The last item on my wish-list for swing playback would be a change to the Playback Options → Timing → Legato notes setting.
Currently this setting ensures that notes under slurs are played full duration (of course) in a way that overrides the setting of Playback Options → Timing → Default Notes. However, the last note under a slur is shortened according to the Default Notes setting.
Shortening the last note of a slur is exactly what I want but I would like to see this more rationally separated from the Default Notes setting. I don’t want to shorten quavers, semiquavers, minims everywhere ccording to the formula applied by Default Notes. What would be extremely useful, however, would be to shorten by a specific amount - probably best a quaver’s worth for a written crotchet and either a quaver or crotchet’s worth for longer notes - the last note under a slur.
This would mimic quite accurately the interpretation for jazz orchestra scores from the era before “overnotation”. For example, simple block chord backgrounds (say in the reeds) behind a soloist might take the form mostly of minims and semibreves, whether grouped in long phrases or short. In all cases, the last note of each phrase is shortened. This (mostly) happens systematically regardless of whether a breath is needed or whether there is another phrase immediately following. It is a basic part of the idiom. Here is an example:
Three phrases in the reeds, each with a clear gap of a full beat, so the terninal semibreves are played as dotted minims and the minim (end of 4th bar) as a crotchet. Where such a phrase might extend to a downbeat crotchet, this would always be clipped to a quaver.
Sadly, the Default Notes setting can’t be used for this because it interferes with every unslurred note in the score. A specific slur-terminal-note duration option would be ideal.