Has anyone checked out the new version yet? It looks like a significant upgrade. I just noticed it today, so I'll probably download it this week -- not that I have much time to tinker with it just yet.
I have used it only briefly. Score output and playback are greatly improved. The UI has been greatly redesigned (and reportedly improved); naturally it takes time to relearn where everything is, so my usage is still a little slow.
They have removed support for one great feature of previous versions which allowed copying a large body of hyphenated text and inputting it syllable by syllable without having to type it out. It was an extremely useful feature for making hymn scores. Hopefully this will be reinstated in forthcoming updates.
But don't speak of Musescore too loudly, or you'll accidentally summon the Dorico Færies!!! /purple
(First, let me say that a rising tide raises all boats, and competition in a given field only benefits consumers, so I’m all for a better musescore, especially if my students ever need to use it.)
There are pages upon pages of bug reports on the musescore forum, so it appears that, despite all the hype, this is a premature and unstable release, unfortunately. They’ve made great strides by way of playback (there are some absolutely stunning demos, and some that are surprisingly underwhelming, too, and I can’t figure out what causes this discrepancy), but ms4 also had to leave out a number of ms3 features. Such omissions are not unprecedented in software development by any means, but that does mean that if you are an MS user, you’ll want to double check that list before diving all in on ms4. The new version installs alongside the old, however, so you won’t be at a loss for trying the new. Their engraving appears notably improved, especially the spacing algorithm, however it is still not on par with Dorico’s, even by a long shot. It is night-and-day improved from before, however, which is excellent news. As usual, tantacrul released a very svelt video explaining things in detail, for those who are interested.
I started using it and it is a significant upgrade however it has some short comings. For example in hymns you can no longer mute individual voices in the mixer, that is play sopranos and tenors together but mute altos and bass. I've been on the forum several times looking for help. I won't be upgrading any of my scores to 4.0 any time soon.
I'm still exploring MS 4 to see if I can use it to produce the engravings for weekly missalettes. So far, I'm impressed by the quality of the engraving (and the new musical font), but I'm also missing a couple of features. For example, numbering the verses of a hymn easily, create a cropped pdf of the score. So, I'll keep experimenting for now until I'm convinced (or not).
@GerardH, i watched that video...lol. thank you though. As long as you have your voices in separate staffs you can mute voices on or off. However, if you have two voices in one staff say treble clef, you can't mute the individual voices. Like hymn with treble and bass clef. This was feature from previous versions which was really handy. Of course I could write an SATB score but that's a lot work to do what was done with just a click of a button.
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