'Espressivo' sound violin
The solo violin now has an espressivo option that I like very much. But I don't understand why this sound is so difficult to use. You have to go to text, then stave text, then click the sound icon and then click 'espressivo'. If you make a string quartet the second violin has no espressivo option and you have to find a different way through the mixer to use the sound of 1st violin. A pointless complication. Viola has no espressivo option at all but the cello has. There is also no staccato option in espressivo that works with playback.
Basically I think this sound is so good that it should be the default for all solo strings (and the staccato can simply be taken from the old sound). Any thoughts or suggestions about this?
Comments
The 1st and 2nd designations do not refer to desks. But rather they refer to playing styles. There is no reason you can't use 1st for both your violin parts. Doing so does not change the name of the part. The mixer is only for choosing sounds. You could have a tuba play the cello part and the score would still say cello.
In reply to The 1st and 2nd designations… by bobjp
There is just no option for the second violin. The 'espressivo' option disappears for the second violin. The only way I found to give it that possibility is to go to the mixer and give it the first violin sound.
In reply to There is just no option for… by pietervoogt
That's exactly what bobjp told you to do.
In reply to That's exactly what bobjp… by TheHutch
But I already said that in my original post.
In reply to That's exactly what bobjp… by TheHutch
My point is not that I didn't find a complicated way to get around an already complicated way, my point is that it shouldn't be this complicated at all. Second violin should just have the espressivo option and you should have the option to choose this sound when you set up the score or in another easy way.
In reply to My point is not that I didn… by pietervoogt
Again, second violin refers to a style of playing. That's all. So, no it won't have an expressivo setting. MuseScore isn't the only notation software set up this way.
FWIW I think the regular first solo violin sound has a lot more expression that gets sucked out of the sound if you mark it expressivo. Too much for me. I never use 1st solo at all.
Not sure what is so complicated about learning the software and using the sounds that work best for you. We all had to do it.
In reply to Again, second violin refers… by bobjp
It just make no sense what you say. I know it is a style of playing. But why would you remove that option when you add another violin. Just look at the picture. Why, if you make a duo for two violins, is the option espressivo removed while all the other styles of playing are not removed? And no it does not need to be so complicated.
In reply to It just make no sense what… by pietervoogt
The sound called "Violin 1" is that of a violin played expressively. The sound called "Violin 2" is a violin played very straight. You can't make the "Violin 1" sound play straight; you can't make the "Violin 2" sound play expressively.
If you want both violin "desks" or "parts" to be played with an expressive sound, use the "Violin 1" sound for both. If you want the "first violin" to be played very straight and the "second violin" to be played expressively, use the "Violin 2" sound for the "first violin" and the "Violin 1" sound for the "second violin".
Once again, the names "Violin 1" and "Violin 2" do not refer to "desks". Only to the quality of the sound.
Perhaps it would be better to have named them as such: rather than "Violin 1" call it "Expressive Violin"; rather than "Violin 2" call it "Straight Violin". But in every other notation software they are simply numbered and so they are here. It still doesn't make them "desks" or "parts".
In reply to The sound called "Violin 1"… by TheHutch
Well, all the other 7 playing styles are available for the second violin, so why not espressivo. Again, I know how it works and how to fix it but it should not be so complicated to fix. If I set up my score and I select two violins, I just want two decent violins. Now I get an ugly first violin and a too weak second violin. Them I need to use espressivo playing style to fix the first, then I need to got to the mixer and give the second violin the sound of the first violin and then add espressivo. And then I have less options for articulation and such, but at least the sound is ok. I just would like it to be simpler than that. I don't understand why people keep explaining to me how it is, while I talk about how it could be.
In reply to Well, all the other 7… by pietervoogt
The other “7 playing styles” are simply techniques that all string instruments have in common. Maybe it wasn’t the most convenient to not get expressivo samples for viola and violin 2, but it would be outright dumb to exclude a normal playing technique. Why not just use invisible “change instrument”s to use the violin 1 as an alternative to expressivo playback, using the second violin as default?
In reply to The other “7 playing styles”… by Asher S.
Don't forget that this whole techniques system is still being worked on , Not all instrument's have them and and many that do, not all the choices work, yet. Maybe the second violin will get espressivo.
In reply to The sound called "Violin 1"… by TheHutch
It absolutely would be better to differentiate the styles without reference to 1sts or 2nds. No need to insult 2nd violins by equating them with unexpressive playing! In fact, if by "straight" playing is meant a sound with little or no vibrato, where each note is slightly separate, portamento is almost never used, and up-bows are allowed to sound lighter than down-bows... that style of playing can be just as "expressive" as a more Romantic/modern sound! Perhaps it could be called "early-music" or "fiddle" style - which would avoid any negative implications.
In reply to It absolutely would be… by doc867qu
I any notation software I have ever used, 1 or 2 does not refer to desks or players. It refers to a playing style. 1 is usually more expressive than 2. That is all it means.
You would really equate Bach with fiddle style?
In reply to I any notation software I… by bobjp
Certainly -- ask any early-music string player. Fiddle-playing evolved from baroque performance practice... and a fiddler's country dance set is just a Bach suite with a few substitutions!
In reply to Certainly -- ask any early… by doc867qu
If that were remotely true. then the same tradition would exist in all instrument groups. But it doesn't. Instruments were vastly different in the Baroque time period. I have worked with and played in a number of early music groups. Many of which play reproductions of period instruments. While there are some theories about early music performance practice, the reality is that no one really knows. We have gambas, sure. But there are no baroque violins that have not been heavily rebuilt in order to play in modern orchestras.
In reply to If that were remotely true… by bobjp
As usual, you are partly correct, and at the same time totally wrong! Some instruments were vastly different in the Baroque time period -- specifically, wind, brass, keyboard instruments. But string instruments -- the violin family of string instruments that are still in use today (not the fretted gamba types) -- have hardly changed at all. (How ridiculous to say that "there are no baroque violins that have not been heavily rebuilt"! You never heard of a Stradivarius?!)
It is in part due to the fact that the violin has stayed the same since the 1700s that the baroque way of playing the instrument has persisted in folk and fiddle music of various European cultures - check out my friend David Greenberg's CD's on Amazon ( https://www.amazon.ca/Bach-Meets-Breton-Puirt-Baroque/dp/B000003WHK ), YouTube, and elsewhere. And precisely because the other types of instruments changed so radically, their performance practice was not passed down in the same way.
In reply to As usual, you are partly… by doc867qu
And you know nothing about violins. Please do some research. Every Stradivarius that is played today has been extensively rebuilt. Why? Basically. later playing styles required more volume because of bigger orchestras. Pitch changed also. In order to keep up, all the older instruments underwent several modifications. Among them being: Steel strings. To make that work, violins where taken apart, re-braced and had their bass bars replaced with ones twice as long. Otherwise the tops would collapse. The necks were replaced with longer ones, and the neck angle raised. This is all fact. I didn't know all this until I worked in a violin repair shop.
I suspect your friend plays a modern violin. Fiddle players tend to like a flatter bridge and particular bow hair.