PrintMusic and the way it handles lead notes when they occur more than once in a tune.

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MARTIN HENSHAW Posted August 19, 2017 16:34 Not planned

Windows 10 (64 bit)

PrintMusic 2014a V855

Lead in notes at the start of a tune are correctly handled in PrintMusic with regards to the spacing of notes in the first bar.of a tune. PrintMusic also plays the notes correctly i.e. no rests played.

However when there is a part B of the tune which also has lead in notes the spacing is incorrect and rests fill in the unused beats. I have found it possible to remove the rest from the second lead bar but the spacing is incorrect. When using PrintMusic to play the tune the "invisible" rests in the lead in to part B of a tune are never the less "played" and it does not sound the way it would be played on an instrument.

It would look and play as it should if second or more lead in notes are handle in the same way they are when they occur at the first bar of a tune.

The full version of Finale I am told does handle multiple lead in notes correctly so my request to have PrintMusic do the same should be possible as well.

Regards

Martin Henshaw

6 comments

Date Votes

Official comment

MM_MICHAEL JOHNSON November 15, 2017 23:23

Hi Martin and all:

We do not plan to make enhancements to PrintMusic at this time. Mike has provided some alternatives. I would say that addressing the design limitations to Pick up measures in Finale is on our roadmap, but that isn't what you're asking for. Thank you for posting. Trade-ups to Finale from PrintMusic do go on sale, so that might also be something to consider.

Cheers,
Michael Johnson
VP, Professional Notation
MakeMusic

MIKE ROSEN Edited August 19, 2017 18:53

Everybody has that "just one thing" that they want added to PrintMusic. If they added all of them, they would have Finale!

The workaround for your issue is simple: create two scores. One the way you want it to appear in print, and another for playback. In that one, just change the time signatures as needed. If you have just a quarter note in the pickup measure, change the time signature for that measure to 1/4. You can't hide that time signature, but for playback, it doesn't matter. Do the same for the outgoing measure, or wherever it's needed. Since you can easily copy the score from your print version, it only takes a few minutes.

This is a common PrintMusic workaround!

MARTIN HENSHAW Posted August 21, 2017 16:54

"The workaround" says it all. If a piece of software that requires a "workaround" to get it to do what it is supposed to do has a bug in it and that should be fixed. One of the uses I have for PrintMusic for is to play a piece that I am having difficulty with so I can hear exactly how it should be played. I would expect any music notation software to play exactly what was entered however basic a version it is.

MIKE ROSEN Edited August 21, 2017 21:44

There is no bug. The misunderstanding is in you not understanding how the program works., and the differences in the Feature sets of PrintMusic vs. Finale. There is a very simple solution, if you don't want to use the workaround. Upgrade to Finale.

Or, rewrite your music so it doesn't have a pickup measure.

But be aware, even with Finale, you will have to fiddle with the time signatures. The only difference will be that you can hide the changed time signatures, rather than using a second file.

My workaround, that so offends you, just saved you $450. It's OK with me if you don't use it.

MARTIN HENSHAW Posted August 21, 2017 23:02

No your solution does not offend me at all and I have tried the workaround and as you say it works but it is rather a daunting task when you have to do it for 90 odd tunes.

We will have to disagree on whether it a bug or not but I would expect any notation software to play what I have written and not put rests in where I have not put any. If the full Finale requires the same sort of workaround then for me at least, Finale has the same bug.

Any way I am happy to go with the workaround.

Many thanks for your help.

MIKE ROSEN Posted August 23, 2017 15:28

it's not a bug, it's the way the feature is designed.You can argue that it wasn't designed properly, and I won't disagree. But it's not a bug.

If it were up to me, the "pickup measure" would actually work that way: it would assign the correct time signature to the measure, not just hide rests and adjust the spacing. But it doesn't, and if playback is a concern, we have to do it the hard way, regardless of which program we buy.

This might be a candidate for a plugin or FinaleScript. Creating one is way over my pay grade, but maybe someone else could do it. Even if they did, though, it would still only be available for the full Finale, since the daughter programs can't use either plugins or FS.

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