Is there a way to check that all measures in parts/score have the correct number of beats according to time signature, other than proofreading?
Aha! This is up to Dorico! Please trust it!
1 Like
I think proofreading is an important step in any workflow.
Generally, if you view signposts, you will see where there are (could be) anomalies. If you are in the habit of changing time signatures mid-stream, I would check for completeness of bars immediately prior to the next time signature.
1 Like
…Oh, and sorry @JMJR! And welcome on board 
But that is not always the case. I have had some situations where bars came up short or long. I don’t really recall how I got into that position, but there can be some goofy cases with Dorico.
Nothing like FInale, though. I had that problem all the time in Finale.
1 Like
This can happen when you change the time signature earlier in the flow than an existing time signature or barline (like a double barline or normal barline with a red signpost to show it’s been added explicitly).
So for proofreading beats in bars, your key places to check are:
- The bar before time signatures
- The bar before unusual barlines
- The bar before barlines with red signposts
To fix it: either insert beats (eg using the bars and barlines popover) or reinput the previous time signature with Insert mode active.
2 Likes
@JMJR
To explain my little joke (appreciated by @asherber only 
): in Dorico it’s impossible to have an incorrect number of beats in a measure if the time signature of that measure is correct.
To experiment, you can add or delete bar-lines at will. You’ll check that the number of beats will respect exactly the change in time signature resulting from your intervention. In this example I deleted and added bar-lines in a 4/4 score full of 1/8 Cs:
Please note the time signature signposts, as @Janus correctly reports.
This simply isn’t true, though, so it’s not a helpful comment.
Take this example:
Change the opening time signature to 3/4:
Note that bar 3 now has a different number of the beats to the time signature, and there’s no signpost (yes, signposts are set to be visible).
As Lillie stated further up the thread, the troublesome spots are always going to be at or just before other time signatures that are musically downstream but were added (chronologically) earlier.
3 Likes
This is what happens here Leo
But I had Ins on, so yes, Leo and Lillie, I stand corrected. Let’s say you cannot have an incorrect number of beats in a measure if you don’t change the time signature!
My improvident post depended on my experience, because I never got an incorrect number of beats in a measure; that’s why I trust Dorico so much
And… about the meaning of incorrect: is this incorrect?
Is this a Dorico bug? Certainly not, if you want an abrupt change in time signature. So I would defend my trust even more 
Sure. If you never change the time signature there’s no chance of a bar containing the wrong number of beats, unless it’s a faulty MusicXML import or you’ve used Remove Rests on the primary (and only) voice.
Given that @JMJR was posting here for the very first time, presumably having realised that a bar contained the wrong number of beats, maybe a “little joke” wasn’t the kindest welcome you could have offered.
3 Likes
I know this has come up many times before, but it sure would be nice if Dorico could do this for me. Plug-ins or subroutines like Finale’s “Check Region for Durations” don’t really seem to be the “Dorico way,” but if there was a way to display a signpost on any bars where the total number of beats doesn’t match the time signature, that would be really helpful.
2 Likes
We know, don’t worry 
5 Likes
Sorry, @Lillie_Harris : my question, and my original post, is still the same: can Dorico produce an incorrect number of beats in a measure? Probably I’m just stupid or short-sighted, but my answer is NO. Otherwise it’s a Dorico bug (or lack of control), right? So is it correct to affirm that “Dorico cannot produce a wrong number of beats in a measure”?
How can this type of control be a priority for a Dorico newbie is still a mystery for me.
Obviously proofreading is an important activity, but it regards everything, because, inputting music, one can do every type of error. Probably the problem is the meaning of “wrong” or “incorrect”. The right term should be “different” from what I want, and this applies to everything.
Forgive me, because I suspect that my confusion depends strongly on being of a different native language, so feel free to correct me in any way you consider.
While it’s not a deliberate feature, it’s possible for bars in Dorico to end up with the wrong number of beats (either always or almost always, not enough beats). This is known behaviour.
This happens for the reasons I gave above: when there was already a time signature or barline later on in a flow that “locks” a barline in place, and then you change a time signature at an earlier point in the music. If the time signatures aren’t equivalent/multiples of each other, then you’ll end up with an odd final bar in that affected region: ie immediately preceding the “stopper” time signature/barline later in the flow.
You can tell Dorico “please create extra beats if needed to fill the final bar in this region” by activating Insert mode.
However, Dorico doesn’t do this by default, because that can result in the relationships between existing notes changing (ie you ending up with rests separating notes that used to be adjacent).
Also as I’ve already stated, we know that many users who run into this would like a more obvious way of being notified about incomplete bars.
4 Likes
This is a HUGE problem, imho. This is the very worst kind of error to put in front of a musician. It makes me look completely incompetent.
There needs to be a clear visual indication of any measure that has the incorrect number of beats. This is commonly done by most of the scanning recognition programs.
Like this:
Craig, please read the last sentence of Lillie’s post immediately above yours.
1 Like
Thank you Lillie!
But:
do you mean wrong because the score is in error, i.e. wrong notation, an invalid score? Or just something the user probably didn’t want, but musically possible? Or even only just a different number of beats, but perfectly valid in music notation.
I understand that I have to apologize again…
Incorrect according to the expected number, as indicated by the prevailing time signature. And as indicated by numerous user posts, expressing that this was not what they wanted.
2 Likes
Do you mean that seeing it as you work causes you to second-guess yourself, or other musicians seeing it if you’ve distributed parts without catching the problem during your proofreading?
I’m fairly sure he means the latter.