Instrument Duplication

• Jan 25, 2020 - 05:38

I want to duplicate and instrument part and then rename for another instrument. Can this be done in MuseScore 3?


Comments

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

But all formatting is lost in the process, yes? I've created violin solo transcription, have spent many hours getting it to look beautiful on the page, and want to create a matching duet, much of which is just a third above. I'd like all line breaks to be in the same spots, and the easiest route would be to start with that exact version of the solo part. Is there a way to do this? This is typical of my workflow, often creating additional or simplified parts for young musicians, or creating pages of exercises with small changes. Or I've got a violin part and I just want a duplicate part for the flutes, with one or two tiny changes. That should take 10 seconds, no? I've spent so much time learning musescore that I don't want to jump ship, but this roadblock is confounding.

In reply to by nuggetcolorado

Since you’re just adding a new staff to an existing score, the system breaks don’t need to be copied - they are still present, still doing the same job, just to new staves. And most other formatting is copied when you copy the notes.

Now, if you also generate a new part from score, that won’t have the breaks from the other, but that shouldn’t take long to duplicate. Or you could apply breaks to the score itself then use the copy layout to parts plugin.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

Thanks Marc. I'm always creating a new part. I'll investigate the copy layout to parts plugin -- maybe that's the secret. Just seems like a copy-the-whole-darn-part option would be nice. Then I could keep the measures that needed to be kept, changes the few that might need to be changed, and be done. Title formatting and any additions made at the top would not need to be re-added to the new part. Maybe that's not a typical work-flow, but I often want to add parts months later to accommodate particular students, and I'd like every part to be as identical in appearance as possible. I do appreciate that musescore has a robust support system! Thanks!

In reply to by nuggetcolorado

It's not really clear ewhat this part is, maybe if you attached an actual score as an example, that would help. If it's just a different transposition, say, I'd simply transpose, print, and then set it back. If it's truly as new harmony part, seems that the few seconds it takes to re-add system breaks would pale in comparison to the time to actually compose the harmony, and in any event, unless the rhythms match up identically, the same system breaks are unlikely to make sense. So, again, seeing an actual real-world example would help us understand and assist better.

In reply to by nuggetcolorado

Looking back at your previous description of the use cases, I do think using the "copy layout to parts" is the way to go for most of them. That is, make the breaks part of the score, then no matter how many parts you have, you can get them all laid out the same if that truly makes sense.

For existing scores where it's too late to do this because you've already generated a part and added the breaks there instead of to the score, maybe treat that part as a "scratch" part (make a copy of the staff in the score to keep it safe, then just copy/paste other staves into this one. Then when you visit the part, it will have the new notes but the old formatting, and you can print that for the new students.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

Thanks Marc. I'll try the plugin and circle back to here with a file if I get to another roadblock. I'm still developing a workflow, and I probably need to adapt it to the application, not the other way around. (Random additional question while I've got your ear: will the style options or instrument choices ever be alphabetized? Is there a plug-in to do so?) Thanks again!

In reply to by nuggetcolorado

Alphabetization is generally not seen as being as efficient as the "logical" groupings currently used, and it doesn't yield consistency across translations, so no, it's not very likely to be added for most things. But I suppose a plugin could potentially be written to provide alphabetized access to many.

Another approach...
You wrote:
I've created violin solo transcription, have spent many hours getting it to look beautiful on the page, and want to create a matching duet, much of which is just a third above. I'd like all line breaks to be in the same spots, and the easiest route would be to start with that exact version of the solo part.

OK... with the violin part open in MuseScore, use File -> Save a Copy (exact version of the solo part), then change the violin to the other instrument (formatting remains):
https://musescore.org/en/handbook/3/staff-part-properties#change-instru…
and edit the notes of the new instrument (much of which is just a third above) .

In reply to by Jm6stringer

This approach seems promising. Is there a way to add that new copy, now renamed and slightly edited, back into the original score? (I guess you'd make a part, even though it's just a one-instrument score, but then you can't just pull that part from one score into another, can you?)

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

I've just come to this page as I'm wondering if there's an easy way to do this with MuseScore 4.

Currently I have a score with several instruments - including a cello. I also have some patches for synthesizers, which will work with VCV/Cardinal. I can get Cardinal to work as an instrument in MuseScore 4.

Ideally I'd like to be able to duplicate the cello line, then assign the sound to Cardinal - or indeed to any other sound that I fancy. I can see that it can be done by cursor movements, copy and paste to a new instrument, then resetting the instrument/sound for the new score lines, but it would be much easier if the whole of one part could be duplicated, then the sounds assigned.

In my example I may sometimes want synth sounds and sometimes cello sounds.

So basically - I could do it the hard way - with a lot of keystrokes, but is there not an easier way - or if not, could one not be devised?

Do you still have an unanswered question? Please log in first to post your question.