Change instrument without changing notes
Is it possible to change the instrument without the program changing everything?
Thanks!
PS:
This is my first post here, so i hope this is the right place to post this.
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Comments
I'm not sure what you mean about the "program changing everything" here.
There are certainly ways of changing instruments - in the Stave Properties dialogue for a start, and also in the Mixer Window.
Could you be more specific about what you want to do please.
Yes, it isn't clear what you mean, but here are some ideas:
* right click a staff, staff properties - the change instrument button lets you select a new instrument and have that instrument's sound be used on playback, its transposition to be used on display, etc
* same dialog, just change the isntrument name if you don't want to affect playback or transposition
* same dialog, just change the transposition if you want to affect transposition but not sound or naming
* mixer window if you want to affect playback but not the name on the score or the transposition
I know what he means. I changed the instrument on one staff--I'm not sure to what. I think it was one of the more obscure woodwinds. After that, the notes, while they looked the same, their playback was transposed. Some instruments you select will automatically change the key signature for that staff. Anyway, I wasn't able to un-transpose that staff. When I clicked a note that was on middle C, it played back an F. The Play Transposition option under Staff Properties was still on Perfect Unison like the other staves. My only option was to burn that staff and start afresh. I wish I could remember the instrument that broke it so I'd know to stay away from it.
In reply to I know what he means by gavicus
It is very unlikely there is an instrument that doesn't work - there is really nothing in the definition of an nstrumsnt that could possibly break things. Either you did something wrong (accidentally used the transpose function or arrows in addition to simply changing instrument), or there is a bug where some particular sequence of actions causes the side effect you mention. But the bug would be more likely to have to do with th specific sequence of steps (like, "first, select all, then transpose, then undo, then toggle concert pitch off and on three times, then undo again, then change instrument"). Might also have something to do with how the score was initially created - if it came from MIDI or MusicXMLimport, there could be a bug in there, or the file itself might have something wrong with it. But again, it's extremely unlikely that there is a specific instrument within Musescore that triggers this all by itself.
In reply to It is very unlikely there is by Marc Sabatella
I know, I'm a developer, too: If there's something wrong it must be user error. I'm just telling what happened.
Do this: In Musescore 1.2, create a new staff. Key of C. Instrument Violin, treble cleff. Put a couple of C notes on the staff. Now change the instrument to Alto Flute by right-clicking the staff / staff properties / change instrument. Now you're in the key of F and your C notes are up on F.
In reply to I know by gavicus
Well yes, that is the proper transposition for an alto flute. It is a G instrument, sounding a perfect fourth lower than written. So indeed, concert C is written F for alto flute. MuseScore will still play it as C even though is is displaying as F, and if you then turn on the Concert Pitch button, you'll see it display as C as well. This is normal and correct behavior. What you described before was something different - a case where it also played incorrectly.
Anyhow, if you read what I wrote above again, i didn't say it must be user error. User error is indeed a possibility, but so is program bug. I am just suggesting that if there is a program bug, it's prbably not one that occurs every time you use a specific instrument, but rather one attached to a specific series of steps. I'm by no means an expert on the internals of MuseScore, but it's pretty hard for me to i,agine how anything in the XML file that defines an instrument could trigger a bug like this, and that XMl file is the only way MuseScore differentiates between instruments. However, the code that actually does the transposition - well, it's had a number of other bugs over the years, and it wouldn't surprise me if there were more still lurking in 1.2. But again, it's mich more likely such a bug would be triggered by a *specific series of actions* than the mere use of some specific instrument.
In reply to Well yes, that is the proper by Marc Sabatella
Ok, try this. Change your instrument from voice to horn. You just want a different playback sound. But your key changes from b flat to f. Ok you don't want that, so you change back to voice. Your score shows a b flat signature again, but your D still plays like a G and undo doesn't fix anything. Is this "proper"?
In reply to Ok, try this. Change your by gavicus
Please understand, I love Musescore, and I'm not trying to flame anyone. I just want you to understand that I've found a genuine issue. If it isn't a bug then it's a place where there should be a clear option to opt out of automatic transposition (for us newbies) or at least a warning "If you choose this instrument and you don't have a doctorate in music theory then your score will be irreparably screwed up".
In reply to Ok, try this. Change your by gavicus
I can't be sure, but it sounds to me like perhaps you are not aware that different instrument really do require this sort of transposition, and/or are not understanding the function of the Concert Pitch button.
If you change a part from voice to horn , it is *absolutely proper* that the key signature should change from Bb to F. Anything else would be wrong. Ask any horn player - music for horn *has* to be transposed in that manner. Many wind instruments work this way - it is how music for winds has been written for centuries. MuseScore knows this and performs the transposition for you automatically.
Of course, as a composer, you often wish to ignore that fact and write the music at the pitch where it sounds, not at the pitch where it needs to be transposed to. So, that is the purpose of the Concert Pitch (which is the traditional name for "pitch at which the music sounds"). Simply turn on the Concert Pitch button, and you'll see the display change back to Bb, and all notes will play as written. You will need to turn concert pitch back off before printing the part, though, or when you hand it to a horn player, it will come out sounding a fifth too low (it will come out sounding like the key of Eb).
Again, this is all the way things *need* to happen when writing for transposing instruments like alto flute, horn, most saxophones, clarinets, and trumpets. Turn Concert Pitch *on* to work with the music at the pitch where it sounds, then turn it *off* to display the music where it needs to be printed in order for players of those instruments to play it.
In reply to I can't be sure, but it by Marc Sabatella
You're right--I didn't know that for these instruments a transposition is necessary, but I was beginning to guess just that. My remaining issue is that when I changed the instrument back to a non-transposed instrument like Voice, the problem wasn't fixed. The printed key signature was back to normal, but the playback for that staff was still transposed. This could be, as you suggest, that "Concert Pitch" was still "on". Where is this setting located? I might be able to salvage my broken score after all.
In reply to You're right--I didn't know by gavicus
Concert Pitch is the large button toward the top left of the screen - the largest single button in MuseScore, in fact.
I think what probably happened with your pitches is that you *entered* them while Concert Pitch was turned off. When Concert Pitch is *off*, you need to enter pitches at the desired *written* (as opposed to *sounding*) pitch level. Indeed, when concert pitch is off, it will appear as if something is "wrong" with playback if you are not aware of how instrument transposition works - all notes entered will playback at some other pitch. In the case of alto flute, they will sound a fourth lower than written. In the case of horn, a fifth lower.
If that is the case - you entered the pitches while Concert Pitch was *off*, but entered them at the desired *sounding* level rather than the desired *written* level - then in indeed, it will look "right" but sound 'wrong". And you will find when you turn Concert Pitch *on*, the pitches will both sound *and* display "wrong". That's because you entered the pitches incorrectly in the first place - with Concert Pitch off, you should have entered them at the desired *written* pitch, not the desired *sounding* pitch. But the solution is simple - just select that passage and use Notes->Transpose to put them where you should have entered them in the first place.
Newcomers to writing for wind instruments are often confused by all this, but MuseScore didn't invent the concept of needing to transpose for winds, and believe it or not, it is much *easier* to deal with transposing instruments because of programs like MuseScore. In the old days, you had to *manually* transpose everything for wind instrument by hand - one note at a time, pencil (or pen) and paper. MuseScore makes it possible to enter notes in Concert Pitch and then with just a single click have all instruments automatically transposed to the proper pitches - alto flute parts automatically transposed up a fourth, horn up a fifth, clarinet and trumpet up a whole step, alto sax up a major sixth, etc. It's an absolutely incredible thing. But it does mean you have to be aware of whether you are in Concert Pitch mode or not while entering pitches. Enter them in Concert Pitch mode if you wish to enter them at sounding pitch, then turn Concert Pitch off just before printing the parts.
In reply to Concert Pitch is the large by Marc Sabatella
That explains a lot. Thanks for your help Marc.
In reply to I can't be sure, but it by Marc Sabatella
But Musescore behavior is very short sighted. Sounds like "programmer logic". If you just want the sound of a horn for notes in a measure (written in some other voice) and so don't want to transpose to the horns key is a very very normal thing for a musician to want to try. Yet this program doesn't let you because some stupid programmer can't understand something so simple. Sucks!
In reply to But Musescore behavior is… by John123456789a
You did realize that this post is very very old, didn't you?
In reply to I can't be sure, but it by Marc Sabatella
I have a sax quartet score with the notes written for each pitched instrument. In other words, each instrument is played by reading the ink, not transposing is necessary. The problem is that each staff instrument is voice. So I need to change the staff name AND sound to match each saxophone (SATB) without the software changing the notes. So this is a case were the score is already written to be played by different pitched instruments, no transposition is needed, just the name and sound. Can that be done by Musescore?
In reply to I have a sax quartet score… by alsbucket
It's not really clear what you mean here. Are you saying that wrong pitches are currently entered - when you hit the play button on the score as is, everything sounds totally off because the notes are transposed from what they should have been? If so, simply transpose them to the correct sounding pitches. You'd need to do that regardless of whether this is voice, piano, saxophone, or anything else. Once the pitches are correct, then you can also change the instrument, and the staff name & instrument transposition will be honored, while keeping the same sounding pitches.
If you need further assistance, please attach your score so we can understand and advise better.
In reply to I have a sax quartet score… by alsbucket
I had the same question and situation and found your post. ChatGPT helped me out, you gotta toggle on "Concert Pitch" in the lower right corner looks like a pitch fork before you switch the instrument to Alto Saxophone (from Voice in your case). Since Alto Saxophone is a transposing instrument, so when Concert Pitch is off, the notes will appear transposed to match the saxophone's key. When Concert Pitch is on, the score shows the actual concert pitch notes.
In reply to I had the same question and… by JesusLover
Yes, 12 years later the concert pitch button still exists, but moved to the bottom...
I am new to Musescore; I need help changing the Horn part to a Bb Tenor Sax, the 2nd trumpet part to and Trombone to T.C. Euphonium on one of my scores. Can anyone help me?
In reply to Transposing by Bow wowski
Changing instruments is done by right clicking an empty spot in a staff, selecting Staff Properties, and then Change Instrument.
BTW, you attached the backup copy of your score - you can tell because the filename ends in a comma (and probably started with a period).
In reply to Changing instruments is done by Marc Sabatella
Hi Marc
I got all excited with your reply as I thought you'd explained one of my great wishes, i.e. to change instruments part way through a piece. Sadly it doesn't work as I had hoped.
What I'm after is to get my Alto 1 player to swap to his Sop. Sax at bar eg 47 and to swop back to Alto at bar eg 75. When trying your method, it changed the entire Alto part in the main score to Soprano Sax. Is there a way to do this or might I have to wait for a future update?
I'd certainly send money for a version that did (plus dynamically linked the saved parts with the score so that when re-editing the score it automatically updated the relevant parts.)
In reply to changing instruments by onscuba
No, changing instruments mid-score is not directly supported in 1.X. It will be in 2.0 when it comes out (no word, but probably maybe a few months, just guessing).
Doing this in 1.X is of course easy if you don't care about playback. Just write the part at the correct pitch for soprano, and don't sweat it if it sounds wrong when played back on alto. If for some reason playback is important to you, you could create two versions of the score - one for print, one for playback. And in the playback version, just leave the pitches in the right key for alto. It won't sound like a soprano of course, but so what. Or if some odd reason it is really important to you that it sound like a soprano, just add a soprano staff to the playback score and add those notes just for that passage.
I know that too. It is impossible to change the Instrument without an automatical transposition. The fix for this is to go to "transposition" and enter the key you had before. This happens to me when I have to realise that "Altblockflöte" is not Alto Flute but Alto Recorder. ;-)
In reply to I know that too. It is by chfreund
I'm not sure what you mean. You need to understand, if an instrument is defined to use a particular tranposition, turning it off is *wrong*. If you print out a part for alto flute and turn off the transposition, it will sound wrong when played by an actual alto flute player. You should *not* be turning off transposition without very special reason. Changing instruments automaitcally changes transpositon, which is exactly as it should. Although my recollection is that some versions of MuseScore have bugs where the transposition is performed incorrectly in certain cases. i believe it works best to be in Concert Pitch mode when changing inteukents.
If you are still having trouble, please explain in greater detail - ideally attaching a sale score - exactly what you are trying to do, what you expect to see happen, and what you are seeing instead.
In reply to I'm not sure what you mean. by Marc Sabatella
I was just telling: by mistake, I chose the wrong instrument right from the start. Then I wanted to switch it to the correct one, without getting an automatic transposition. That is my "special reason". I believe that is what happened to the thread-starter.
In reply to It is okay by chfreund
But this still doesnt make sense. Did you enter the notes with concert pitch turned *on*, but entered the notes as transposed for a different onstru,ent? If so then the pitches are already wrong - they'll sound wrong on playback. Changing instruments will not change this - you'll still have the exact same wrong pitches after the instrument change. Nothing changes. The problem then isn't the change of instruments, it's the wrong pitches that were entered in the first place. And that is perfectly fixable, whether you change instruments or not. In fact, it's the exact same fix, whether you change instruments or not: select everything on the staff then go to Notes->Transpose.
In reply to But this still doesnt make by Marc Sabatella
You describe what I told.
I will explain it for you again with what I did.
1) I decided to write down a handwritten score, for Alto Recorder, in musescore.
2) I start a new project for 2 Alto Flutes.
3) I work on it for a longer while.
4) I realize that I wanted Alto Recorder and not Alto Flute.
5) I change the instrument. Musescore transposes the alto flutes to alto recorders and changes the key from B-dur (bb) to F-dur (bb).
6) I transpose it back to B-Dur and have what I wanted in first place.
Of course it is my own fault right from the start. I just wanted to tell that this is what the starter means with: "to change the instrument without the program changing everything?". I assume he just wants to switch the instrument written in the score without transposition. An idea would be to put some option there to change the instrument without transposition.
In reply to Again it makes sense. by chfreund
Again, as I said, MuseScore did not transpose a thing when you changed instruments. If you played back the score while it was set to alto flute, listened to it, then changed the instrument to alto recorder and listened again, you'd find it sounds exactly the same. The problem isn't that MuseScore changed the pitch when you changed instruments - the pitch never changed. The problem is that you entered the pitches in the wrong key in the first place. You *thought* you were entering them in one key but because you made the mistake of having chosen alto flute and then compounded that mistaken by not being sure you were in Concert Pitch mode while entering the notes, the notes were actually actually being entered in a different key that what you thought - exactly how alto flutes are *supposed* to work. So the notes were *already* wrong before you changed instruments. They just didn't necessarily *look* wrong because you apparently didn't have Concert Pitch turned on. But they would have *sounded* wrong already. Changing instruments should never change how the notes sound - well, except for changing from flute to recorder of course. The notes were entered incorrectly, so you need to run the Transpose commands to correct that mistake. It's the exact same command you'd need to correct that mistake even if you decided you wanted to stick with alto flute. Or change to French horn, or any other instrument. You entered the nites incorrectly, so you need to fix that mistake directly, not ask for some unrelated other command to also have e side effect of so ehow fixing the mistake you made entering notes.
Again, the bottom line is that tthe notes ate *already* wrong before you decided to change instruments. So you need to fix that problem *independently* of whether or not you also decide to change instruments.
In reply to Again, as I said, MuseScore by Marc Sabatella
I again agree. You are -technically- right. I still think the thread-starter does not have your expertise and just wants to change the instrument without changing his "display", like I wanted to change the instrument written in front of the line. I later found out that I can rename them, because I don't need the playback. That would have done it too. ,-)
In reply to okay, technically by chfreund
I'm not the thread-starter, but I think I feel his pain.
You see, I did want the playback. I'm arranging music for barbershop harmony, but I can't always hear the chords well with the "voice" instruments. When I switch instruments, all I want is a different sound for the playback. It helps me to hear what I'm arranging, and it helps my quartet learn the music more quickly.
So, I grumbled a lot when I just wanted a different sound but ended up changing my whole score. I still love MuseScore, but I've learned a couple of valuable lessons:
There are certain instruments to avoid like the plague.
Save your work often!
In reply to just the playback by gavin.lowry.92
You can change the sound by selecting a different instrument in the mixer, and that doesn't have any transposing effects.
In reply to You can change the sound by by Jojo-Schmitz
I do that a lot now as I also score for choir/piano. I change the voices from the "choir ahhs" to some wind/brass mixture to better hear the chord mix. The "ahhs" (and likely "oohs") have some weird quirks with volume that make them unsuitable to me.
In reply to just the playback by gavin.lowry.92
And even if you use "Change Instrument" instead of the mixer, just turn on Concert Pitch mode so it will show you the notes that are sounding - these never change. Assuming you entered the notes correctly in the first place, you can change instruments all you want and Concert Pitch mode continues to show it to you the same way. That's the whole point. Only when Concert Pitch mode is turned *off* does the appearance of the notes change - and it changes *exactly* as they *must* change in order for them to sound correct when actually played on that instrument. No need to avoids those instruments at all. Just stay in Concert Pitch mode unless you intend to print out the parts to givew to players of those musicians, and if you do that, then you will thrilled that MuseScore handled the necessary transposition for you.
So don't blame MuseScore for the way these instruments were designed. It is not MuseScore's fault that clarinets were designed to sound a whole step lower than written and therefore music written for clarinet needs to be written a whole step higher than you want it to sound. That tradition predates MuseScore by around 300 years. MuseScore is just doing what is musically necessary so that music for these instruments actually sounds correct.
I realize not everyone who uses MuseScore knows about these transposing conventions at first. It's just one of many things one needs to learn about if one is to write music. So, when you first experience it, there is a little shock, and you might wish these instruments had been designed otherwise, but we can't change history. Learn how things work and all is well going forward.
In reply to And even if you use "Change by Marc Sabatella
Marc, that is where we have different opinions. Lots of People do not need to learn about that. They want a tool that shows a clean score or gives the melody and timing of one instrument so they can sing or practise it. The thread-starter, 3 others in this thread and I are not interested in that theory, we just want the easy approach for our use-case.
In reply to Marc, that is where we have by chfreund
So, we should make special provision for 5 users out of the 3 million who have downloaded it?
Which planet do you live on??
In reply to So, we should make special by ChurchOrganist
Good that I found someone that is able to make the special provisions for us 5 and also represents the other 2999995 users. Can I send you my change-requests directly?
;-) Finally some amusing comments here! Thank you!
In reply to Marc, that is where we have by chfreund
But that's where you are not understanding - it *is* easy. All you have to do is turn on Concert Pitch mode and leave it on. simple as that. your music will sound terrible when played by actual human musicians unless you turn Concert Pitch pff before printing, you can't blow that fact off. But if you don't care about ever having your music played by the real instruments and care only about computer playback, make sure Concert Pitch is turned on when you start your score and you get exactly what you want.
Then, if you decide that someay you do want actual human musicians playing actual alto flutes to play your music, you will be flad that MseScore also ahandles the transpositin for you, so all you have to do is turn off "Concert Pitch" before you print your parts.
This is incredibly simple. No one is asking anyone to take colleel level music theory here. But knowing the basic fact that alto flute is special - well, that's just something you *do* need to know if you are to write music. You need to know the difference between whole notes and half notes, between C and ad, between sharp and flat, between 4/4 and 3/4, and we all accept that. But just because you weren't previously aware that you also need to know this very simple fact about alto flute doesnt mean MuseScore should pretend it doesn't exist. Any more than it pretends there is no difference between a whole note and a half note just for the benefit of anyone out there who doesn't know there is in fact a difference.
In reply to But that's where you are not by Marc Sabatella
I didn't realize my asking for help would offend the music theorists out there. I certainly don't expect MuseScore's developers to ruin their product for the countless educated masses in order to cater to the ignorant few. Now that I know that the Concert Pitch option exists, I'll try to find it. I asked on the forums because I was unable to find the information in the documentation. For one as uneducated as myself, MuseScore can have a steep learning curve. There are many options that are not easy and intuitive to find. So, I thank those of you who have posted helpful advice rather than expressing disdain for the layman.
In reply to I didn't realize by gavin.lowry.92
Don't misunderstand - there are plenty of people who don't know about instrument transposition, so you are not alone. There is no reason for anyone to feel bad about not already knowing this, no reason for anyone to be condescending toward anyone who doesn't already know this, and no reason to feel offended when someone tries to explain.
As for documentation, the tricky thing is, again - this isn't some specific MuseScore quirk, it's how music *is*. So it's kind of awkward to document. I mean, how do you "document" what a "G" is? What a "flat" is? What a "staff" is? It's just sort of assumed that if you are going to use a notation program, you are going to come in with some knowledge of notation already, and/or some sort of external resource to help you understand how notation works. Once you understand the *concepts*, then the MuseScore documentation can help you see how this program in particular implements them. Although truth be told, even that is not well-documented in this particular case. Definitely room for improvement when the documentation is revamped for 2.0. But still, no amount of documentation on MuseScore's part can take the place of having some other source to help you understand the musical concepts. It is not MuseScore's job to give an in-depth explanation of what instrumentation transposition is any more than it is to explain what a flat is. Of course, since this open-source, anyone sufficiently motivated to write an explanation of all of the ins and outs of notation for people who don't know much about it would be welcome to contribute one, I'm sure!
Meanwhile, though, the Concert Pitch button is arguably the single most prominent button in the MuseScore interface: top left hand corner, directly below the "File" menu, directly above the Palettes. Again, make sure it is turned *on* if you want to see the notes the way they actually sound, regardless of instrument. Make sure it is turned *off* if you want to see the notes the way they need to look for the specific instruments you are using in order to sound correct. So have it *off* before printing the parts to hand to an actual player of that instrument. Otherwise, if they try to play from a Concert Pitch score, it will sound *wrong*. Once more, this is not some sort of obscure MuseScore quirk - it's just the way those instruments work.
There are plenty of resources out there where you can learn about how and why this is so - see, for example, this from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transposing_instrument
Again, if the world were different, no one would have to worry about this. But it's just the way it is. MuseScore doesn't get to invent the rules fro music notation - it just follows them.
When I select an accidental at hit the delete key the program immediately shuts down and vanishes. V 0.9.6
If I select music from one score in concert pitch and paste into a Bb Clarinet part the notes appear totally incorrectly and with an accidental on virtually every note.
I still haven't managed to change instruments easily. If I select staff properties, there is no change instrument icon, only a blank to enter in a new instrument name. This alters the name only on the score.
In reply to deleting accidentals by Thrashwell
Upgrade to 1.3 (If you do not have problems with the operating system):
http://musescore.org/en/download
Then, let us know how it goes, maybe in a new thread.
In reply to Hello and welcome. by Shoichi
Updated.
When I paste in the notes the former Bb comes up as a A#, correct note all right, but not normally what you would expect! If I highlight the accidental and hit delete, musescore still immediately closes. If I highlight and right click "cut" the same thing happens.
Can I change the way it chooses accidentals?
I changed the clef on a euphonium part to treble clef, but it remains in concert pitch when I deselect concert pitch (ie: it does not show the transposed music).
I like the program and would really like to get it to work well and get comfortable with it. Many thanks for the help etc.!!
In reply to deleting accidentals by Thrashwell
It's hard to say what might be going wrong unless you post the score you having trouble with and describe exactly, step by step, what you are doing, what you expect to see happen, and what happens instead. Also say what OS you are on - as mentioned, there are known issues with 1.3 on Mavericks that seem to affect some people but not others.
In general, copy paste between instruments of different transpositions does work well. So we'd have to see what special unusual thing is happening in your case.
In reply to It's hard to say what might by Marc Sabatella
OK, I deleted all old files, downloaded "String Quartets Vivace s24 Handel (from the musescore site) and opened it directly with musescore. Then I opened a new score, selected 3 Bb clarinets and 1 bass Clarinet, chose key signature (2 b) and then 3/4 time then finish.
I returned to the downloaded file still open in the other window, selected the first note in part 1, then control shift on last note, control C to copy. Went to new score, selected the first bar for Clarinet Bb 1, then control V to paste.
The result (concert pitch) the first note , an F ends up as a E plus a natural sign, an octave below the staff. If I deselect concert pitch, it changes to a written F# an octave below the staff. (which, when played by the clarinet, should be the same pitch).
If I create a new instrument, tuba in concert pitch, bass clef and paste in the bass guitar music (bass clef) from the same original score, I get an A# below the staff written for the first note which should be a D (all concert pitch). It seems to think that the bass clef, bass guitar music is still on a treble clef staff, rather than a bass staff.
On the original score if I select / deselect concert pitch, the note stays the same, as it should for guitar. So it knows it's not dealing with a transposing instrument. Please don't assume I'm an expert, but I like to do this to find music for a small group I play in. Sorry it ends up so long winded. Thanks again.
In reply to copy and pasting music by Thrashwell
it would really help if you posted the actual scores. Maybe a link to the score you downloaded plus the score you created with the first part copied in.
I tried to reproduce your steps using the current released version - 1.3 - and everything worked as expected. In particular, in the score I was copying from (which had the same title as the one you mentioned, but may or may not have been the same score), the first note of the first part in the original was an F (for guitar, written on the bottom space, which sounds below middle C since it is the treble-8 clef). When I pasted the past to the clarinet part in my new score, the first note was a G, exactly as it should be, because the Concert Pitch button is turned off by default.
Here is the link to the score I was copying from (an arrangement for some sort of guitar ensemble):
http://musescore.com/user/191617/scores/202951
I have attached is the result of copying the top part to an empty score in Bb (concert) for 3 Bb clarinets and a bass clarinet.
Everything looks perfectly in order to me.
But I wonder if I am dealing with the same original score as you, since in the one I have, there is no bass guitar - just acoustic bass - and the first note of that part is a Bb, not a D. And if I paste it to the tuba part in my score, I get a Bb, not an A#. BTW, when adding the tuba part, you need to add the Bb key signature manually; it doesn't remember that Bb was the original key you created the score with.
In reply to it would really help if you by Marc Sabatella
Yes, that is the same score, I did goof however as I must have been on page two where it just says bass. Your transposed music looks fine, I have attached a screen shot below of what I get when I cut and paste the complete first line of music. It is without concert pitch selected. I'm running Ubuntu 10.4
In reply to cut and paste by Thrashwell
Darn, I missed your last comment about putting the key signature in the new instrument staff, I'll try that, it's likely the solution for the tuba part, but still doesn't explain the guitar to Bb clarinet in the first line. Thanks.
Attached the two files I was working with....
In reply to cut and paste by Thrashwell
According to the tags stored in the file, your "trial" score was created with 0.9.6. That's pretty ancient. Perhaps there was a bug that was fixed long ago. Definitely be sure to use the current version (1.3).
I suppose it is also possible that you accidentally hit the down arrow key after pasting, which transposed everything down a half step, or that the cursor down key on your keyboard is defective and is triggering randomly. Is this repeatable for you? If you repeat the same steps with a brand new score created in 1.3, do you get the same results?
In reply to According to the tags stored by Marc Sabatella
Hmmm, I just downloaded musescore from the ubuntu software centre a few days ago and I see it's unstable pre-release for version 0.9.6. I went to the musescore page and clicked on V 1.3, and did the PPA software install, but will have to get a chum to help me figure out how to complete the install from the PPA. I'll let you know how things go when I get that figured out. Cheers.
In reply to According to the tags stored by Marc Sabatella
I just figured out how to and upgraded to 1.3. Fantastic!! Everything works perfectly so far!! At the moment I couldn't be happier. Many thanks for putting up with my questions. Ithink the support in the linux community is absolutely super.
PS: I've only been using Linux for a week now.
In reply to instrument change by Thrashwell
Who knew such a simple question would have so many answers!