IWBNI there were an option to specify that space before and after multimeasure rest symbols should be the same in all cases, and independent of the width of the measure in which the rest is contained. (Note: The width of all multimeasure-rest measures need not be the same. For example, some prefer to have the width of a given multimeasure-rest measure depend upon the number of measures that are represented by the multimeasure rest. For a related suggestion, see: Suggestion 361: Allow the Width of Multimeasure Rests to Depend on the Number of Measures).

As it is now, the default multimeasure rest shape that is defined in the default file Default.ftm extends horizontally from -144 EVPUs to +144 EVPUs, the default values for the controls Adjust Start Point and Adjust End Point on the Multimeasure Rest dialog box are zero, and the default width of a multimeasure-rest measure (i.e. a measure that contains a multimeasure rest) is 360 EVPUs. With these settings, a multimeasure rest will always span 80% (=2*144/360) of the width of the measure, regardless of the width of the measure. Thus with these settings, the space that is before and after the rest (i.e. the space between the left barline and the rest, and the space between the right barline and the rest) will be proportional to the width of the measure. Specifically, each space will be 10% of the width of the measure.

As it is now, one may make the space before and after a multimeasure rest be nearly independent of the width of the measure by following these steps:

1. Use the Shape Designer to change the horizontal extent of the multimeasure rest shape from (-144 EVPUs,+144 EVPUs) to (-180 EVPUs,+180 EVPUs).

 
2. Select the menu item Multimeasure Rest on the Options>Document Settings submenu to display the Multimeasure Rest dialog box. On this dialog box, set the Adjust Start Point to X and Adjust End Point to -X, where X specifies the desired space that is to appear before and after all multimeasure rests. (Note: These settings will not affect multimeasure rests that have already been created.)

Measure Width (EVPUs)	White Space Before Rest (pixels)	White Space After Rest (pixels)
180	128	129
360	128	130
720	122	132
1440	123	122

Note: The controls Adjust Start Point and Adjust End Point were set to +30 and -30, respectively, in an attempt to create a stack of two white golden rectangles before and after the multimeasure rest. In this case the height of each rectangle is 77 pixels, which is the vertical white space between two adjacent staff lines. A golden rectangle is one for which the sides are in the golden ratio which equals 1.6179..... Thus, the desired rectangle width, or equivalently, the desired space before and after any multimeasure rest would be 77*1.6179=125 pixels. (For a related suggestion, see: Suggestion 426: Offsets for Space Before Music as a Function of Leading Item)

As can be seen from these example, the approach described here results in multimeasure rests that are nearly centered within the horizontal white space of a measure, and the space before and after each multimeasure rest is nearly independent of the width of the measure.

This feature could be implemented by replacing the controls Adjust Start Point and Adjust End Point on the Multimeasure Rest dialog box with the following controls:

---------------------------------------------------
Multimeasure Rest Dialog Box

Multimeasure Rest Width
( ) Percentage of Measure Width: _____
        Adjust Start Point: _____
        Adjust End Point: _____
( ) Constant Space Before and After: _____ x Staff White Space
---------------------------------------------------

If the radio button Percentage of Measure Width is selected, the width of multimeasure rests would be as in the current version of Finale. For example, a value of 80% for this setting would match the default width of rests in the file Default.ftm.

If the radio button Constant Space Before and After is selected, the width of multimeasure rests would be adjusted so that the space before and after each multimeasure rest would be exactly a specified amount X times the size of the vertical white space between two adjacent staff lines. For example, one could specify a value of 1.6179 for this setting to have golden rectangles placed before and after the multimeasure rest. (Note: Here, exactly should be qualified to mean, exactly, within the limits of the device to which the document is to be printed or displayed.)

Created: August 14, 2000
Last Updated: August 14, 2000
Version: Finale 2000b