Range of instruments in MS4
Is it possible to change the “allowed” range of an instrument so it is correct on MS, and so one can see if a note in within the range of an instrument with the very useful red colouring of notes that MS thinks are outside the range of an instrument. For Bb clarinets it allows too big a range at the bottom end.
May be this is a fault generally on MS or it may only apply to Bb clarinets.
Comments
Yes, it can be changed in staff properties. But I am confused by your comment re Bb clarinet. The lowest note is D3 sounding pitch, E3 written pitch which is also the lowest note I can play on my Bb clarinet. It all looks ok to me. The top end is more debatable. It is possible to get some very high pitched notes - sometimes on purpose.
In reply to Yes, it can be changed in… by SteveBlower
You are quite right about the range of the Bb Clarinet but the allowed range on MS4 is to the written D3 below the E3 you mention, in that the note below that will show as red, whereas the written D3 shows as black, so it is easy to believe that it is in the range of the Bb Clarinet. I downloaded one piece that had exactly that issue and the tranposer changed it when I told him a while ago. My current issue is that I have reset a wind quartet piece from A Major to G Major, because at 100bpm the quavers are quite quick and I found it difficult to play with the resulting five sharps to remember on the fly. This has created some notes that are outside of the range of the Bb Clarinet and so I need to reset them and as I move the C3 up the colour changes to black at D3, which is wrong. The Oboe part was also similarly affected as it had a red note at the A below the treble stave, whereas i think it can only play either the Bb or the B, i'll check with our oboeist once i've got the Clarinet part sorted.
I haven't checked the top of the range on MS4, as you say it is not very clearly defined on the Bb Clarinet, I would generally say the F or the G an octave above the top of the treble stave but I have seen (and once used) fingering going up to the Bb above that. Better to avoid such notes, at least on purpose!
You mention how to change the range, but I can't find it on MS4, can you give me a more detailed clue please?
In reply to You are quite right about… by Wolfgang41
I still don't understand why you think MU4 has an incorrect lower limit on the Bb clarinet range. This is what I see when viewing a bottom Eb at written pitch - concert pitch display is off.
The Eb is shaded red - as I would expect
Here is what I see in the stave properties (right click in an empty part of the stave and select Stave/part properties)
The lower pitch is D3 in both amateur and professional ranges. Note that the pitch is specified at concert pitch for all instruments whether transposing or not.
Perhaps you are looking at a score where someone has adjusted the pitch range or has started with an instrument other than Bb clarinet and just changed the transposition and sound rather than changing the instrument.
If you are seeing something different when you create a new score for a Bb clarinet, please attach an example here so that someone can investigate further.
[Edit] Or perhaps you are used to a different pitch naming convention. Musescore uses "Scientific pitch notation" as described here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_pitch_notation. That article also describes other naming systems where the bottom clarinet pitch could be called D2 (e.g. according to Yamaha) or D4 (e.g. in "some MIDI software").
In reply to I still don't understand why… by SteveBlower
The stave/part properties dialogue shows the correct range on my version and settings, and after your helpful advice I realised that the notes on the Bb Clarinet part are a tone higher than those on the score, which of course is due to the part reflecting the written pitch and the score reflecting the concert pitch. I had just overlooked that, as although I knew it I am not very familiar with playing around with scores and parts.
So that is why I thought that the D3 was showing as within the available range of the Bb Clarinet, as I must have been looking primarily at the score. The red colouring of the notes on the part do reflect the correct range, as the colour changes to black at the E3.
Your explanation was very helpful, so my apologies that I have caused you some extra work, but it has been very helpful to me.