Allow multiple selection of notes when changing note duration
To change the duration of an existing note, you click on it in "non-note-entry mode" and then use a number shortcut (4 = 1/8th note 5 = 1/4 note etc.). However there is a limitation: you can only select and change one note at a time.
MuseScore should allow multiple selection of notes, which can then all be changed to the same duration using the number shortcut (or note symbol in the note toolbar). This feature should also allow all selected notes to be dotted if applicable.
Comments
Were you envisioning this working for something like a range selection? If so, the problem is that you cannot simply change duration of each note - at least not if you are trying to lengthen the notes, because they'd overlap. And when shortening, rests would be inserted, which is probably not what people trying to use such a feature would expect.
Instead, what is really needed is an augmentation / diminution feature that completely rewrites the passage according to the specified ratio. For example,. to double or halve the lengths of all notes, thus also doubling or halving the length of the passage.
If you have a different use case in mind - perhaps a multi-select of notes on different staves at the same time position - could explain in more detail?
In reply to Were you envisioning this by Marc Sabatella
The augmentation / diminution (expansion-by-ratio) feature would be useful, but perhaps best achieved through a plugin? Changing the duration in-place (adding rests and dealing with overlaps as necessary) is probably a more intuitive (for the user, not the programmer!) and would be best achieved in the main code.
In reply to The augmentation / diminution by shoogle
Such plugins do exist, but don't work very well. They tend to crash—see, for example, #81641: Crash on Halftime plugin.
In imported MIDI files you often have to change many note durations to produce a correctly notated score. I was thinking only of changing notes in one voice in a scenario such as the following, where, say, the user wants to change the half notes to quarter notes:
![change_note_duration.png]( "change_note_duration.png")
Having said that, the currect one-at-a-time approach is perfectly adequate,
In reply to In imported MIDI files you by geetar
OK, so you *do* want to to keep the current time positions, so not the same as augmentation or diminution. Probably not anywhere near as common a use case, except maybe for people importing from MIDI. Have you checked out the various options in the import panel? Some of them will affect whether notes of less than two beats get rounded up or not.
@geetar, this would be a great time-saving feature, especially for MIDI imports as you mentioned. One problem with the current MIDI import algorithm is the "show staccato" feature. If this is enabled then what were originally lone quavers (eighth notes) followed by quaver-rests are replaced with crotchets (quarter notes) and a staccato dot. But if "show staccato" is disabled then the only difference is that the staccato dot is suppressed; the quavers are still replaced with crotchets. There is no easy way to turn all of the crotchets into quavers + quaver rests. (Disabling the "simplify rhythms" option does this but it has other effects that are not desirable.)
@Marc, adding rests for shortened notes would not be a problem, and I wouldn't mind if the second note was deleted in a situation where they would otherwise overlap.
In reply to @geetar, this would be a by shoogle
What what you expect to happen when you select four consecutive quarter notes and try to add an augmentation dot to all of them?
In reply to I wouldn't mind if the second by Isaac Weiss
Optional warning: "Some notes will overlap after you do this operation. Proceed anyway?"
If the answer is "yes" then I would convert the notes that can be converted, and ignore any that overlap:
1. The first one would convert just fine (as always). This becomes a dotted crotchet.
2. This one overlaps so would be ignored. (Either change it to an eighth note or eight note rest to pad the space left by (1).)
3. Now the third one is clear to be converted, it becomes a dotted crotchet.
4. The fourth one overlaps so does the same as (2)
We wouldn't necessarily need the warning since the user could simply undo the operation if they don't like the result.
In my experience of importing MIDI files, the need is to change multiple note selections to a lower duration in ONE voice only, (filling in the gaps with rests). So, yes, the note positions would stay the same. In practice this inevitably involves 1/4 to 1/8 notes, or 1/8 to 1/16.
In reply to In my experience of importing by geetar
As I said, MIDI import already provides options to control how length of notes is represented. Are you sure you have tried all those options? Can you post one of the MIDI files you are concerned with, and describe the problem area?
Other people would like a feature like this (including me). There is another good post created 4 years before this one discussing it more at https://musescore.org/en/node/13524 ("Change duration of multiple notes at once").