Embedding MIDI command in score to turn off vibrato?
Is there a way to embed a MIDI command in a score?
I'd like to send a command to turn off vibrato on an instrument or set its width to zero.
I see in the "Staff Text Properties" there is a box for "MIDI Action" but i can't enter anything in the box and I can't find any instructions on how it is intended to work.
Alternatively, is there some other non-MIDI way to turn off vibrato on instruments?
Comments
MuseScore uses soundfonts in which the style of the sound is embedded. Therefore, if a vibrato is embedded, it cannot be selectively changed.
More info. here:
http://musescore.org/en/node/26271
Regards.
As far as I know, whatever small amount of vibrato that might be present in some samples in some soundfonts is actually part of the sample - the natural sound of the real human who played the instrument when it was being sampled. It is not applied algorithmically to my knowledge, hence no way to turn it off. Curious which instruments in which soundfont in which version of MuseScore you are finding objectionable - to me, most sound too lifeless and hence unrealistic already. Or maybe you have reverb or chrous turned up and are confusing that with vibrato?
EDIT: actually, I partially take that back. If you are using the default TimGM6mb soundfont with MuseScore 1.X, it does sound rather unnatural. But a much bhetter way to improve the sound is to install a better soundfont - see Soundfont in the Handbook.
In reply to As far as I know, whatever by Marc Sabatella
Actually Mark the sound is hard encoded into the soundfont. The samples do not have vibrato naturally.
If you think about this then you will realise why based on a simple ADSR envelope.
It is possible to edit the soundfonts directly using SoundFont editor such as Polyphone, Viena or Swami and remove the hardcoded vibrato.
Unfortunately, as things stand at the moment you have no way of getting MuseScore to add vibrato when you want it.
I'm not too sad about that as it is, after all, a music engraving application first and foremost, and I can filter out the more annoying aspects of hardcoded vibrato by simply not listening to it :)
HTH
Michael
In reply to Actually Mark the sound is by ChurchOrganist
If musescore really is primarily intended for music engraving, perhaps the word "play" should be removed from its very prominent place in the headline mission statement on the front page of the musescore site.
In reply to If musescore really is by robert.holmen.7
That's a bit extreme. Ability to playback scores *is* a vitally important and significant feature of MuseScore. It's just that fine detailed control over every last nuance of that playback is not.
In reply to If musescore really is by robert.holmen.7
I can understand the disappointment. Perhaps you can help?
Regards,
In reply to If musescore really is by robert.holmen.7
Please bear in mind that MuseScore is a work in progress.
Currently there are many issues involving the engraving side of MuseScore which need addressing, and which are regarded as priority by the development team.
Of course playback is important, and there have been a number of improvements to it in MuseScore 2.
Once the engraving side of MuseScore is complete, then the development team will be free to turn their full attention to playback, assuming they have the programmers capable of working to improve it.
Thank you for your responses.
Why would I want to turn off vibrato?
I am transcribing music that I can play along with for the purposes of practicing precise intonation both for unisons and intervals.
An example of this is the Dotzauer Cello method that is written as harmonized duets for Student and Teacher. The Altes Flute method does this also.
Part of sensing and practicing intonation is listening for "beats" created when notes are not in tune with each other.
The beats of the vibrato sounded by most Musescore instruments are quite large and obscure intonation beats. That is why I would like to turn off vibrato if it were possible. Since the default soundfont seems to be working off other MIDI standard values like pitch and velocity i was hoping it might also recognize MIDI commands for controlling vibrato which do exist.
Can anyone recommend a soundfont that, by default, plays unadorned, solid, straight, equal-tempered pitches?
The Musescore's piano is stable but is not a sustaining timbre. The organ timbres are stable but too raucous a sound. The Flute sound wanders over a 40 cent range from equal temperament.
(note that I am not trying to start a discussion of equal temperament vs. just intonation. A sound font that could do accurate equal temperament pitches is the starting point for what I want to do.
I will also note that I am not confusing reverb and chorus, which can be turned off, with vibrato)
thanks in advance.
In reply to Thank you for your by robert.holmen.7
The problem is that soundfont technology is against you here.
The sustain element of the amplitude envelope is produced by looping a portion of the sample to produce the sustained tone. Consequently it is virtually impossible to produce a pure tone using soundfont or other Sample+Synthesis technology.
I think your way forward would be to use JACK to send a MIDI stream out from MuseScore to a virtual synth using physical modelling technology such as the Yamaha VL70-M
HTH
Michael
I downloaded "viena"
An initial perusal indicates that the "cello" sound has vibrato created by parameters in the SoundFont which can be turned off.
"Flute" on the other hand has vibrato recorded in the sample which can not be negated.
"Piano" has no vibrato and its envelope can edited to yield a longer lasting tone.
Theoretically, i could edit some instruments that are editable to have no vibrato, resave the SoundFont under a new name and provide that to people who want the vibratoless tones for the same reason I do and that is not a legal problem, right?
In reply to editing with viena by robert.holmen.7
It depends on the soundfont.
TimGM6Mb and Fluid are both OpenGL licenced I think.
Other soundfonts may not be.
In the case of Fluid the soundfont is OpenGL licenced but the samples are not so using them in another soundfont could be dodgy.
HTH
PS I've just checked and there is no vibrato in the flute samples in TimGM6Mb except for one - Flute G5. What you can hear is the looping of the sustain section - the problem I mentioned earlier.
I suspect it is partly the nature of the flute - any fluctuations in breath pressure are going to come across as vibrato - you get the same problem with playing recorders - again very susceptible to changes in breath pressure.
In reply to It depends on the by ChurchOrganist
@ChurchOrganist This is completely wrong and a testimony that it's better to say nothing on licensing issues if you are not sure. It also applies for questions about copyright btw... Let's stick to the facts...
OpenGL is 2D and 3D graphic rendering API... nothing to do with licensing.
FluidR3GM.sf2 is licensed under MIT license see http://musescore.org/en/node/24019#comment-92371 for a copy of the license. AFAIK, we don't have a license in place for Fluid.sf3 and we should.
TimGM6Mb.sf2 is licensed under GPL version 2. See http://musescore.org/fr/node/1463#comment-9161
In reply to It depends on the by ChurchOrganist
@ChurchOrganist This is completely wrong and a testimony that it's better to say nothing on licensing issues if you are not sure. It also applies for questions about copyright btw... Let's stick to the facts...
OpenGL is 2D and 3D graphic rendering API... nothing to do with licensing.
FluidR3GM.sf2 is licensed under MIT license see http://musescore.org/en/node/24019#comment-92371 for a copy of the license. AFAIK, we don't have a license in place for Fluid.sf3 and we should. I created a task http://musescore.org/en/node/27306
TimGM6Mb.sf2 is licensed under GPL version 2. See http://musescore.org/fr/node/1463#comment-9161
In reply to Wrong! by [DELETED] 5
Hmm I definitely got my wires crossed on that one - I actually meant of course GPL v2 which is the licence MuseScore is released under.
Somehow it came out as OpenGL - I plead a senior moment!
Good job you spotted that one Nicolas!