Feature Requests (Updated Thread)

Support

hhhhdddd783 Thanks for your valuable feedback on PDF export. We'll be addressing these details for the upcoming update.

Nora

Page layout.. margins, staff size. It would be fantastic! 
Is it possible?
Thanks

Support

@Nora You can find page layout and staff size settings under the Score Menu > Display Settings. Customizable page margins isn't available yet, though, but for now, note that most PDF applications provide print / page setup options that allow you to adjust these properties.

Ae123

1) I love the breath marks added in for choral scores, but I have another request. When adding text, if you want a word to span multiple syllables, instead of having just the hyphen, could you make it so that there's a line underneath all of the notes connected to that syllable? 
Example:

Love   -

Versus

Love--------

(Except instead of the dashes, it should just be a continuous line.) It makes it more understandable for the singers.

2) I appreciate the ability to hide parts when writing, but could you make it so that you can simply delete a part for a while, then add it back later? For example, if I had a choir singing with a piano, in the beginning of the score I would just want the piano part to be showing since the choir isn't singing. It saves space and makes the notation cleaner and more concise. Thank you!

Support

@Ae123 Incredible thanks for your suggestions, you can expect these features soon!

Erik

Pdf output with vector graphics.
Is it not possible to export the score as a pdf with vector graphics, so there is no loss of resolution when zooming in ?
Thanks.

Erik

Fingering customization.
It would be great if we could customize the fingering in the following ways:
- Position the fingering on the left and on the right of the note (not only above and below the note)
- Change the color of the fingering
- Change the font of the fingering (size but also italic, bold etc.)
Thanks

Erik

Text formatting.
Would be great if the text could be formatted in the following ways:
- Italic, bold, underline etc.
- Set a background color for the text (highlight text)
...

mrcarldixon

Still waiting on a "multiple measure rest" feature. That would be great. Being able to hide measure #'s would be sweet also. Thanks!!!

Support

@mrcarldixon You should know that this feature is already available as part of the Complete Features Bundle. Instructions on how to specify multi-bar rests are provided on this page, but don't hesitate to ask us for any clarification.

uncle808us

I would like to be able to edit while looping (and playing) as in Reflow App.

dertrommler

I recently came back to using the latest version of Symphony Pro (with the complete bundle) for my drum notation work and, overall, I'm very happy with how far it has come since I first bought the app. The ability to write drum set notation is pretty well covered but there are a few improvements that would make this app invaluable and would save a lot of time (these are ranked by importance):  

1. Default stem direction by voice even if there is only one voice. A lot of drum notation is written with all notes stemming up and beaming together and I currently have to force everything to stem up on a bar-by-bar basis. This could be easily resolved by just having the voice stem up regardless of whether there is another voice.

2. Accents must be able to go above the beam as well as below the note. This one is really important. It is often way easier to read than accents below the note and is pretty typical in drum notation. Both methods are used but putting an accent above the beam is not currently supported.

3. I need the ability to notate flams. These are kind of like grace notes but are written very close to the main note. This could even be a new note head.

4. Multi-bar repeats. Similar to multi-bar rest notation except showing a repeat symbol on the middle of the bar with the number of bars to be repeated above written above the middle of the bar.

5. Simplified input. I use the MIDI keyboard to add notes but having to advance to the next note every time is tedious. It would be nice if there were an option to advance to the next note position automatically and then I could go back and add addition notes (similar to entering chords). Ideally, it would be great if notes could be entered using the QWERTY keyboard.

6. Priority for which note head is used first on lines that share multiple note heads. For example, a closed hi-hat and open hi-hat would be written on the same line but with different note heads. Same thing for a ride cymbal and the bell of a ride cymbal. I have the drum set voicing set up the way I need it but the open hi-hat note head is always the default and I have to change the note head to closed all the time. Having a priority would let me get the closed hi-hat note head by default and I can change it to open as needed.

7. Automatically force beams to have the same height. Maybe allow for a default beam height by score for uniformity so I don't have to manually adjust beams in each bar.

8. A new note head to indicate ghosted strokes. This is typically looks like parentheses around a standard note head.

9. I cannot figure out how to notate a sextuplet. For example, 6 16ths notes in the space of a 1/4 note. Normally I would show this kind of grouping with ---6--- above the grouping but I can't figure out how to make that show and 6 seems to be the only tuplet not included in the menu options.

10. Notations to indicate opening and closing a hi-hat. This is how some writers prefer to show the difference instead of using different note heads. It is typically written above the note (above the beam) with o for open, + for closed and ø for half open.

11. A new note head with a standard note head in a circle. This is sometimes used to write notation for toms to help differentiate between tom notes and snare notes since they are very close to each other on staff.

12. The ability to change the font and/or font size for lyric input. My usage of lyric input in drum notation is typically to indicate which hand is making the stroke (L R L L). The current default font is okay but tends to get really crowded in a busy bar with lots of notes.

Thanks for you consideration of these changes. I can provide examples or further clarification if needed. Feel free to correct me if anything I've requested already exists in the current versus and I've just missed it. 

-Tom

uncle808us

Number 6 is an excellent suggestion.
"6. Priority for which note head is used first on lines that share multiple note heads. For example, a closed hi-hat and open hi-hat would be written on the same line but with different note heads. Same thing for a ride cymbal and the bell of a ride cymbal. I have the drum set voicing set up the way I need it but the open hi-hat note head is always the default and I have to change the note head to closed all the time. Having a priority would let me get the closed hi-hat note head by default and I can change it to open as needed." 

Support

dertrommler Hi Tom,

Can't express how much we appreciate your feedback.

Much of what you've requested is now detailed on our planner for later this year, but there were several tasks you mentioned that are already made possible using the current version (4.1.7):

5. Simplified input. I use the MIDI keyboard to add notes but having to advance to the next note every time is tedious. It would be nice if there were an option to advance to the next note position automatically and then I could go back and add addition notes (similar to entering chords).

If everything's working correctly, entering notes in Pencil mode instead of Select mode should allow you to have the cursor advance automatically. Also keep in mind that the Left/Right arrow buttons toward the left of the Navigation Toolbar allow you to move the cursor, not just a selected note. You can also press and hold within the cursor to reposition it by dragging

Ideally, it would be great if notes could be entered using the QWERTY keyboard.

We highly recommend giving the "Add New Note from cursor" command a try; the 'c' key is the default shortcut, which will insert a new note in middle-C, provided you're in Pencil mode. Since any new note will be selected by default, you can then use the up / down arrow keys to transpose it by a scale degree, or press Command-Shift + up or down arrow to transpose by octave.

9. I cannot figure out how to notate a sextuplet. For example, 6 16ths notes in the space of a 1/4 note. Normally I would show this kind of grouping with ---6--- above the grouping but I can't figure out how to make that show and 6 seems to be the only tuplet not included in the menu options.

In case you overlooked it, have you tried applying the 6:4 tuplet ratio already? The appropriate icon is highlighted below, and this should produce the above ratio you mentioned, but let us know (immediately) otherwise.

12. The ability to change the font and/or font size for lyric input

I hope you didn't miss the Lyric font size slider for this exact purpose, available under Navigation Menu > Score Menu > Display Settings. You should then look under the "Size" heading to find the above slider, among those for other score elements including chord symbols.

If you need any further guidance, simply let us know anytime; we also look forward to more of your valuable insights & feedback whenever you have a chance to share.

dertrommler

Thanks for your response and your consideration of my requests. Also, thanks a lot for the instructions on how to handle a couple of my suggestions now. I expect I just missed those along the way (especially that 6:4 tuplet…I don't know how I missed that one). 

The one change I would seriously recommend for the "add new note from cursor command" is to have each note after the first default to the placement of the previous note. For drum notation, that would make it really quick to add notes. Otherwise, it's better than nothing, but still involves manipulating every note to the right position on the staff.

Thanks again.

dertrommler

One more thing just occurred to me while entering sticking patterns using the Lyric notation. Can you make the lyric entry respect the caps lock condition of the keyboard when moving from one note to the next? When entering sticking patterns (RLRR) it's typically one uppercase letter per note but every time I move to the next note it resets the caps lock so I have to manually capitalize every letter I enter. It gets pretty tedious when you have many bars of stickings to enter.

Support

@dertrommler Both editing behaviors will be improved accordingly in the following update. Thanks again for the incredible feedback.

Hilvert

Talking of feature requests, something I personally would Love to see is
to make multiple scores into just One file, called something like "(band name &) repertoire",
create a new score with heading, title, etcetera, and then just add that complete score onto the back of an existing score, without being linked to the presiding parts, with a kind of "cut-off" between two pages. It's a bit similar to combining PDF's together into One...

if a new player joins the band or ensemble / group / orchestra / whatever You call your setting, just "one file does it all", with One email that sais: "welcome, here is our repertoire"...
That would prevent Lots of problems with file scurity, less risk of loosing, or simply forgetting files or bits.

Lyrical_Lull

I would absolutely love it if I could select more than one file in the Projects menu and export them. It would save me a TON of time for backing up all my files. On top of that, I have tried using iCloud, and it is not very intuitive or helpful to make it either possible to see your files when you're connected to the internet only. Sometimes I lose power, what do I do then? Either way I prefer Google Drive/Dropbox/Anything to iCloud, at least the way it's hooked up now. If it would directly export the xml file instead of just dropping it into the backup encryption, that would be wonderful because then it would work on all devices.

proteas1992

CRITICAL: I read that you are going to introduce a major feature of Apple Pencil compatibility. Please, if possible check the Adonit Pixel stylus, which is the only one Bluetooth stylus compatible for all the iPads, for all the users like me using all kinds of iPads and can't upgrade to iPad Pro. It's an opportunity and a high motive for users to make the app compatible! 
Thanks!!! 

Support

@Lyrical_Lull
Multi-document export is on our roadmap now, thanks for the great suggestion.

@Hilvert
Please keep in mind the next major release will bring basic support for multi-movement scores. This will allow you to restart bar numbers, for instance, though it won't yet allow adding or removing of instruments part of the way through. 

Redwave

Can we please have a "To Coda" expression? I don't understand how anyone can use "D.S. al Coda" or "D.C. al Coda" without this.

Redwave

Can we please be allowed to enter the underscore character in lyrics? Currently this character just acts like a space and causes an unwanted word break which goes to the next note. I'd like to be able to use underscore to visually separate multiple words on a single note, which is useful when entering lyrics with a piano accompaniment (without a separate melody staff). Even better would be to display the underscore as a space except when editing.

Support

@Redwave Thanks Jimbo. Both issues were taken care of for Version 5 to be released early this year.

If you still have a 3rd generation iPad, by the way, the V5 preview should run quite a bit more smoothly on those older models, and your input would be valuable in either case!

Feel free to send a DM in the near future if you're ever interested in our latest prerelease updates, which have been thoroughly tested to be stable across the existing features. Installation over TestFlight will also be no hassle this time around. 

joemo304

I am looking for a way to hide measures and change measure measure numbers. Like change measure 1 to measure A. Am I missing any way to do this already?

Thanks, 
Joe

musicgraham

Is it possible to add a Ukulele in the next update?  

Support

joemo304 Not yet, but there will be a way to hide individual bar numbers and reset them mid-score, all in the next release. But if you haven't found it already, there are some basic options to set how often bar numbers are labeled, or to turn them off completely. Just look under Score Menu > Display Settings > Measure Numbers to find them. 

@musicgraham Playback quality and greater instrumentation variety will be critical improvements for version 5 – we will definitely try to include a nice sounding uke instrument for you.

Caleort

Hi!
Have trouble with picking notes on 6 string. It's very hard to catch a place on screen of my iPad Air 2 where blue dot on string appears. Changing orientation of the screen has no effect. Can you fix it?

pidgies

Is there any way to input notes other than middle C using my bluetooth QWERTY keyboard using only one stroke on the keyboard? It's quite tedious to have to input middle C then transpose each note up or down... quite tedious.

Support

@pidgies It's definitely in our plans (for next release) to offer a better solution here – such that only one keystroke will be necessary to enter the right note. If you have any specific application in mind you're already familiar with, or perhaps suggestions here, don't hesitate to send a message to team@symphonypro.net.