Volta Use Problem
The song In the attached score (gutted of unnecessary measures for brevity) has the following structure:
1. Verse 1 + chorus
2. Verse 2 + chorus
3. Chorus
4. Verse 3 + chorus
That is, after the second chorus, play returns to the start of the chorus (which will be done instrumentally, but that's a detail).
I have accomplished the jump from the second chorus to the third chorus via a D.S.and a segno.
Everything works fine, except that at the end of the third chorus, play continues into the measures controlled second volta (and continues to the end of the piece), whereas it *should* jump back to the start of the song to play verse 3 + the chorus (for a fourth time). I tried setting the Repeat count at 3 (instead of the default 2) on the measure with the first volta, but that makes playback work a different way that's even farther from what I intend.
Help appreciated.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Everyone_v02_TestOfRepeats.mscz | 8.48 KB |
Comments
The standard in music is for repeats to *not* be taken on a DS. If you wish to have it otherwise, you can put a notation to that effect in the score for the benefit of the human musicians reading it, but MuseScore won't understand it - it only does the standard playback.
In reply to The standard in music is for by Marc Sabatella
Sorry, Marc, I don't understand what you said. How can I configure this so the score plays in the proper sequence?
In reply to Sorry, Marc, I don't by manonash
It already is the "proper" sequence. As I said, it is standard for repeats *not* to be taken on a DS. What you want is *improper* playback. Yu can add a text instruction on the score to tell a human musician you want him to take the repea,t but there is no way to force MuseScore to do improper playback in this respect.
Beyond that, though, your form is pretty confusing even for human musicians to follow. It's not at all clear what is supposed to happen at the end of the seocnd ending. The presence of a fourth ending suggests a repeat, but you don't have a repeat - only a DS. That's not proper notation. After a DS, you aren't supposed to have another volta - the only thing that can legitimately follow is a coda. So you should convert your fourth ending to a coda.
Really, I don't see why you have a DS at all. Yur second ending is the same as the first and third. Why not combine them?
In reply to It already is the "proper" by Marc Sabatella
The reason for the second ending is that I need playback to jump to a different start point than the first one does. At the end of the second chorus, playback should jump back to the start of the chorus rather than the start of the verse. After that chorus, the final verse and another iteration of the chorus are performed. (See the exploded description in my first post for the complete sequence.)
I assumed that it wasn't possible to nest the start points for a repeat. Wrong? If possible, how to indicate which start point to use?
In reply to The reason for the second by manonash
Correct, nested repeats are not proper notation.
In general, don't think in terms of what you want "playback" to do. Think in terms of what human musicians will do when they see the markings you have included. If you use only standard markings, then it will be clear to human musicians, and also the computer playback will be correct. Sometimes a complex roadmap just isn't possible to express using standard markings, so you need to write out some of the repeats in full.
In your case, OK, I see why you have a second ending and a DS. So that's fine, but then you can't really have a 4th ending aftert that and have it make sense. Instead, have a "To Coda" right before the voltas, and put whatever you need in the coda (including another copy of the chorus). Because again, the standard is to *not* take repeats on a DS. So if you want something played twice, you need to put that second iteration in the coda.
In reply to The reason for the second by manonash
After that chorus, the final verse and another iteration of the chorus are performed.
If you look at your score, in the very first measure, you have a lyric for the final verse (3. Blah). This lies outside the start repeat of measure 2, so it never gets played/sung/performed.
Best bet (as mentioned already) is to use a coda.
See attachment.
Regards.
In reply to After that chorus, the final by Jm6stringer
Mark, Jm6:
Thank you both. I'll have to chew on that. I definitely am interested to learn how to express things in standard markings, and it's understandable that Musescore only supports those, but I have other conflicting objectives as well. One is to minimize the number of pages in the score. I (and my other band members) keep our music in 3-ring binders, and the binders on our music stands, and it's usually impossible (or at least very disruptive and inconvenient) to turn a page while the song is in progress. (I, for example, am typically singing and keeping the basic rhythm of the song going on my guitar.) Three pages is the practical maxium number that can be open and visible on the musical stand at one time.
I also think it makes the song structure easier to assimilate and remember when like sections are not repeated in the score. [Verse + chorus, Verse + chorus, chorus, Verse + chorus] is a straightforward structure, and I don't want it to look more complicated (at a glance) in the sheet music.
So if there's no way in standard notation to express that structure without repeating a section in the score, I may just score this one as if it's four repeats of verse+chorus, and then put a note in the lyrics line in "verse 3" (where the verse 3 lyrics would normally go) to jump immediately to the chorus and play the first half instrumentally, resuming vocals when the words resume in the score. Or something like that. :)
Thanks again for your assistance!
In reply to Mark, Jm6: Thank you both. by manonash
Well, as I said, a text instruction will work fine to tell a human musician, "take repeat on DS". No problem with that to save space. Just don't expect MsueScore's own playback to follow that. If for some reason it is important to hear the correct computer playback as well as have an optimized chart, just make a second copy of the score for playback purposes and write out the repeat in full there.
In reply to Well, as I said, a text by Marc Sabatella
Roger that. Thanks!