IWBNI there were an option to specify that all collisions with a given measure-attached expression should be automatically avoided when music is spaced by selecting Apply Note Spacing or Apply Beat Spacing from the submenu MassEdit>Music Spacing. As it is now, measure-attached expressions are ignored when music is spaced.

This feature would be useful for the following situations:

• A measure-attached expression could be used to insert an unusual (pseudo) time signature that cannot be displayed by using the time signature tool. This feature could be used for early music time signatures, fractional time signatures, time signatures that contain notes for beat durations, and large-face numeric time signatures.

 
• A measure-attached expression could be used to insert a space anywhere in a measure. For example, a "spacer" expression could be inserted at the beginning of the first measure of a system, for example, to provide room for ties or slurs that are continued from the previous system. For such expressions, one might select the option Display On Screen Only (Do Not Print) on the Text Expression Designer dialog box.

 
• A measure-attached expression could be used to insert a graphic (pseudo) mid-measure repeat. Although such an repeat expression would lack the playback capabilities of a repeat, it would have the correct appearance. Similarly, a measure-attached expression could be used to insert a graphic (pseudo) mid-measure time signature or key signature.

 
• A measure-attached expression could be used to insert a clef immediately after a barline and before the first note of a measure or to insert a clef in a piece that requires more than the maximum number of clefs (i.e. eight).

 
• Measure-attached expressions could be used to insert an arbitrary sequence of characters or shapes into a measure. For example, one could insert a sequence of shapes where each shape consists of notes enclosed in a rectangle to indicate that one is to improvise on the given pitches in any order. For more information, see page 156 of Music Notation in the Twentieth Century by Kurt Stone.

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Text Expression Designer and Shape Expression Designer Dialog Boxes

[ ] Avoid Collisions
  Width:
    ( ) Use Text/Shape Width
    ( ) Use Width: _____
  Spacing:
    Before: _____
    After: _____
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The Width controls would be used to specify the amount of horizontal space that should be allocated for the expression which may be deduced from the specified text string or shape, or may be specified by entering a numeric value (e.g. 96 EVPUs). The Spacing Before and Spacing After controls would be used to specify the amount of space that is to be placed before and after the expression. These controls would be similar to those on the Music Options dialog box for Clef, Key, Cancelled Key, Time and Music.

Created: June 3, 2000
Last Updated: June 3, 2000
Version: Finale 2000b