Question about Workflow
Hi,
Question about how best to use MuseScore, please.
Have some work where I am to arrange music that begins with the manuscript of either a composer or a conductor. I punch in their hand written notes in electronic format of a DAW and further the effort. The deliverable is both an MP3 and sheet music.
I have settled on Ableton Live for my DAW. It works for me and the hardware I have. Punching in their hand written notes into Ableton is easy enough. Furthering their work is also no problem. I take it I export each track to separate MID files and import into MuseScore. That seems easy enough. The challenge seems to be after I do all of this and the conductor needs/wants changes.....I make the changes in Abelton. But, getting those changes into MuseScore is my question. It seems I would have to import that part (track) all over again and loose the work I originally accomplished for that part in MuseScore. Is this correct, or is there a smarter way to approach this with MuseScore?
Thanks,
S
Comments
I would do it the other way around. Enter the notes in MuseScore and use the MuseScore file as the master. Export a wave file from MuseScore with a nice soundfont and you have an (probably ugly) mp3. To go further, export the MuseScore file in MIDI and load in your favorite DAW and from there make a better audio file.
If you need to make changes in the typesetting, just change it in MuseScore. If you need to make change in some MIDI related stuff, just do it in your DAW. If you need to change some note pitches, then do it in MuseScore and export to MIDI and use your DAW features to manipulate MIDI data to update the audio.
I'm curious of others' feedback
In reply to I would do it the other way by [DELETED] 5
OK, your approach is smarter.
So, the thing is.....I have to disciple myself to do most of the work in MuseScore. That is doable, I guess. I can see me spending a lot of time in DAW, though. I believe your point is valid. Where I get the bulk of the work done does not matter so much as the processing of the inevitable edits after all of that work in MuseScore is complete. I very well may make out where they way produce a MusicXML file and they tweak on their own. Doubt it, as conductors do not have a reputation for that.
Just the same, you have given me a good segue in the thought process. Thank you.
In reply to Smarter... by shdawson
Hmmmm......digging through MuseScore to find how to change sounds around. I rolled the Synthesizer to [acoustic_grand_piano_ydp_20080910.sf2] Exported to WAV, not bad. Enough to give the gist of the piece. That very well may be enough for the first pass in review with the conductor. From there, if he likes it, then continue on with doing the parts for the different instruments by assigning each to their own staff.
Running MuseScore and Ableton Live, the first program opened grabs the sound card and the other cannot use it. This is as expected. So, it looks like a bulk of the work in MuseScore can, and probably should be, done with just a nice piano sound to determine if the arrangement of the composition can stand on it's own with the piano itself. The timeless test, for sure.
I did get the Batch Export plugin going.
I guess the best case scenario would be to have a sound font that hooks into Ableton sound libraries. Is that asking too much?
For the sake of time, would you possibly be able to kindly tell me......does each staff export to an individual MIDI file, or does the entire piece, or......???
Thank you very much for chiming in on this planning and learning phase.
V/R,
S
In reply to Changing Sounds....... by shdawson
If you go to Soundfont , you will find link to complete free soundfonts that can give better playback than the default one. I guess you could also buy a better and bigger soundfont online.
Plugging MuseScore to Ableton or to a VST host is not possible right now.
Each staff doesn't export to an individual MIDI. But if you export a score in MIDI each staff will be on a different MIDI track. If you want only one part in a MIDI file, you could extract the part first. See Part extraction
In reply to If you go to Soundfont, you by [DELETED] 5
You saved me quite a bit of time today chasing this down, when I did not have the time to spend on doing so. :-) Much appreciated.
Kindly,
SHD
You're not going to get consistently perfect sheet music by just importing the midi files from Live. You'll get a fair bit of the information in there, but the midi file won't necessarily tell the program where the invisible barline is, nor will it modify notation to suit certain instruments.
I'd get it started with the midi file, but you or someone else you know will likely have to finalise the notation in MuseScore.
I am not sure I understand WHY you need to use a DAW at all, since MuseScore provides a basic playback function built into the software. Unless you need to produce 'demo tapes' for use in selling a composition/arrangement to a publisher, or for posting on a commercial website, the playback from MuseScore, while not great, should be sufficient to give your conductor and performers a reasonably good idea of what the piece is supposed to sound like.
The advantage of using MuseScore exclusively during the work process is that you do not have to spend time correcting the inevitable anomolies created during the import/export process, 'translating' a digital file from one format to another. If your conductor requires changes, you (or he) can make them in MuseScore and listen to the result immediately. Then all you have to do is save the modified score under a new name (Score Rev xxxxxx), export the score and parts as PDFs, and print new parts and score for the players from those files.
It's quite true that the default soundfont used by MuseScore is less than wonderful, but it does play the proper notes and for the purposes of evaluating the harmonies, etc., that you've created in your arrangement, it should be sufficient. My understanding of the primary function of a DAW is that it is intended for recording live performances, which you can then 'tweak' to create your final mix.