Re: [Denemo-devel] Using denemo for drum notation

[Richard Shann]

On Mon, 2014-12-22 at 20:30 +0000, Dan MacDonald wrote:
> Hi Richard
> 
>         Now there *is* a script (stored at Edit->Select->Apply
>         Shortcut to
>         Objects in Selection) which does what that label implies and
>         the tooltip
>         spells out a bit more, it puts the cursor on the first object
>         in the
>         selection and then intercepts the keyboard keypresses command
>         execution.
>         When it gets the command that would be executed it executes it
>         and then
>         it also moves the cursor to the next object in the selection
>         and again
>         intercepts the keyboard keypresses command execution.
> 
>  
> I'm glad that I finally achieved  my aim of adjusting multiple notes
> at once but I don't think it shoud've been this tricky as to require
> multiple emails to explain.
> I  don't understand why the user should have to choose 'Apply Shortcut
> to Objects in Selection' before selections work as the user would
> expect? Surely the user would always want shortcuts to apply to every
> selected note otherwise they wouldn't select more than one note? 
> There must be a reason you have introduced this extra step but I can't
> think what it would be?

I think it is just that originally commands applied to the note at the
cursor. Then someone introduced selecting music for cut and paste. Then
someone started writing scripts to apply commands to the note at the
cursor or the whole selection if present. But they didn't get round to
many commands that could be so scripted. (They could have gone back to
the original C code and re-written all the commands to apply to the
selection, but that would have been more work requiring competent C
coding skills which I don't think they had).

Meanwhile, I noticed that you could write a single script that could be
used with any command, so I did that (I forget what specifically
prompted me to do it, perhaps just that I could see that trawling
through every command was never going to get done).

Denemo is rather under-developed for composers/arrangers, I only make
transcriptions myself and so that area is the most developed. I don't
think there is any other program that enables you to transcribe an
ancient manuscript as quickly and accurately as Denemo. But I don't have
much insight into what composers do. (I am told that most of them use
paper and pencil, only turning to a computer when they have finished
composition).

Denemo is developing in response to requests from users - the original
design had very modest goals and it has long out-grown them. For
example, I just added a proof-reading facility: you generate a typeset
score and send it to the person who wrote the music, they add
annotations to the PDF and send it back. You can now open this in Denemo
and locate the places in the music where the annotations have been
placed.
I created this for a real demand (mine!), but you will see a string of
commits that are in response to external requests over the past year or
so.

So, I think the bottom line is that Denemo did not have an ambitious
design when created 15 years ago, and so it has many eccentricities.
> 
Richard