Add metronome sound when exporting to audio (mp3, wav, etc.)

• Jan 8, 2017 - 15:56
Reported version
3.0
Priority
P2 - Medium
Type
Functional
Frequency
Many
Severity
S5 - Suggestion
Status
active
Regression
No
Workaround
Yes
Project
MuseScore

As the title says. Even when I have specifically saved a score again after turning on the metronome, the exported mp3 has no metronome click.

Comments

• Nov 8, 2021 - 21:25

Yes, that would be the ultimate.
Currently there is some sort of percentage change of metronome timing that I don’t even understand, nor can I comprehend how it could possibly have anything to do with music.
I would settle for a simple slider to choose a metronome tempo and a button option to print it with the MP3.

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• Nov 17, 2021 - 20:54

It is a bit unclear to me how this issue fits in with the new playback system and Musescore 4.

Looking at this Github issue https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore/issues/9182, and a search of the code, it seems that the metronome is entirely unimplemented at the moment in Musescore 4.

Could this perhaps be something that could be designed into the new metronome when it is written?

I agree with reggoboy that treating the metronome as an instrument would allow some flexibility here, and would also allow, for example, the volume of the metronome to be customised in the mixer.

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• Feb 23, 2022 - 05:15

Hey All,

I'm a code n00b musician who is trying to figure out some coding. This is first in the easy projects list on the site. Some questions for folks interested in this feature:

Would you settle for a plugin that generates an invisible percussion staff that automatically sets a sound to the click? I'm imagining it could read the data of the score already provided and make a click to the pulse indicated by the time signature.

This way you would have the click to export, with the option to keep it from cluttering your score. Or you can toggle it on and edit the part if you need to, but the majority of the work would be done in a click, and all in MuseScore.

I've used plugins to some success, but they are still a bit finicky and I haven't gotten to make my own work yet. But I would love some help or collaboration on a fix for this. Anyone out there interested in wading into some code with me?

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• Feb 23, 2022 - 15:23

I personally like the plugin idea as it would then also easily allow one to edit the results, to add emphasis on certain beats or whatever. But, I do think most people here really just want a checkbox in the export dialog. After all, one doesn't necessarily want that metronome track to become a permanent part of the score you have to then mute and unmute.

If your goal is simply to solve this for yourself and move on, a plugin could be great, and probably the easier method to implement. But, if the goal is to actually learn the MsueScore code base as a precursor, going directly into the code makes makes more sense than learning the plugin framework, which is really pretty different,

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• May 10, 2022 - 06:50

As much as I need the feature, I am not hoping it will be implemented because it simply might not be implemented the way I would need it: selecting the number of measures, a pattern for each one, a sound, or possibly different sounds for different beats. The workaround consisting in adding a special track is perfectly fine. The only drawbacks are that it doesn't seem to be possible to exclude several measures from the measure count in a single operation, so we have to do it for each additional measure, we have to repeat the tempo at the start or the inserted measures, but these are very minor drawbacks. Most importantly, we have to maintain two different versions of the file because the score shouldn't show the additional measures. I am pretty sure (well, I just hope) that there are ways to do that, that I don't know, so if someone can tell me, it would be great. Maintaining two versions of a score is very error-prone. As a general rule, it would be great to have an easy way to make measures entirely invisible while collapsing the resulting blank space, including in parts!

Reply

• May 10, 2022 - 13:19

"Most importantly, we have to maintain two different versions of the file because the score shouldn't show the additional measures."

Yes. I add a track and measures to create a count-in for exported audio files. I spent a lot of time looking for a way to hide measures and collapse the blank space. Can't do it. So I have a 'workflow' for myself whereby I do maintain two files for each song. So far I've been able to maintain the discipline to only edit one file and use my defined process to recreate the 'engraving' (printed/PDF'd) file. It's inconvenient, but it works OK for me. At some point I imagine myself making a plugin to auto-generate the 'engraving' file from my 'editing' file; but too many other priorities at this time to work on that.

(fwiw, the other thought I've had is - could I create a utility that could simply add the musical info into a MIDI file directly? That is, export my MIDI file from Musescore as normal, then run a utility that will operate on the exported MIDI file. I.e., read the time signature, determine if there are any pickup notes, then insert my desired count-in MIDI data. Same idea could be used to make an entire click-track probably. I think the only advantage here is it avoids keeping two Musescore files around as a Musescore plugin is probably easier to build.)

Reply

• May 10, 2022 - 16:52

I came to the same conclusion. Instead of making audio adjustments in the audio version, I make everything in the same file, including adding non-visible dynamics and articulations. Each time I make a change in the file, I make the click staff visible, add the three measures, exclude them from the measure count (one at a time!), add the tempo marking at the first measure, open the old audio version, copy the content of the first three measures, paste it in the modified file, and save it as the new audio file. This is a bit cumbersome, but it works.

I considered simply exporting all instruments to separate audio files, and mixing in audio, which would probably be much more efficient, using a volume envelope, than using dynamics. I would just have to generate a separate countdown and insert it before the music. I didn't have time yet to test this approach.

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• Jul 19, 2022 - 09:27

Here is a simple workaround for Windows:

  1. In the systems tray right-click the speaker icon
  2. Left click on "Sounds"
  3. Select tab "Recording"
  4. Right click on "Stereomix", select "Enable" / "Activate"
  5. Open you favorite recording software and select as input "Stereomix".

Now you can play the Musescore file and record it.
Because of the audio output is recorded you will record the metronome, to.

Best regards,
Jürgen

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• Oct 9, 2022 - 08:16

I very much want this feature. The percussion track idea is not really a good workaround - OK For simple time signatures, but constant time signatures changing a lot of work if you want a sound to distinguish beginning of bar.

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• Nov 9, 2022 - 02:18
Workaround Yes ⇒ No

METRONOME is critical in recordings from an Educational perspective, the ability to add or remove is critical

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• Dec 5, 2022 - 10:27
Status active ⇒ fixed
Tags View Changes
Fix version ⇒ 4.0.0

Update about this: in MuseScore 4 (which will be released very soon now), the metronome is indeed a normal audio track, and therefore also included in audio export if it is enabled.

Reply

• Dec 9, 2022 - 22:14

This is wonderful news! The current Beta however automatically mutes the metronome track in the mixer before exporting regardless of wether it's activated or not. I hope this isn't the case in the official release. So glad the metronome is on a mixer audio track now though!

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• Dec 10, 2022 - 14:27
Title Add metronome sound when exporting to audio (mp3, wav, etc.)-yes- we want to the metronome sound as an option on our exports. thank you ⇒ Add metronome sound when exporting to audio (mp3, wav, etc.)

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Fix version
4.0.0