The idea of the mirror tool was a great one. The feature had quite a bit of depth but its implementation was not very user friendly. Over the years it has not been updated (to work nicely with partial measure selections, for example) and the "mirror" is easily broken making it more trouble than it's currently worth. It's now an unusable, broken relic. This, I believe, explains why people don't use it more. If it were user friendly and not as fragile it would be applicable to a multitude of engraving situations.
The theory is thus:
Most ensemble music over the last 1000 years contains a lot of doubling and/or parallel motion. If a user could program in that doubling with enough flexibility (octave/out-of-range changes, movement in 3rds or 6ths, etc.) then any correction made to one part will automatically be reflected in the other. E.g., Change the shape of a run of 16ths in the violins and it automatically gets updated in the flutes, clarinets, oboes, tuba, xylophone and whoever else is doubling that line - even if it's not at the octave.
Most ensemble music over the last 1000 years contains a lot of doubling and/or parallel motion. If a user could program in that doubling with enough flexibility (octave/out-of-range changes, movement in 3rds or 6ths, etc.) then any correction made to one part will automatically be reflected in the other. E.g., Change the shape of a run of 16ths in the violins and it automatically gets updated in the flutes, clarinets, oboes, tuba, xylophone and whoever else is doubling that line - even if it's not at the octave.
Take, for example, your cookie-cutter band arrangement (Yes, I hate those to but their practicality to band directors and inexpensive production makes them popular.) Generally speaking, the bass clarinet, bassoon, bari sax, tubas will play the same thing; the alto clarinet, tenor sax, 4th horn, euphonium will play the same thing; the oboe and flute will play the same thing for much of the piece, etc., etc., etc. Change a melody or a bass line in one part and everyone else falls into place. Even the great 19th century orchestrators with the densest music used doubling (celli/basses or celli/violins, for example). The mirror tool allow you to set up mirrors to begin and end any where you wanted with whatever staves you wanted and at any interval.
Again, if MM's data shows that people aren't using the Mirror Tool it's not because they wouldn't find the feature useful - it's because the tool itself is unwieldy and unreliable.
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