Any way to disable multiple voices?
Hi All,
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Soon after posting this question, I found that for a reason that I'm sure makes sense to others, some of the "notes" for the basic drum set are set to default to voice 2. By editing the drum set, I've set their default voices to 1 and it seems to have solved my problem. I'm sure someone will probably post the reason for this, but I might make a suggestion that the default voice be set to 1 by default. It would certainly prevent what appeared to be seriously bizarre behavior to a new user of the application. An experienced use could obviously change the defaults to another voice if that's what they wanted.
Anyway, thanks,
-- Matthew
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original post:
I'm trying to enter a score for a basic drum set. While using keyboard entry, the application keeps automatically switching to voice 2 when it's not required and certainly not wanted. I can use to mouse to click on the "notes" and enter them on the staff by clicking, but keyboard entry has the potential to be so much faster, if only the application would quit switching to voice 2 on its own.
As I said, entry works fine when clicking; this isn't a matter incorrect timing. I've been working with sheet music for over thirty years. I am entering valid timing/notes. It's just when using the keyboard for entry that this is an issue. In one case, while voice 1 is selected, when I press 'F' to enter a Floor High Hat 8th note at the beginning of a new measure, the application will automatically switch back to voice 2 and enter the note with a mess of rests that are absolutely not required on top of the full rest that's still hanging out there instead of being replaced by the proper rests after the 8th note entry. This example works fine if I use the mouse to enter the note in the measure, it just takes longer.
I'd like you know if there's any way to disable the extra voices in this situation. I don't care if it's disabling them all together, or to somehow turn off the automatic switching when using keyboard entry.
Any help would greatly be appreciated. My project would go so much faster if I could just use the keyboard entry.
Thanks so much!
-- Matthew
Comments
Welcome, Matthew! Click the "Edit Drumset" button at the bottom left, and you'll be able to change the required drums to be in voice 1.
The most common standard for basic drum set wrtiting *is* to use multiple voices - either one voice for hands and another for feet, or one for LH and the other for RH, or one for drums and the other for cymbals. But there is indeed a less cxommonly used but equally valid style that does everything in one voice. If you prefer the latter style of notation - or just wish to change which notes are assigned to which voices - you simply need to customzie your drum set as described in the Handbook under "Drum notation". You can define for each drum which staff line you want, which note head you want, which stem direction you want, and which voice you want. Then all notes you enter will go into their assigned voices automatically. You can even define the keyboard shortcuts A-G for your most-used drums.
In reply to The most common standard for by Marc Sabatella
Thanks Marc. I did managed to figure that one out and I can totally see the reason. I would of course be fine with leaving the separate voices as is, but then it creates a serious visual noise of rests in the music. I understand that you can visually hide those rests, but in my opinion, because of the way the software works, it's far easier to just keep everything in the same voice. If I were working on a more complex piece, I would probably revert to multiple voices and deal with the hassle of hiding the extra rests.
Thanks again for such a quick reply!
-- Matthew
In reply to Thanks Marc. I did managed by mshirey
You're welcome! But FWIW, when using multiple voices, it is absolutely proper to use rests to show the complete rhythm in each voice. There are certain well-defined exceptions to this rule, adn if you understand those rules and the nature of the exceptions, you are welcoem to hide the rests that are not needed by selecting them and pressing "V", but again, this would not be the norm in most cases. If there is a specific situation you have a question about, feel free to post the score so we can see what you mean.
In reply to You're welcome! But FWIW, by Marc Sabatella
Here's a tiny simple example of what I'm working on. In the image, I've included two measure of the same drum pattern. The first measure is using multiple voices, the second in merging them into one. While I completely understand that the first is considered the proper "norm", as the drummer actually using the music, I find the second one to be far easier to read.
I concede that I may have entered something wrong in the first measure. While I've worked with sheet music most of my life, I've only been working with drum charts for a couple years now. If there are corrections, I'm eager to learn.
Thanks!
-- Matthew
In reply to Here's a tiny simple example by mshirey
In general, the above looks like a good start, but there is no reason to enter sixteenth notes followed by sixteenths rests in a drum part - the sound will be the same as if you had just entered eighth notes. So the beat four in the top voice could have been just two eighth notes, and the note on beat two in the bottom voice could also have been an eighth note. Similarly, the note on beat two in the *top* vocie could be a quarter note instead of an eighth note follwoed by an eighth rest. Also, the two eighth rests at the beginning of the the first measure should just be a quarter rest. So, the normal way to notate that would be:
Notice I hid no rests at all, and yet there are very few rests needed. This is the way most drum music is published. What you show in your second example is indeed possible as well and used by certain editors / publishers, but it's not the norm, and most drummers won't be accustomed to reading that style of notation, so you may get more reading errors from people accustomed to reading something more like my version. Familiarity is a big part of readability.
As mentioned, you can set up your drumset to make that work as well, but the default drum set is set up to facilitate the more standard look I show in my version.
In reply to In general, the above looks by Marc Sabatella
Thanks so much for the information. I can see what you mean and your version does look a bit cleaner. I do see the value in keeping with common conventions. I'll work with MuseScore to see if can replicate it. I cannot promise I'll end up using this method, but I'll give it an honest try. I'm sure to a career drummer, this all looks exactly as it should, but to someone who has been reading piano, guitar, and other string scores his whole life, this seems seriously unnatural. I will try though.
Thanks again,
-- Matthew