New Music Theory Tutorial: The concept of measures

Write guides and how-tos about LMMS for other members.
Here i look at the concept of the measure. A concept that is intimately connected to time-signature, and logical musical structure in piano-roll
https://youtu.be/39uFMAoFOPU
well explained Mr Bear.

lol "happy new year!", and happy thanksgiving too!
Hello and first of all, thanks for this wonderful piece of software.

On GitHub, you said not to use Global Automations to change the time signature. The GH issue is about importing MIDI files. So does your comment relate only to importing MIDI, or generally using Global Automations for time signatures in LMMS?

When I use Global Automations to change the time signature amidst a piece of music, the segments and measures in the Song Editor get dynamically adjusted while the playback is going on. The attached file is a minimal example of this bug(?), tested in LMMS 1.2.1 and 1.2.2:
switch-time-signatures--global-automisation.mmpz
Minimal example of how TS changes with GA skew the measure bars and segments in the Song Editor. Press play.
(1.66 KiB) Downloaded 536 times
I expected the following behaviour: The segments and measure bars should not be squeezing and stretching during playback. Instead, they should stay put.

Using multiple time signatures in a single piece is a common stylistic device and I would rather not miss it in LMMS. Or maybe I'm just missing the correct way to do it in LMMS? If so, please point me to the correct resource. I've seen Different Time Signatures and correct Grid, but I think using a 1/4 TS for a piece that switches between 4/4 and 3/4 is rather counter-intuitive.

In case you are wondering, I attached a work-in-progress piece of game BGM, "Nordhafen" (German for "North Haven"), which is the reason why I'm writing this post:
nordhafen.mmpz
A WIP use case for TS change.
(3.66 KiB) Downloaded 525 times
McDohl wrote:
Fri Nov 06, 2020 4:27 pm
you said not to use Global Automations to change the time signature.
Imo we can expand that advise:
So not use Global Automations -at all!

Global Automation is properly the worst feature that has sneaked into lmms, and you can scratch 'properly'..
Issue is about importing MIDI files.
When I change the time signature amidst a piece of music, the segments and measures in the Song Editor get dynamically adjusted while the playback is going on.
That is expected1 You will se some odd length-shifts inside song-editor, as time-signature change. Take f.i. 4/4 to 3/4
Instead of having 4 beats with each 4 ticks, in each bar, there would only be 3 beats with each 4 ticks, in each bar. The bar would be drawed one whole beat shorter.

The attached file is a minimal example of this bug(?), tested in LMMS 1.2.1 and 1.2.2: switch-time-signatures--global-automisation.mmpz
I expected the following behaviour: The segments and measure bars should not be squeezing and stretching during playback. Instead, they should stay put.
No they wont.
Using multiple time signatures in a single piece is a common stylistic device and I would rather not miss it in LMMS.
Absolutely, and you wont have to. You should just not use GLOBAL Automation, but STD-Automation, with a normal automation-track.
I made a video about doing that
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIToz0LIRIM
You can also see that it has that 'expand' motion, but it works, as you also can see :)

About your files:
Unfortunately files cant be hosted in the forum. -Sorry

Besides that, since you are new in Forum
Welcome McDohl !
Here are all important links:
http://lmms.io/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4740
-A few rules and useful forum instructions
If you like to introduce yourself, to the community, go here:
http://lmms.io/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4480

And sorry for the late response !
Thank you for the response, I've finally got it working for me. The rest of this message is for future generations who may have the same difficulties.

Using normal automation tracks is a visual utility (vs. global automations, which are rather a hack than a tool).

There is currently (v1.2.2) no remedy to the stretching/squeezing effect.

Because changing the time signature in* a song is counter-intuitive** in LMMS, the procedure should be spelt out (again):
  • Create two automation tracks: TS nominator and TS denominator.
  • If you change anything in the Song Editor, use the scroll wheel to change the TS LCD's to the common base (most times this will be 1/4 or 1/8). This is temporary, you'll have to do that often. It will allow you to put the segments into place with enough precision.
  • Use Ctrl+Mouse Drag from the TS LCD's into the two automation tracks to create TS segments. Stretch the TS nominator and denominator segments out for the whole period in which they are valid - this way you'll have the best editing experience.
(*If you use the same TS throughout a song, e.g. 6/8 from start to end, ignore these instructions and just change the TS LCD's).
(**Sorry, but it seems TS change is currently not a user friendly feature in LMMS).