Inconsistency Between Mixer and Main Instrument Lists
I have noticed for some time (i.e., both Musescore 2.x and 3.x) that the list of instruments in the Mixer does not quite correspond with the Main instrument list (i.e., the one obtained from the Edit menu).
For example, the Fantasia and the Space Voice are on the Mixer list, but not on the Main list.
Do Fantasia and Space Voice appear on the Main List with different names ?
I think both lists should contain the same instruments (meaning all of the instruments on both lists). Also, I think the Mixer list should have the option of being sorted alphabetically. There are a lot of instruments on that list, and in many cases it would be easier to look for an instrument alphabetically, rather than by instrument grouping. You could also include a Search bar, as you do on the Main List.
Thank you.
[Note: This topic could also appear under Feature Requests.]
Comments
The mixer takes the names from the soundfonts, the instruments dialog from instruments.xml, there's no 1 to 1 relationship between them, General MIDI has been only 128 different sounds
There is no instrument named "Fantasia" - that is why there is nothing in the instrument list by that name and why it wouldn't make sense to add one. "Fantasia" is the name of a synthesized sound within a soundfont, and the instrument that plays this sound would be a synthesizer of some kind. So you select a synthesizer as the actual instrument, and then in the Mixer you can select which sound you want that synthesizer to play (eg, "Fantasia" or "Space Voice" or whatever else).
Similarly, there is no instrument called "muted trumpet", it's just one sound playable by the instrument called "trumpet". Trumpet is the instrument, muted is a sound it can make. And so on. That's the important distinction being made here and throughout.
The idea of a search for the Mixer has come up before and hopefully the redesigned playback facility for MuseScore 4 will eventually include this. Meanwhile, note that this is a standard drop-down list so the standard methods of navigating it work - eg, type the first few letters of any item to jump directly there.
In reply to There is no instrument named… by Marc Sabatella
Thank you for pointing out the distinction between the Mixer List (Sound Font) and the Main Instruments List, which I hadn't been aware of.
As a follow-up question, what is the main purpose of the Mixer List ? Is it to provide modifications for instruments on the Main List -- e.g., to provide a "muted trumpet" capability for the trumpet on the Main Instruments List ?
But, the Mixer List also has many duplications of the Main Instruments List -- e.g., violin. The violin sound is the same on both lists, right ?
Also, by the way, I noticed that the "Fantasia sound" is in fact represented on the Main Instruments List as New Age Synthesizer (see below):
But, "Space Voice" doesn't appear to be.
Regarding the sorting of the Mixer List, thank you for pointing out the capability of typing 2nd and 3rd letters of an instrument name. I hadn't noticed this before because it won't work if you pause too long while typing. In other words, if you type "v - i" and then pause before "o," the search will go to the "O" instruments instead of to "violin." Do you happen to know what the specified pause time is ?
Thank you.
In reply to Thank you for pointing out… by GTGO
The Mixer is for sounds (and taken from the loaded soundfon(s)), the instruments list for instruments.
Not all instruments have a sound on their own (there are far more instruments that sounds in a GM soundfont, so often the 'closest match' is taken), some have more than one sound assigned (like most brass and strings, some guitars and synthesizers).
The violin sound is one of the sounds suitable for the violin instrument.
In reply to Thank you for pointing out… by GTGO
Here you can see how the GM (General MIDI) soundset is grouped into "Families":
https://www.midi.org/specifications-old/item/gm-level-1-sound-set
In MuseScore, the instruments listed in the Mixer basically follow this "family" ordering (e.g., pianos first) whenever you use a GM soundfont.
In reply to Thank you for pointing out… by GTGO
The purpose of the mixer is to allow you to change aspects of the playback sound for the instruments you have selected. The instrument list contains no sounds whatsoever - only names of instruments. So your question about the violin sound being the same on both lists doesn't make sense. There is no bviilin sound - or any other sound - on the instrument list. It's a list of instruments - physical things a musician can pick up and play - not of sounds per see. The sounds are control by the mixer. Each instrument has a default sound but you can use the mxier to change that sound. So yes, as explained earlier, the instrument that might use the Fantasia sound is a synthesizer, and that is why selecting that instrument yields that sound by defaulkt. Just as selecting the violin instrument yields the violin sound by default.
I'm not sure how each OS interprets the delay between typing characters in dropdown lists, but I assume it should work more or less the same as other dropdown lists on your particular OS.