
Comments about score editing from the Rosegarden mailing-list
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I said:

 * I need as much information as possible (from a user's point of
   view) about how existing score-editing packages handle editing of
   chords and counterpoint, and about how their editing could be
   improved upon.


Observations about existing packages
------------------------------------

 * Finale:  If I click (almost) directly above or below a note,
   the new note is added to the existing one(s) as a chord.  If I
   click off to the side a bit, it's a standalone note.  \[To edit an
   existing note,\] click directly on the note you want to change,
   rather than to the side.  You can also select a region (a rectangle
   like in most graphics programs), and just make sure the region only
   includes the note you want.  Finale also has an "eraser" built into
   the note palette, so generally to delete a single note you select
   the eraser tool and click the note.  To delete multiple notes, I
   select regions and either press delete or use one of the editing
   options (like "remove all notes but leave time signature changes").
   \[It also has\] distinct layers (up to 4 per staff).  There are also
   "voices" (2 per staff), which mostly appear to allow you to have 2
   sets of 4 layers (1 set per "voice") per staff, instead of just
   one.  There's also the ability to superimpose one staff on top of
   another, which I've never even bothered figuring out how to use.
   (Will Lowe)

 * It's pretty easy \[to select notes in Finale\] provided you're not
   looking at the score at, say %50 magnification.  I have a 17"
   screen and I like to work "close in" (say %75 - %125
   magnification). Sometimes to edit really dense clusters you need to
   zoom way in though, to be sure to get the right note.  Perhaps some
   keyboard shortcuts would be useful here (e.g. a way to click the
   mouse on a measure, then use the arrow keys to select a note in the
   measure).  (Will)

 * Finale: When loading a MIDI file, there are three options: "Tracks
   Become Staves", "Channels Become Staves", "Set Track-to-Staff list"
   (Will)

 * Noteworthy creates/adds to the chord immediately to the left of the
   cursor if the control key is held down as the note is
   added. Otherwise the note being added just becomes the next note in
   the melody. ... as yet, the only way of deleting notes I've found
   is by deleting the whole chord - which gets a bit trying after a
   while.  \[Noteworthy has\] good keyboard shortcuts - for example, it
   is possible to select length of notes by using the numbers on the
   keyboard - 1 for breve, 2 - semibreve etc.  (Tim Robinson)

 * One of the features I like \[in Rosegarden\] is being able to select
   notes/chords/phrases and transpose them up and down the stave using
   the cursor keys.  (Tim Robinson)


Wishlist
--------

 * It would be _really_ nice to be able to "hide" and "freeze" voices,
   and to "collapse" scores with many staves. ... "freeze", "thaw"
   and colour assignment for layers make sense.  (Herman Robak)

 * Finale's method is ``nice because you can display each layer in a
   different color. ... It's great for entering counterpoint -- select
   the layer you want to enter music into, and play (or type or click)
   the notes in. ... Sometimes it's a bit painful to edit lots of
   counterpoint, because the layer selection button is at the bottom
   left corner of the screen, so you have to move the mouse around a
   lot.  There are keyboard shortcuts, but they're a pain to use if
   your hand is already on the mouse.  If the layer selection buttons
   floated, though, it'd be wonderful.  Or maybe if you could
   right-click on a note in another layer to bring that layer to the
   "foreground".''  (Will Lowe)

 * it would also be helpful to be able to drag one note head onto a
   chord and have it added to that chord (or even drag one chord onto
   another to make a big chord).  (Behfar Bastani)

 * one way \[to select notes\] would be to click on the stem of the
   chord to select the whole chord, as opposed to clicking on one note
   head to just select that note in the chord. for chords without
   stems (whole notes or bigger) one could select them via a rectangle.
   (Behfar)

 * another really helpful feature would be the ability to use the
   mouse and "slide" individual note heads up & down the staff lines
   to change their pitch within a given chord. for example you could
   drag the E down by half a step to Eflat to make a C major chord
   into minor.  another nice way of doing this would be to select one
   note head on the staff, and use the arrow keys to lower/raise the
   pitch (like rosegarden does it in a chord edit window right now).
   (Behfar)

 * maybe the note "under" the mouse (the one that would be selected if
   I clicked now) could turn colors.  (Will)

 * This \[per-staff rather than global layers\] would make perfect
   sense, if staves could be grouped in clusters or groups, with the
   same layer space. I mean, the left hand and right hand stave of a
   piano score is a logical unit. It would be nice to have the editing
   functions reflect that. ... Would it be too confusing for the users
   to let layer spaces span all the staves connected by braces?
   (Herman Robak)

