Make "smart parts" and "smart instruments" by choosing a combination of instruments

• Sep 27, 2016 - 20:09

I'm using MuseScore to create choir pieces (SATB). I have S, A, T, and B on their own staffs since this allows the choir members to adjust the volume of each part when practicing their part at home.

I'd like to have available the following parts:

1)
A system with S, A, T, B on four separate staffs. This is already OK, naturally, since this is how I have created the score. This is used for playback on musescore.com and in the app (to adjust the volume as mentioned above).

2)
A system with SA and TB on two staffs. This is the default format for most choir music I have seen. In essence, I'd like to automatically combine the S and A I've created into a single treble staff, and combine T and B into a single bass staff. This could be done automatically and dynamically by MuseScore by using chords where available and separate voices where the rhythm differs.

3)
Three different parts which combine SA, ST, and SB. This is because some of the verses are unison (following Soprano), so everyone needs that part in addition to their own. This isn't that important, because people can also simply use #2 above, but since we're talking about combining instruments into "smart parts", I thought I could mention this as another example.

Is any of this possible at the moment? Is this something that could be implemented in the future, or is this just gibberish that no-one but me will ever miss?

(I know I can copy/paste and selectively hide some instruments, but that creates more work if I need to change anything and is bound to create inconsistencies due to forgetting to update both places.)

Comments

• Sep 27, 2016 - 22:04

This will be possible in the next version of MuseScore, and even shortly in the nightly builds, once some code from this year's Gsoc got merged

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• Sep 28, 2016 - 08:15

To be precise, in the current development version (nightly build) it's possible to choose which instruments and voices goes into a *linked* part.

So some combination are possible but not every one you requested. For example it's possible to have a score with SA-TB, a part for each S,A,T,B, and part with S-A-T-B. Here is an example to test in a nightly.
However, it's not possible to have a *linked* part featuring two different voices from the score in a single staff. So starting from S-A-T-B, it's not possible to have a part with SA. There will be tool to automate merge/combine voices in a score but it will not be linked.

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• Sep 28, 2016 - 13:16

Great! I tested the example with the latest nightly, it seems to work wonderfully. As far as writing and printing/viewing music goes, writing a "master" SA-TB and creating dynamic parts for S, A, T, B, and S-A-T-B seems to work well.

However, the main reason I'm testing out MuseScore for my choir is that they can adjust the volume of each part (in the mobile app and on the web), thereby being able to isolate their voices and practice them by ear (many can't read music very well). With the example you provided, the only volume that can be adjusted (in MuseScore nightly) is that of SA (combined) and TB (combined). Thus, it's impossible to mute all other voices than the one you're practicing you're at least getting one other voice at the same volume.

With the nightly's current solution, Is it possible to adjust the volume of S, A, T, and B separately?

If not, is this something you could consider implementing in v3.0? For example, AFAIK, the mixer now contains all the *instruments* in the master score, and nothing else. A possible solution to the problem would be to allow adding *parts* to the mixer. With the example you provided, in addition to the two SA and TB "instruments" already in the mixer, I could choose to add the S, A, T, and B parts separately (and mute the SA/TB).

To make it even more user-friendly for the not-so-technically-inclined among the choir members, maybe I could hide SA and TB from the mixer so that when the choir members adjust the volumes, only S, A, T, and B are available, causing no confusion as to what the difference is between these four and SA/TB.

Does my suggestion make sense?

I absolutely love MuseScore, by the way. All the wild suggestions/feature requests I've posted recently have gotten answers along the lines of "yeah, we're already working on that" or "check the nightly, it's already working". I'm seriously considering trying to use the 3.0 nightly for all my MuseScore work. Proud to be a pro supporter of such a great app/service!

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• Sep 28, 2016 - 14:37

Can you explain exactly what you want? Would seeing the S part only but hearing ATB works for your purpose? In the nightly it should be possible already, you can silent voices. Check Display > Mixer and press the "+" to reveal more options.

In the current version of MuseScore 2, it's possible to write SA-TB and mix them independently, see https://musescore.com/nicolas/scores/2223116
It's a trick and it will not work with the online mixer, nor the mobile apps for now.

In the mobile apps, it's possible to write S-A-T-B, mix them separately of course, and see them independently too. Mixing them is also possible online and in MuseScore in this case.

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• Sep 28, 2016 - 15:20

I want two things:

1) To be able to adjust the volume of S, A, T, and B independently in the mobile app and on the website. That way, if someone sings tenor, they can mute S, A, and B, and listen only to T.

2) Print the score as SA-TB, i.e. only two staffs, as is customary (instead of S-A-T-B, i.e. one staff for each of the four voices).

In MuseScore 2.0. the only way I have found to satisfy both of these requirements is to write S-A-T-B-SA-TB (six staffs). I write the music on S-A-T-B, then copy S-A as two voices onto SA, and T-B as two voices onto TB. Then I hide S, A, T, and B in the score, and mute SA and TB in the mixer. The result is that only S, A, T, and B is played back (allowing users to adjust the volume of each part), while only SA and TB is visible.

This is suboptimal for two reasons: The main problem is the duplication notes - if I change anything, it will have to be updated twice. The other is that even though SA and TB are muted in the online/app mixer, they are present, potentially causing some degree of confusion for some users (not a huge problem).

Did that make sense? I'll gladly elaborate where needed.

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