Low A Bari sax
Low A notation on a baritone sax part shows as outside the range of the instrument yet all modern bari saxes have a low A key. Could Low A on bari sax parts be changed as showing within the instrument's range.
Thanks
Do you still have an unanswered question? Please log in first to post your question.
Comments
Most modern ones may have it, but some people I know are playing older horns that don't, so one does have to be careful in writing it. So I'd think it still appropriate to mark it as potentially outside the range by default, maybe by using the amateur/pro distinction, even though that's not really the issue. Anyhow, you can certainly override it if you like via Staff Properties. I suppose one could add an extra instument to the XML file, one for bari without low A and one forbari with,, and then you could simply choose which when creating your score. But changing the range in StaffProperties is certainly straightforward enough, and you canthen save your own templatw with that change if you're writing fora specific type of ensemble a lot.
In reply to Most modern ones may have it, by Marc Sabatella
Perhaps the thing to do is to change the name from "amateur" and "pro" ranges to something more general. The code would stay the same, just the documentation and mindset would change. The note colors could be interpreted this way:
Black Note = No problem
Brownish Green Note = Potential range issues of some kind
Red Note = No way
-- J.S.
In reply to Perhaps the thing to do is to by John Sprung
I agree; that's the right way to go.
In reply to I agree; that's the right way by Marc Sabatella
in the manual.
-- J.S.
OK, point taken about extending the range in stave properties.
I think it's a bit inconsistent though when high F# is not given out of range. I have a vintage bari which has neither low A nor high F#, but I acknowledge that high F# has been an optional extra across the saxophone family probably since the 1940s/50s so calling high F# in range is probably acceptable. However, it must be a very very small minority who are playing low Bb baris and I think low A now sits right there with high F# as being in the accepted bari sax range, with low Bb horns being used increasingly rarely for public performance.
In reply to OK, point taken about by Peter B
You may be right; I'm not personally experienced enough with baritone saxophones to say for sure. I know the guy I worked with just the other night didn't have the A (kind of odd that this happened to come up in conversation just before this thread, but it did). And the textbooks I have access to all put the A in parentheses or otherwise when list it as non-universal, so I've always considered that note off-limits in my own writing. BTW, one of the best tenor players in town lacks the F# on his horn, but he's solid enough with altissimo to make it a non-issue.
But I should also say that I'm used to largely ignoring the range indications in MuseScore since they tend to be very subjective (eg, vocals, upper end of any brass instrument, etc). So I can't say it really matters to me. If the people to whom it matters more agree that the low A is standard enough, then I certainly would support that change. Any other woodwind players want to chime in?
I agree that it's not really important, but I put the request in on the assumption that it would be a non contentious issue and fairly simple to implement. If there are other issues involved then fine, I'm quite happy to leave it as it is and work round it as you suggest.
In reply to I agree that it's not really by Peter B
For the record, it's not hard to fix at all - I think it would be a one line change to instruments.xml. And that's something else you can customize yourself - create your own customized copy and tell musescore to use it in Preferences. So that's another workaround for you if the idea of changing staff properties on each new score created from scratch isn't appealing.
The only question is whether it's actualy the right thing to actually change in the distribution. It still seems to me that treating it as being inside the pro range but outside the amateur probably makes the most sense, to highlight the possible but questionable nature of the note. But I really have no insight into just how questionable it really is. So I really do hope to hear input from others here.
Alos, this isn't the only instrument with an issue like this. It would be interesting to see how they handle, for example, trombone, contrabass clarinet, marimba, and any other instruments where the design of the intrument itself is not 100% standardized in terms of range. Maybe instead of just amateur/pro, there should be a third color for marking notes that are not physically possible on cerain models.
BTW, I'm not in a position to make any such changes myself.
In reply to For the record, it's not hard by Marc Sabatella
If someone changes the instruments.xml to accomodate this "issue" post a patch or the new instruments.xml here. I will commit it for next version.
In reply to If someone changes the by [DELETED] 5
MuseScore's instruments.xml seems to be doing that already (at least in 1.1), it does mark low A as 'only professional':
<aPitchRange>37-70</aPitchRange>
<pPitchRange>36-75</pPitchRange>
In reply to Already in? by Jojo-Schmitz
That's right Jojo, I've come to he conclusion that it's absolutely no trouble at all to go into my bari sax stave properties and alter the aPitchRange to 36-70. Job done.
However, I do stick to my original post. To say that a low A baritone sax is professional only is frankly wrong. Low A on a bari sax is nothing to do with amateur or professional playing skill, it's to do with the mechanics of the instrument. If you've got a bari sax with a low A key under your left thumb, then amateur or professional you can play that note, no problem, press the key and the instrument will go there. The vast majority of bari saxes out there today have low A, and only those vinatge baris like mine, ( © 1962), don't. In fact I find the Musescore pitch range of the saxophone family a bit strange to be honest. The amateur range of low Bb to high F# given for the sop, alto and tenor is the range of the saxophone family, fine,(current discussion of the bari low A accepted), but then the professional range goes into the altissimo registers of all of them, two octaves above their middle Cs actually. Now in all the time I've been reading saxophone scores and parts I don't think I've ever seen scored altissimo and I myself would never write in the altissimo register. I acept that mastering the saxophone altissimo register is a difficult skill, justifiably labelled 'professional', but Musescore is a notation programme and personally I don't think the altissimo register should feature at all for notation purposes because the guys who play up there sure as heck 'aint going to be reading it.
In reply to That's right Jojo, I've come by Peter B
I agree; amateur/professional are the wrong terms here. That's why I like John's idea of simply moving to more neutral terminology, but keeping the basic functionality as it is.
In reply to For the record, it's not hard by Marc Sabatella
MuseScore treats the low B that can only be played with a low B foot joint on a flute in that way - inside the pro range but outside the amateur range. Seems a reasonable way to treat it.