copy rhythm from a single measure to many measures

[montedoro44]

I don't see this covered anywhere, although I found a YouTube video for Mac that uses JW Pattern that magically accomplishes this task. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkKJYSxZ0X0 ) But My Windows JW-Pattern plug-in isn't anything like the Mac version and doesn't seem made for this task. The JW Rhythm Copy plug-in (otherwise a blessing!) insists that the Copy-to target be the exact number of measures as the Source. If the Finale Edit Filter had "Rhythm" as a category somewhere, like under "Notes and Rests" then that would work.

To clarify the task by example, suppose I have a 100 measures of 8th-notes that I want to change to say, dotted-8th & 16th pairs. The most efficient way to change them would seem to be to change m1 to the desired rhythm, copy it, then select all the others, press a magic button, and all the others change. Help please, and chiding too, if it's in front of me and I can't see it.

[Bill Stevens]

Looking at Mac and F27 I see it working as you experience, and not like the youtube video. If I were going to deal with that I would copy 1 to 2, then 1-2 to 3-4, then 1-4 to 5-8, then before you know it you have measures galore.

::: Bill

[miker]

You're using the wrong plug-in. JW Meter and Rhythm > Rhythm transformation > Dotted Pattern will change all of your eighth/eighth pairs to dotted eight/sixteenth at once.

[montedoro44]

Thanks Bill and Miker!

Bill, I have resorted to expanding by powers of 2 -- it beats 1-by-1 by a lot, but is still tedious for frequent use. Finale's Edit Filter followed by Delete or Copy is IMO the most efficient model for generalizing the needed operation, but unfortunately, "rhythm" is not among the usable attributes. Seems like a correctable oversight.

Miker, thanks for aiming me toward JW Meter & Rhythm. That's the right idea, but why is the option to select a measure or group of measures as the model to be copied missing? I include an ornery little example here, something like an Irish jig, to show how the option to copy & paste at will can be more useful than a short list of prescribed model rhythms. I also know about the power of the Repitch Tool (thanks to you & the other magicians here!), but that runs backward: start with the rhythm in each m and repitch later.

rhythm test.musx

(109.8 KiB) Downloaded 41 times

[miker]

It seems that Rhythm copy requires that the destination measure(s) be the same as the source measure(s.) I was able to copy 1 and 2 to 3 and 4, and either of them to individual measures, but not multiples. Sorry.

[montedoro44]

Thanks for looking into it - it is so close to perfect. I am still stymied by that video in which I see what looks exactly like what I need (Pattern copy), but is not the Pattern Copy that I have. That's a mystery.

There is another not obvious limitation in JW Rhythm Copy -- the Source remains alive only for the doc in which it is Set, has to be reSet for each new doc.

[miker]

Rhythm copy, not Pattern Copy.

[dtoub]

I use JW Rhythm Copy a lot (more than JW Change), but it does have the limitations as noted. Nonetheless, it can be useful in multiple staves so long as the horizontal number of measures matches the destination (so the number of vertical staves do not matter).