MuseScore Standard SoundFont Solo Strings Issue
Hi, gang!!!
I wonder if somebody could fix a very annoying issue about solo strings (violin, viola, cello and doublebass) rhythm issue.
It is about the attack time: It is too slow to fast figures rhythm.
It is very easy to hear: if you compare a only quarter notes passage with a 32th notes passage, you can hear as the second (very fast notes) produce some kind of "sordino" (muted) sound, because the attack time of violin, viola, cello and doublebass is not enough fast to give the full note sound.
I add two very known pieces to hear and compare this issue.
Even the fact that the issue is clearly on both samples, into the Vivaldi piece you can hear very easy the sound from the very fast speed passages and the "normal" speed passages into the solo violin part. All the very fast parts sound with a very noticeable reduced volume (and out of the full rhythm synchronization), as an echo sound.
I insist, it is because the very slow attack time of the violin, viola, cello and doublebass sound into the MuseScore Standard SoundFont File.
I'm sorry because I don't have any clue about how to fix it (I'd really want to know it).
Blessings and Greetings from Chile!!!
Juan
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| PACHELBEL - Canon and Gigue for 3 Violins and Basso continue.mscz | 45.15 KB |
| VIVALDI - Las 4 Estaciones - Invierno 1er movimiento.mscz | 24.22 KB |
Comments
You can either find another soundfont online, there are plenty of free ones, or you could play around with the articulations. In the Vivaldi (because I friggin hate the Pachelbel Canon) you can put staccatissimo marks on every note, and change the speed to 80 beats per minute instead of 60. Sounds a little bit better, at least to me.
In reply to You can either find another… by [DELETED] 29378932
I chuckled at your comment on Pachelbel's Canon. I myself do not hate the piece, but I understand why people do.
Pachelbel could have written his Canon as a side project, a piece of entertainment for the middle-class home. It was quite common for composers of his time to write chamber music for home musicians when there was no radio or recordings. Certainly, he wouldn't have intended it to become a ubiquitous piece played absolutely everywhere until everybody grew fed up with it. Yet, such is the fate of his Canon. I'd imagine if Pachelbel came back from the grave and saw how famous (or infamous) it has become, he'd become sick of it himself.
A while back, I became interested in looking up information on Pachelbel's works not named the Canon. I found that he was quite a prolific composer during his time, particularly in vocal music. He also wrote many organ music, of which the Chaconnes in D Minor and F Minor have achieved minor popularity. He also wrote a set of keyboard variations known as the Hexachordum Apollinis.
All in all, I would say that while the Canon has become too ubiquitous for its own good, Pachelbel's music as a whole is quite underrated, considering most of it has all but disappeared from the repertoire.
In reply to I chuckled at your comment… by FugalOmen
Pachelbel's Canon is like the cockroach: it will outlive us all, including cockroaches.
It seems that adding staccato marks do work (as BFI221 suggests). I've just completed a chamber work which included a solo violin and I had to add staccato dots in several fast passages in order to get a result closer to my intent. (I also had to add them to a few down bows because there was no difference in reproduction with the down bow marks. It lacked that "choppy" sound until I added staccatos and eventually made the dots invisible.)
True, there are few things in life more boring than sitting there repeating note after note adding staccatos, then making each invisible, as time burns the rest of your day and your hungry cat climbs up on your PC tower and stares at you. (You could compound the boredom and play Pachelbel's Canon whilst adding dots, too!). But that seems to be the only answer I could think of.
I'm new at all this software stuff but I've listened to many demos of what are deemed the finest classical sound libraries and all the strings have limitations on their playback qualities. I hope I am wrong, yet there is always a promise of them getting better with each release.
In reply to It seems that adding… by penne vodka
Adding a staccato dot shouldn't change the slow attach at all, that might be an illusion. But in any case, if you do for whatever reason want to add lots of staccato dots, no need to do so one at a time. Just select the whole passage, then press Shift+S to add the staccato (or double click the palette icon), then right-click one, Select / All Similar Elements in Range Selection, and press "V" to make them invisible at at once.
In reply to Adding a staccato dot… by Marc Sabatella
Very valuable info...always something new to learn. Less drudgery! I thank you. My cats thank you!
FYI - I was referring to fast passages which tend towards a portamento effect (the example of which was deleted) but I've included the down bows which were not justly reenacted w/o the dots. The soundfont developers do wonders - better to come. The ones which come default with MS are better than I anticipated, I will say.