Customizing the Score Editor’s Appearance

Choosing a Color Mode

The settings in the Score Editor’s View > Colors menu determine the color mode for the active Score Editor window. These settings have priority over all other color settings.

• Normal: Colors are assigned in accordance with the color settings in staff styles and note attributes. As long as these settings haven’t been changed in new projects, the result is a regular black-and-white printout, and black notes on a yellow background onscreen.
• Show Pitch: Applies colors in accordance with note pitches. The colors of notes can be edited in the Layout > Colors window. This window also allows you to determine whether notes with accidentals match the color of those without accidentals, or if each note in the chromatic scale has its own color.
• Show Velocity: Applies eight different colors, in accordance with MIDI velocity. These colors can also be edited in the Layout > Colors window.
• Show Voice Assignment: Assigns different colors to different voices. This only makes sense in staff styles that contain more than one voice. This mode employs the colors of the user palette, which can also be found and edited in the Layout > Colors window.
• Force Black & White: Does exactly what the name implies. This mode is useful when color options have been used in staff styles, or have been assigned to notes using note attributes, but you want to print a regular black-and-white score and then return to the colored display.

Displaying Folders

If the current display level allows more than one MIDI region to be viewed simultaneously (linked or unlinked), the View > Explode Folders setting affects how things are shown. Unlike the other editors, the Score Editor can display (or even print) the contents of different display (Folder) levels at once.

If the current display level contains folders, their contents are also displayed in the score.

Note: If this setting is not selected, folders appear as gray beams in Linear Score view, and aren’t shown at all in Page Score view.

Displaying Global Tracks

Choose the View > Global tracks setting to view the global tracks in the Score Editor. You can only choose this setting in Linear Score view. The Configure Global Tracks command allows you to choose which global track types are shown.

Displaying Instrument Names

Choose the View > Instrument Names setting to show the names of (used) track instruments, to the left of the score display.

Displaying Duration Bars

You can show a graphical representation of a note’s duration by displaying duration bars in the Score Editor.

Changing the Length of Duration Bars

You can change the length of duration bars displayed in the Score Editor.

Displaying Guide Lines

You can show an object’s exact time position by displaying guide lines in the Score Editor (show exactly the relation of symbols, staves, and time positions).