Could Note Input be more like Noteflight please?

🎷Hello Musescore developers! Thank you so much for the work you’ve already done on the program; I’ve used it frequently for my compositions. I also appreciate how often your developers are active & commenting on the forum posts, which shows you are listening & trying to improve things. Particularly I like what you’ve done with Style, more intuitive Parts layout, the ability to set keyboard shortcuts, the glissando playback sounds wonderful, & the Selection Filter and Edit Drumset features are cool to me. Thank you.

I recently went back to composing after a break, in which I tried both Noteflight & Musescore, so I got a fresh look at both programs. When I transferred a score to Musescore (abbreviated MUS), I noticed the note input process was much slower compared to Noteflight (NF). Would you please consider using these note input methods in the future so as to have a smoother, faster approach? I tend to write in a thorough way so as to give the full picture, so even if this seems long, I hope it’s filled with quality content.

1. First, I noticed the rhythm input & accidentals in MUS were prescriptive (in Note Input mode, you have to press the number key corresponding to the rhythm size before pressing the letter of the note), whereas in NF, it could be post-scriptive. You can type the note letter, then make the rhythm size smaller or larger using [ or ]. The reason I think NF’s method is faster is because of thinking time & correction speed. In order to determine the rhythm size of a note, I have to first count it out in my head, even sometimes to the full measure size to double check. Then if I make a mistake, the correction process in MUS takes more keys.
   • For example, if I sing a melody & hear a G then A (dotted 8th then 16th), both a quarter note & a dotted eighth feel the same at the beginning, but I realize the rhythm is a dotted eighth because it’s “stopped short” by the following 16th note. In MUS if I accidentally type a G quarter note, only to figure out later it really was a dotted 8th, I would have to press: left arrow + think in my head + 4 + . + G + think + 3 + A (6 keys with more thinking). In NF, to correct this, I would just press [ + . + A + [ (4 keys with less thinking).
   • Part of what contributes to this in MUS is the functionality of note input is contained both in and outside Note Input Mode. Within NIM, you can write prescriptive rhythms, but you can’t change an existing rhythm’s size, only write over it. Outside NIM, you can change a rhythm’s size by clicking on it then typing a number, but then this immediately opens NIM, so you couldn’t continue the process.

In addition, here are some other things that would increase speed:

2. The keyboard shortcuts in MUS for changing note size larger/smaller currently work with or without dots. If a dot is included, then changing the size goes through each inbetween regular or dotted size, taking time. In NF, you can change the size of any note’s base size, then toggle the dot. It’s a step or more faster.
3. In MUS, the default up & down arrows adjust pitch chromatically, which takes time if you like using the arrows or don’t have the exact pitch in your head. In NF, the arrows move diatonically, & you can adjust pitch by - or = for flat or sharp. This makes it faster to change larger pitch gaps, & simplifies the process intellectually because arrows will always adjust up and down, and -/= will always adjust accidentals.
4. NF has an option to type dynamics by using Cmd + E. This simplifies the process rather than having to delete dynamics, go over to the box, find the right one, then click on it.
5. NF is able to toggle elements on & off. In MUS, each one is a physical element that is added or subtracted. This makes adding them easy, but subtracting them difficult, since you have to go to the selection filter & toggle a bunch of different things to delete only the elements.
6. With percussion, I love that the drum set in MUS is editable (that’s an advantage over NF). But the “note names” on the staff (A-G) don’t correspond to the note placement; and using up, down, or Cmd + up/down arrows doesn’t change the “pitch” like I would anticipate. NF uses the normal pitches as note input. I understand MUS does this to make it more customizable, but it’s slower to use since every note needs a keyboard shortcut or a double tap on its symbol, & there aren’t enough available letter shortcuts to cover the whole drum set. It would be wonderful if the note names corresponded & you could edit the drum set from there. If this change was made, then different drum sounds would be created by using different note heads. In NF, a quarter note (circle head) on C is a snare sound; with a diagonal line it’s a cross-stick; and with an x head it’s a rim shot.
7. Could there please be a setting to match the long instrument name, name in “Instruments,” name in the “Parts” window, & the individual part name? I remember changing things in multiple locations & it not matching across all 4. A default checkbox of “Match all 4” would allow functionality while preserving the main goal.
8. Style: Could Page Settings, Project Properties, & Style be combined into one section? I had trouble learning what was where. In addition, I think it would be nice to have clearer save options. If I edited something in Style, it wasn’t clear if saving it would apply to just the part, the score, all parts, or score & parts. It would also be nicer if clicking “Ok” didn’t close the Style box, so you could make changes, see them, then keep editing.
9. Selection: Can you please give the option to select one element or line of music & paste it over several staves? This would help a ton with bigger scores when parts are doubled.
10. Simplicity: Would there be a way to simplify the keyboard shortcuts & Style to the most necessary, while still having availability to set your own or advanced options? There are currently a lot.
11. I’ve had difficulty deleting a second voice entirely. I would have only Voice 2 selected, then press delete, & it would leave behind a bunch of rests I had to delete through a complicated process. Could this be simplified somehow please?
12. I love the automatic parts creation. Could there be a return of being able to select a voice to go into a part, such that you could split Voices 1 & 2 into different parts?
13. I know there are other posts about this, but could there be some kind of version history or save version log, like Google Docs? It could be manual. If the difficulty is making the file size too big, people could have the ability to delete previous backup versions.

Sorry if my explanations didn’t come across clearly. I hope that my thoroughness helps though. I think if one of your technicians played around with NF free for an hour or so, they would figure out how it works and see the differences.

Finally, if this isn’t too much for you, could you please consider these smaller things?
- The Style section doesn’t have a way to format part title box sizing across all parts. This would make it easy to make Pep Band half sheet parts.
- Could there be a glissando element without the word “Gliss” please? Just the squiggly line.
- Can there be an element for “half closed” hi hat? It’s the same symbol that a chord uses when it’s half diminished (circle with a diagonal line through it).
- Hyphens in words aren’t able to be deleted by themselves, & if you delete the final syllable of a word, the hyphen adjusts to the next word.

You guys have done a great job on the program already. Thank you for what you’ve done. I think with these changes, the whole Musescore community would benefit.