I was going over the lead part on a new custom (Be Bop a Lula) and discovered that somehow I'd added in an extra beat -- which threw everything else off.

 

I'm not sure how I did this though-- is there a key command for this? I must have hit the wrong thing by mistake. VERY DANGEROUS! I can't think of too many times one would want to add an extra beat to a measure.

 

I think I got rid of it -- I selected the beat line and chose the delete function from the menu (it's not clear what that's deleting, but I think I got rid of it).

 

It shouldn't be too difficult to line everything up again.

Lock the tempo map and it won't happen again.

Lock the tempo map and it won't happen again.

 

Well, I had it locked. But I might have unlocked termporarily at some point to adjust a beat -- it probably happened then. It seems that all you need to do is hit the A key.

 

Anyway, removing doesn't seem to have thrown off the chart. so that's good news.

I had a chance to look at it this evening. I think this happened while I was preparing the initial beat map -- so locking it wouldn't have helped.

 

I'm certain I accidentally added the beat when I was placing anchors. Because the key command for toggling the anchors and for adding beats is just too similar. Much too similar. All it took, no doubt, was a slip of my finger (the alt key is next to the ctrl key on the keyboard I was using).

 

Now, this should never happen. For one, I can't think of too many reasons for placing an extra beat in a 4/4 song. I realize there are some progressive/metals bands that like to do this kind of  weird time signature change thing. But for most rock, it just breaks all the rules.

 

If nothing else:

 

1) EOF should always default to 4/4 time on opening, since most songs use this time signature. It doesn't do this now and I often forget to select it.

 

2) EOF should give a warning -- or better yet, BLOCK the addition of new beats when ANY time signature is selected.

 

The only reason I spotted the extra beat was because I was preparing a guitarpro file for the chart I was working on (since I was making so many changes from the original, I need another way of hearing the notes).

 

I'm wondering how many other CDLCs are out there that have this same issue?

 

I lost quite a few hours correcting this one!

Well, I had it locked. But I might have unlocked termporarily at some point to adjust a beat -- it probably happened then. It seems that all you need to do is hit the A key.

Pressing A only toggles the beat marker as an anchor, it doesn't move it. If you pressed SHIFT+A however, the "Beat>Anchor beat" function would be triggered and you'd be promtped to enter a timestamp to which the selected beat is moved.

I'm certain I accidentally added the beat when I was placing anchors. Because the key command for toggling the anchors and for adding beats is just too similar. Much too similar. All it took, no doubt, was a slip of my finger (the alt key is next to the ctrl key on the keyboard I was using).

The anchor functions in the Beat menu don't have hotkeys so you can't trigger them with ALT+B and the one more keypress. It's much faster and safer to just use the 'A' key to toggle the anchor setting for a beat.

1) EOF should always default to 4/4 time on opening, since most songs use this time signature. It doesn't do this now and I often forget to select it.

The time signature is optional. The XML files export assuming 4/4 time if no signature is placed.

2) EOF should give a warning -- or better yet, BLOCK the addition of new beats when ANY time signature is selected.

I disagree. This function serves a purpose.As mentioned though, none of these tempo map alterations can be performed if the tempo map is locked.

Yes, but I'm guessing I added the extra being while I was making the tempo map, so locking it wouldn't have helped me.

 

I have no way of knowing how I managed to do it -- I get pretty bleary-eyed after a while when I'm working with the program, listening to the same song over and over again... one false move is all it takes. Hell, it could have been the cat jumping on the keyboard...

 

That's why I think there should be a warning message about adding extra beats -- unless the user specifically turns that off. Or better you, add a switch in the menu to turn on this functionality. Because it may be useful, but for most songs it's not really necessary.

 

 

Oh well, I'm only on my 3rd custom... by the time I get to 20, I might start making fewer mistakes...

I can understand your frustration, but I'm not going to disable a function by default or place extra warning messages on the off chance a function can be mis-used. Any function can be used correctly or incorrectly, and which of those it is depends entirely on the author's intentions, which isn't something EOF can judge. If you use the 'A' keyboard shortcut to anchor beats, it won't even be possible to add a beat on accident because you're not even opening the Beat menu.

Well, like I said, I don't know HOW I managed to add that beat, only that I did.

 

So, of course, it's a mistake I made, I'm not saying it isn't. Maybe there should be a switch labeled "Prevent Stupid MVega Errors" ? :oops:

 

I do use the A key for the anchors. Actually most of the time, I just use the auto-anchors that get placed with positioning the beats, which seems more efficient.

 

Anyway, if you're not making mistakes, you're not learning. It's what I tell my kids, anyway. :-P