Engraving improvements in MuseScore Studio 4.5

As usual, this document is a work-in-progress until the release: the new features will be properly documented in the Handbook before then, and links to the relevant pages will be added here as they are added or updated. For now, only the briefest summary of the functionality is described here.

('Still to come' means in a later release, by the way.)

New features

System markings

Implementation: Issue 24100 / PR 25825

Though the basic functionality for multiple instances of system markings (tempo markings, rehearsal marks, etc.) has existed since MuseScore 4.0, there was no UI to customise it, and it was only available via a few supplied templates. Now in 4.5 we finally have a UI which allows you to configure where each type of markings should appear.

All markings appear at the top of the score by default, but you can add any number of additional instances. They are added and configured via the Layout panel (formerly called Instruments). Click Add to add an instance, which you can drag around between instruments as required, and click the cog to configure which types of item are shown there.

Still to come: Controlling bar number position as system markings; positioning markings below the bottom stave.

Large time signatures

Implementation: Issues 20480 & 25687 / PR 25894
It is now possible to use large time signatures, either above staves or across groups of staves. When these options are used, their positions are configured via the system markings UI. For each style of time signatures (normal, above staves, across staves) there are independent style settings to configure their placement, behaviour and which sets of glyphs to use. Leland contains new glyphs sets for narrow and narrow sans-serif variants.

Laissez vibrer ties

Implementation: Issue 16726 / PR 25435
Laissez vibrer (l.v.) ties can now be added to notes via a button in the top bar. They follow the same rules of placement and geometry as normal ties, and can be given a minimum length. When applied to a chord, all of the hanging endpoints will all align.

There is an option to use SMuFL symbols for the ties if preferred; these are less flexible, since they are fixed in size and shape.

Still to come: Fancier uses of l.v. ties, for example ties on barlines, 'chains' of ties, etc.

System locks

Implementation: PR 25597
Any range of bars can now be made info a fixed system using a system lock. The bars will then remain on the same system without breaking. Locks can be created in a variety of ways. There are four new buttons, with corresponding keyboard shortcuts, in the Measure section of Properties, which is available when a measure or range of measures is selected:

• Previous (Alt+Up): move the selected measure(s) to the previous system, and lock that system
• Next (Alt+Down): Move the selected measure(s) to the next system, and lock that system
• Lock selected system(s) (Alt+L): Lock the system(s) which contain the selected measure(s), as they currently stand
• Create system from selection (Alt+S): Create a locked system from the selected measure(s) only.

Ctrl+Alt+L will lock all systems of a score.

A locked system is indicated by a new lock symbol at its right-hand end. When selected, a bar will be shown across the locked system to show its extent.

System locks can, in most cases, replace the old system breaks in any score where you need a fixed layout. The system break only specifies where a break should happen, but says nothing about how many bars should be on that system; additional breaks may occur between two explicit system breaks if MuseScore is not able to fit the bars onto the system. Using a system lock, you can put any number of bars on a system and be sure it will never be broken. (Do tread carefully though, as you can easily end up with overly squashed results!)

Use of the 'Keep measures on same system' layout item to achieve this should now be a thing of the past.

Still to come: Corresponding page locks.

Partial ties, slurs and lyrics lines

Implementation: Issue [25426] / PRs 25745, 25883, 25980 & 26213
You can now draw ties, slurs and lyrics lines (extenders and dashes) to and from repeats and jumps - for example, a note just before the end of a repeated section which connects back to the start repeat.

Ties work a bit differently from the others: if you have a note before a jump and you add a tie in the normal way (press T, or via the top bar), the tie will be drawn to all notes at valid locations that follow, which may include the note that immediately follows them. If you select such a tie, a menu will pop up where you can select or deselect which of these destinations you want the tie to connect to. You can also select the end segments separately and delete them.

The other types are more manual and require you to draw the segments as you desire. For slurs, select a note and a barline which has a jump on it, and add a slur in the normal way (press S, or via the top bar). If you have a slur that starts on the note just after a jump or ends on the note just before one, you can also nudge it to the 'hanging' position using Shift+Alt+Left/Right.

For lyrics lines, pressing _ or - on the note before a jump will draw the line up to the jump. To enter a lyric line at the destination of a jump, go into lyric entry mode on the first note after the jump and type _ or - (without any preceding text) and a partial line will be drawn starting from the jump. These partial lines, exceptionally, can be selected so you can delete them.

Still to come: The expansion of this solution to apply to all types of lines crossing jumps (hairpins, etc.)

Courtesies at repeats and jumps

Implementation: PR 26264
Where the clef, key or time signature is different when jumping to another point of the score (when going back to the start of a repeat, to a coda, or at a D.C. or D.S. for example), courtesies can now be shown before the jump - and even after the jump if the courtesy needs to be 'uncancelled'!:

There are comprehensive new options for whether/when these should be shown, how they are to be laid out and whether they should be parenthesised.

Improved lyric spacing

Implementation: Issue: 17423 / PR 25099
Lyric text can now extend outside of its containing measure, which solves a longstanding and serious problem where unnecessary extra space would often be created at the starts and ends of measures.

In a score where you have lyrics and also barlines drawn between the staves, you may still wish for extra space to be created to avoid collisions with the barlines, and this is available as an option. The alternative is for the lyrics to mask the barlines as they cross them: see below.

(See also Horizontal spacing improvements, below.)

Masking of text items

Implementation: Issue 22646 / PRs 26227 & 26355

All text-based items (including dynamics) can now automatically mask barlines when they cross them. This can be controlled via a new option in Style -> Barlines. This avoids the old workaround of having to create a frame around text with a white background.

This also addresses a longstanding complaint about fret numbers on tablature staves, which were previously drawn with a small white box behind them (Issue 11570). These now use the new masking system instead.

Still to come: General masking along the same lines - for example, for slurs and ties crossing key/time signatures.

New options for multi-measure rests

Implementation: Issues 23918, 24945 & 24947 & / PR 25199
There are a range of new options to control multi-measure rests:

• The width of a single-measure rest can be proportional to its time signature, or have a consistent (rhythmic) width
• A minimum width can be set, and cap on when increasingly long rests get wider
• A '1' can be shown on a single-bar rest when multi-measure rests are on
• Numerals can be centered between the staves on multi-stave instruments, rather than appearing above each staff.

Other improvements

All text items now use anchors system

Implementation: Issue: 25668 / PR 25741
All text-based items can now use the anchors system introduced in MuseScore Studio 4.4, meaning they can be placed at any rhythmic position within a measure.
Figured bass and chord symbols, which had their own version of rhythmic positioning before, will be converted to use the anchors system instead. The input interactions have not changed.

Improvements to note-anchored lines

Implementation: Issues 21279 / PR 24992
The 'Note-anchored line', previously available only via the Add menu, now has an item in the Lines palette. Its layout behaviour now matches glissando lines (starting just after the start note and ending just before the end note). The position of these lines in existing scores will be preserved when migrating.

New options position of ties relative to augmentation dots

Implementation: PR 25434
For 'inside' ties (i.e. the inner notes of tied chords, or all notes of tied chords if their position is set to 'Inside'), there are now settings for the positioning of the startpoint relative to augmentation dots:

• Auto (before the dot if there will be no collision; the old behaviour)
• Always before dots (always start before the dot; may cause collisions which should be manually adjusted)
• Always after dots (all ties start in alignment after the dots)

Auxiliary notes for trills of a second

Implementation: Issue: 17776 / PR 25262
The ability to notate a bracketed small note to indicate the auxiliary note for a trill was implemented in MuseScore 4.2 for trills of intervals other than a second; this style is now available for seconds too; there is a new option in Style -> Articulations & ornaments.

Local time signatures

Implementation: PR 26100
Several long-standing annoyances with local time signatures have been addressed:

• You are no longer prevented from creating new local time signatures after parts have been created (Issue 18089)
• Local time signatures can be created on different staves in non-sequential order and overlapping without causing spurious errors or unpredictable behaviour (Issue 23411)
• Tuplet numbers are now properly positioned within a measure containing a local time signature (Issue 25110)
• Corruption problems arising from deleting rests in secondary voices within a local time signature no longer arise (Issue 26001).

Horizontal spacing improvements

Cue-size notes can now receive proportionally less space, according to their scale (PR 25265). This behaviour can be toggled via a new option in Style -> Sizes.
Some corrections have been made to spacing of beamed cross-staff groups (PR 25197).
An error where a system could sometimes be made to overflow the right margin has been corrected (PR 23507).

Other layout and selected interaction and crash fixes

• Issue 15766 / PR 25358: Missing properties for glissandos and note-anchored lines are now reinstated to the Properties panel
• Issue 15863 / PR 24893: Jump markers ending up inside a multi-measure rest are now correctly linked to their 'original' instance
• Issue 16396 / PRs 21347 & 25066: Visibility of segments of ties crossing system breaks now behaves correctly
• Issues 17718 & 23936 / PR 24205: Various irrational behaviours when applying items to a range selection have been corrected
• Issue 18554 & 25977 / PR 26350: Trill lines are now laid out inside fermatas and dynamics
• Issue 19759 & 22256 / PR 25420: Courtesy key signatures are now added to the end of the last measure of a system even if it is followed by a frame
• Issue 20910 / PR 26390: Changing the size of part of a text item in the score no longer changes the size of the whole item in the parts
• Issue 21030 / PR 25077: Ties in one voice now avoid collisions with notes in another voice where the voices overlap
• Issue 21317 / PR 24572: The half-open hi-hat symbol is now available as an articulation
• Issues 22204 & 22371 / PR 24997: Trill lines now end before grace notes or breath marks at their end
• Issue 22273 / PR [25741]: Fixes a regression which made it impossible to click directly within highlighted dynamics text to start editing
• Issue 22786 / PR 24936: Slur shapes are no longer influenced by invisible elements
• Issues 22892 & 25820 / PR 26292: Fixes layout problems sometimes caused when splitting a chord across a barline
• Issue 23862 / PR 24481: Opening 'System text properties' no longer creates spurious duplicates of system text items
• Issues 24241 & 24786 / PR 24818: The position of manually-adjusted down-stemmed two-note tremolos is no longer corrupted after saving and reloading a file
• Issue 24434 / PR 24571: Ambitus will no longer disappear when a score begins with a multi-measure rest
• Issue 24670 / PR 25784: Averts crashes triggered by microtonal trills
• Issue 24681 / PR 24804: Gradual tempo changes now remain at the correct position when staves are hidden
• Issue 24823 / PR 24920: Fixes an issue where inner notes of a beamed group could have their notehead and position miscalculated when the beam position is manually adjusted
• Issue 24835 / PR 24992: Cross-staff glissando lines that also cross a system break now have the correct gradient
• PR 24505: Clefs copied as part of a range selection are now propagated to parts and linked staves
• Issue 24560 / PR 26310: Rests no longer trigger the creation of unnecessary and confusing secondary beams
• Issue 24680 / PR 24836: The 'Show line' option for text lines and the 'Snap to' options for dynamics are now independently controllable in score vs parts
• Issue 24812 / PR 24893: Invisible gradual tempo changes and system text no longer break multi-measure rests
• Issue 24895 / PR 24925: Mid-measure barlines added in the score are now shown in parts
• Issue 24970 / PR 26308: Section breaks are now correctly synchronised with parts
• Issue 25204 / PR 25606: Colour settings for Instrument name styles are now honoured
• Issue 25122 / PR 25444: Two-note tremolos are properly synchronised in parts when copy-pasted in score
• Issue 25123 / PR 26343: Gradual tempo changes no longer persist in scores where all instruments are hidden
• Issue 25125 / PR 26348: Gradual tempo changes and system text lines in range selections are no longer included when copy-pasting
• Issue 25216 / PR 25445: The effect of 'Regroup rhythms' is now synchronised between score and parts
• Issues 25246 & 25294 / PR 25374: The default vertical position of breve (and longer) rests has been corrected
• Issue 25313 / PR 26294: Stem direction of a note is immediately calculated when it becomes unbeamed
• Issue 25356 / PR 26279: Properties of system text lines now synchronise across all instances (except for visibility and offset)
• Issue 25424 / PRs 25495 & 25496: Fixes crashes relating to interactions with guitar bends
• Issue 25538 / PR 26380: Improvements to the spacing of cross-staff beams
• Issue 25765 / PR 25785: Corrects two errors encountered when manually changing the lengths of stems
• Issue 25774 / PR 26267: Fixes a crash caused by an unchecked edge-case relating to chains of snapped hairpins
• Issue 25822 / PR 26134: System markings now remain at correct position when instrument order is changed in parts
• Issues 25868 & 26339 / PRs 26132 & 26365: Adjoining or overlapping dynamics in the middle of a grand staff are again centered correctly
• Issue 25901 / PR 25913: Prevents creation of cross-staff slurs between a staff and its linked tab staff, which would trigger a crash
• PR 25914: Dynamics at 'end of duration' position are no longer unnecessarily offset by clef changes on other staves
• Issue 25970 / PR 26187: Vertical spacing between 1-line staves and 5-line staves is now correctly calculated
• Issue 26043 / PR 26286: Clef changes are correctly vertically positioned when they appear at a staff type change with an offset
• Issue 26072 / PR 26438: Fixes an interaction issue when dragging out pedal lines
• Issue 26396 / PR 26010: Fixes a crash which would (sometimes) occur when selecting arpeggios

MusicXML improvements

• Issues 17431 & 25048 / PR 25312: Tempo markings are marked as system text when exporting
• Issue 23499 / PR 25594: The pitches on tablature staves of transposing instruments are now correctly exported
• Issue 24551 / PR 25014: Improvements to vertical offset calculation for text items when importing
• Issue 25012 / PR 25040: Improvements to interpretation of full-measure rests during import (particularly for files exported from Finale)
• PR 25870: Turns and mordents are now imported as MuseScore ornaments (including control over their intervals) rather than articulations
• Issue 25891 / PR 25912: Muted strings in chords are now excluded when exporting
• PR 25916: Adds support for the notehead-text element in import and full support for named noteheads in export
• PR 25932: The hole element (wind techniques) is now imported and exported
• PR 25934: All technical indications for handbells are now imported and exported
• Issue 22098 / PR 25960: Corrects an issue with staff distance values for hidden staves when exporting
• PR 26006: Bracket colour is now imported
• PR 26037: Adds support for playing techniques using the sound and play elements for import and export
• PR 26038: Harp pedal indications are now exported
• PR 26111: Adds support for single-number time signatures in import