change playback instrument?

• Sep 28, 2008 - 20:24

Is there a way to change from the piano to another instrument? I changed the sound font to one I have used for sometime in another application, but I have been unable to change the instrument assignment.

I am using MuseScore as a horn player and would like at least some semblance of horn sound!

BTW, I have reviewed every thing I could find with no luck...

Thanks....

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• Sep 28, 2008 - 21:19

I've tried all of the items you mentioned.

I am using a General Midi sound font (FluidR3 GM.sf2), I have tried choosing a horn instrument on creating a new score and also on an XML file which has the instrument assigned as Horn in F.

None of these worked for me. I am using a sound card that supports sound fonts, and I have been using them successfully with my Notation program for several years.

Any other suggestions? Most of the music I'll be using is from PhotoScore Ultimate scanner. I play in a community band and I have about twenty or thirty pieces I want to get loaded. My Notation program supports Midi, but not MusicXML import (support is supposed to come later this fall) and adding all of the dynamics and articulations is tedious, to say the least! This is why I'm using MuseScore to provide that interface.

Thanks...

Tom
Asst. Professor (retired)
IT management

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• Sep 28, 2008 - 22:05

Just to make sure: did you really tell mscore the path of your sound font via Edit->Preferences->I/O?
Mscore has an integrated synthesizer and does not use the midi part of your sound card, so there is no need for a sound card with sound font support.

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• Sep 28, 2008 - 22:24

I just created a short test with a new score, which I assigned to the horn. To keep it simple, I just created a simple C scale. I was a bit worried at first since the sound that came out as each notes was entered was from the piano. However, when I tried the playback, it sounded like a horn (a bit!).

That still leaves me with my original problem, i.e., assigning a part on a file imported in MusicXML to sound like a horn. The XML part will read "Horn in F", but I have yet to find a way to change the instrument assignment.

Thanks for the prompt reply...

Tom

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• Sep 29, 2008 - 13:08

I tried the approach described. I created a new blank score for a horn of the length of the original MusicXML file. As soon as I try to copy it, the program fails. It seems to be independent of the existence of a new file. For a while I was assuming the same key and time signature as the original, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I tried all sorts of combinations and musescore failed on each as soon as I tried the copy function. The most recent was to select a measure and hit copy before the new file was created.

It failed again.

Am I doing something wrong?

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• Sep 29, 2008 - 15:08

I'm becoming convinced that the problem is the MusicXML file I'm using. If I use a native format file, such as the demo, it works perfectly. If I try any manipulations of my XML file, the program fails, e.g., copy, "save as", etc. I tried "save as" to change it to a native file and it failed again.

A question about the copy process. I assume the file I am copying "to" should have the same number of measures, same key and the same time signature as the original. I'm going to try a few combinations and see what I actually have to do...

Thanks ofr the help...

I'd like to seeMuseScore get ready for "prime time". It is a HUGE project to ger it complete and bug free. Here's what I mean by "bug free": --- I have worked on enough programs to know that NO non-trivial program is ever "bug free" -- the main criteria is "mean time between failures". We need to get this lower.

BTW, don't expect me to write any code. Been there, done that! I stopped coding fifteen or twenty years ago...

Regards...

Tom

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• Sep 29, 2008 - 15:57

How do i upload it in a comment? I see nothing in the format that calls for attachments, and the like...

I am just about ready to call it quits and uninstall MuseScore. I realize that a HUGE amount of work has gone into it, but it seems more like an alpha version than a production version and I just don't have the time to attempt to debug it. Almost every thing I try seems to lead to either a program failure or multiple unsuccessful attempts, e.g., the play pallete disappearing.

I can communicate with my notation program with MIDI files from my scanner and I can just hope they provide MusicXML import support soon, as promised. They provide export, now.

If you'd like, I'll still send you a copy of the XML file that seems to be causing the problems.

Good luck and regards...

Tom

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• Sep 29, 2008 - 23:43

Opened the xml file (directly from the url: copy, paste into CTRL-O), played it, copied measure, changed notes did some other editing tests. No crashes. Saved it back, opened it again, ect...

I'm working on Windows Vista version 0.9.3, prerelease 1102 (http://prereleases.musescore.org)

Perhaps you could explain the exact steps to reproduce a crash.

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• Sep 30, 2008 - 01:19

I am getting the crashes Tom describes whenever I copy a measure from the xml file containing staff text. It also crashed when I tried to save it to .msc. (Windows XP, r.1107)

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• Oct 3, 2008 - 19:25

The fix appears to work. When I installed r1115 and executed it I also had a screen which appears to be a black, command line screen. I can conceive of times I could use such a screen, but not the majority of the time.

Not too surprisingly, I was unable to change the instrument assignment on the original file. So I created a new, blank score for horn and copied the score into it. FWIW, the copied version lost the dynamic markings and the articulations on the paste. However, I WAS able to copy and play the score on the correct instrument. To that extent, the fix appears to work!

Thanks for the prompt support. Musescore now seems to be usable for me for the purpose I wished to use it...

Tom.

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