The <offset> element

Parent elements: <direction><harmony><listening><sound>

An offset is represented in terms of divisions, and indicates where the direction will appear relative to the current musical location. The current musical location is always within the current measure, even at the end of a measure.

The offset affects the visual appearance of the direction. If the sound attribute is “yes”, then the offset affects playback and listening too. If the sound attribute is “no”, then any sound or listening associated with the direction takes effect at the current location. The sound attribute is “no” by default for compatibility with earlier versions of the MusicXML format. If an element within a direction includes a default-x attribute, the offset value will be ignored when determining the appearance of that element.