musescore / musescore/MuseScore

Auto S-shaped slurs

Open
#25,191 1 comment 3 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

feature request
Dominant language
C++
Stars
15.1k
Forks
3.3k
Avg merge
2d 2h
Merged PRs (30d)
91

Description

Your idea

Add a function (maybe more buttons in the Properties panel) for automatically generating S-shaped slurs.
image

Problem to be solved

Currently, the only way to create an S-shaped slur is to first add a normal arc-shaped one then manually adjust its shape by dragging the handles, but this has several drawbacks.

Take the following case as an example, I want to add an S-shaped slur across the 16th notes:

image

  1. Note that all 4 handles of the slur need to be adjusted, and the position of the two endpoints relative to the note heades can only be adjusted entirely based on visual estimation, with no way of being able to accurately set the coordinates, leading to undesired inconsistencies in fine engraving.
  2. Although the right endpoint was moved closer to the note head, it remains "anchored" to the stem side spot, which can lead to some confusing behavior. For example, adding an articulation on the note head side does not affect the slur, whereas adjusting the beam slope will cause the latter to follow.
    image

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/03aa0218-5bb0-448a-9c63-56483ec8714e

It would be better if there is an option for automatically generating S-shaped slurs, with both endpoints correctly anchored to the head/stem sides.

Prior art

Dorico has this feature.
image

Additional context

No response

Checklist
  • This request follows the guidelines for reporting issues
  • I have verified that this feature request has not been logged before, by searching the issue tracker for similar requests

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by locating the existing slur editing and Properties panel entry points in MuseScore, then trace how slur endpoints are anchored to note heads and stems. The feature is done when an option can automatically create an S-shaped slur across the 16th-note example, with both endpoints correctly anchored and behavior that remains consistent when articulations or beam slopes change.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
design, desktop
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
32/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.