, thanks @TheHutch. I was thinking along those lines too as it will be too much to effectively start again. I guess it doesn't ultimately matter if they are not in one document but it just seemed a nice final step!
I am assuming that it wouldn't be a huge amendment in MuseScore to build in the capability of effectively copying and pasting a whole composition at the end of another. Anyway, for the moment I'll stick with pdf idea. Thanks.

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