Is there a setting to control the spacing between the time signature and the first note of a system? Basically between the 2/4 and the A in the Spacing Gaps options pictured here:
There’s a control for a gap after a mid-system time signature, but there doesn’t seem to be one for an initial time signature. I didn’t see anything in Notes or Time Signatures either, but perhaps I missed it. I honestly thought I had modified this before, but now can’t find it. Does this setting exist?
The mid-system time signature gap also applies to initial time signatures.
Does it? I’m playing around with it on a system without a mid-system time signature, only initial, and it doesn’t appear to do anything.
Apologies - I could have sworn it did. I’m sure it came up a matter of days ago…
Is there a “Gap before start of music” setting buried somewhere? I have a really tight first system on a piece with no meter changes. I can tweak it manually but I thought if I could recover 1/2 space or something between the time sig and first note it might be helpful to do that first.
If it’s just one system on one page, I think I’d grab the Note Spacing handle above the first beat and hit Shift-Alt-Left arrow a few times.
Ctrl-Alt-Left..
Yeah, that’s faster, duh! Seems like an odd setting to be missing, given all the various settings that are possible. It probably would be a good setting to add as a feature request.
“Spacing Gaps > Ideal gap after barline” appears to affect this distance, but it would also affect notes after barlines. Maybe you could adjust that?
It seems like you’re running into a similar question to the one I asked a while back:
How to control the length of ties at the beginning of lines?
There isn’t yet a preference for the distance between the spacing between the initial clef, key signature, or meter—whichever comes last—and the note, rest, or repeat barline that follows—whichever comes first.
I am struggling with this old question. It does seem strange that there are so many settings, but I can’t find one that says, simply, “Gap before first note in system.”
I can live with the default, but it really seems too close to the key signature or meter mark, given my font and space size.
Has anything been added in the past 4 years that addresses this?
No, there is no specific value specifically for the first note of the system.
This came to light recently for me as I was assessing the (disappointing) state of scanning software. Several programs failed by interpreting the key signature as if it was an accidental on the first note in the system. And I make that same mistake as a human sometimes.