Disappearing Audio
Sometimes when I'm writing music on musescore, some parts of the audio will randomly cut out in different sections. I'll usually try to make the part louder by duplicating the part or making it fortissimo or even more, but often times this either doesn't change anything, or it ends up making the sound even quieter. Does anyone know why this is and what to do about it?
Comments
Did you change from the default sound font?
In reply to Did you change from the… by bobjp
no, I didn't do anything to the sound fonts
In order to investigate, we would need you to attach the score and give precise steps to reproduce the problem.
In reply to In order to investigate, we… by Marc Sabatella
Here's a link to one of my scores where this problem is more noticeable:
https://musescore.com/user/34769455/scores/6659117?share=copy_link
Starting at measure 24 (1:13), there's a duet going on between the 2 main trumpets. It sounds fine for measures 24 and 25, but then in measure 26 the first trumpet immediately cuts out after hitting the A, and you can't hear it again until measure 29. If you compare it to the reoccurring section at measure 48 (2:30) you can hear the first trumpet part throughout the entire 8 bar section, and the only thing that changed is there's a French Horn melody going along with the trumpets, nothing else. This is a problem I've noticed mainly when I writing orchestral scores, and I thought that it may just be because I have too many notes in a certain part, but I've also had this happen in sections where there's not many notes and parts at all so I'm not sure what it is. There's probably other examples of this happening throughout this song that I don't remember off the top of my head, but this is the biggest example. If you want to hear another one of my scores where I'm having this problem let me know, but hopefully this helps for now.
In reply to Here's a link to one of my… by Gideon Scheeler
I don't hear the second trumpet either.
Part of this is just how poorly recorded sounds mix. Various frequencies can cancel each other out. I downloaded the file to open in MS. I hope you panned each instrument. It can help. It might be possible that there is just too much going on through this section.
Also the dynamic for the first trumpet is mp at measure 24. The duet is kind of fun, but it is covered up by everything else that is going on.
What do you want the listener to be aware of here?
In reply to I don't hear the second… by bobjp
I want the listener to be aware of the trumpet duet, I can try and add more volume to see if that helps but I still don't know why it just randomly stops. I've even had it before where I'll add more volume by adding forte or fortissimo and it'll completely mute the sound, so I don't know what causes that. How do you pan the instruments? By panning do you mean shifting the sound to the right and left?
In reply to I want the listener to be… by Gideon Scheeler
I pushed the faders all the way up and made the trumpets fff. It helped but still hard to hear. I don't think the part "drops out". I think it gets canceled.
In a live performance situation, I doubt that a single trumpet could overpower a full orchestra.
Yes, set each instrument section, between left and right, in the mixer.
There is a world of difference between computer sound and real sound. If you are mostly interested in a score, than write what you feel you need to. If you are after playback, you may need to simplify what is happening.
In reply to I pushed the faders all the… by bobjp
Do you know why it may get canceled? I've noticed that other sections sometimes get "canceled" to in other songs at random times but I don't know why
In reply to Here's a link to one of my… by Gideon Scheeler
Do you still hear a problem if you solo just the trumpets? I don't, making me wonder if maybe your CPU is just getting overwhelmed. One thing I can say is that any notes where the trumpets are in unison, you get the usual "phase cancel" effect that is standard for sampled instruments
In reply to Do you still hear a problem… by Marc Sabatella
I thought at first it was my CPU being overwhelmed too, but when I listen on other devices it does the same thing. What's the "phase cancel"? Is there a way to avoid it?
In reply to I thought at first it was my… by Gideon Scheeler
Does it happen if you solo the tracks? I can hear both trumpets in the full mix, I think, but it’s hard to say. I definitely hear them if I solo.
Phase canceling is a simple fact of physics, play two identical wavfwforms at the same time and weird things happen acoustically. Solution is to alter one of the waver forms. In MuseScore that could be done by retuning one of the overlapping notes slightly.