Configurable glissando playback

• May 7, 2017 - 10:55

Hello again!

I have an idea for a new way of glissando playback for the upcoming musescore version. Probably someone else has proposed this before. How about instead of using fixed ways for glissando playback, one could define a customized scale, and expand the notes of this scale between the lower and upper note limits (ascending or descending). This could be suitable for composing impressionist music works, using a similar notation like Debussy does for the Harp in his famous Prelude. Of course this new glissando type could coexist with the ones already present.
Please tell me what do you think!

Thank you
Vas


Comments

Another usefull extension would be a slide type glissando ("continuous glissando"), like for vocalists, trombone, violin (and oher frettless strings instruments) etc.

In reply to by Jojo-Schmitz

Sounds like OP wants a custom scale played on the glissando rather than diatonic or chromatic. I've often used local key signatures to make harp glissandi play diatonically but I haven't (yet) found one that required a custom scale, though I know how I would make it.

In reply to by mike320

Exactly that!

In customized glissandi you give a "pattern" of notes, and follow this pattern through the final note. This way you avoid a lot of note writing ... It is a matter of notation actually, of course there is the explicit way of doing this.
@Jojo-Schmitz: Well, Diatonic is just fine and very useful, but sometimes it can play strange notes (considering the harmonic context) if you don't use local key signatures. But there are works of music that even this, is not enough.

Thanks
Vas

In reply to by jeetee

Actually, this would be a welcome feature. I'm writing a piece for the harp and have discussed with a harpist how they can do glissandi in almost any scalar pattern, which they can, not just the 4 options in the inspector (though those are welcome). They simply set their pedals (which adjusts all octaves of that note at the same time). This way, they can actually set the exact 13-notes in the run (repeated each octave) that they want. The way my harpist said it works best is just to tell her what "chord" I want, say F6 or Cmaj7 (and they can also fill in any notes of the chromatic scale within that). So I don't have to really notate each pitch for her, just give her the chord into which those notes fit, and what note probably to start on.

If Musescore would have that feature (select chord, or select notes within the first octave the harpist plays), then simply run those notes over the octaves (you could also set starting and ending notes, or even approximate), this is really very representative of the way a harpist does glissandi (at least one common way) in real life. That would be cool to see added here, and I would have used it for sure with the piece I'm doing.

In reply to by mikeaustin

It sounds like you want a different or easier way to do what's already possible in MuseScore. For starters, start and end notes are required. If you want the notation to have an indefinite start or end, make the note on that end invisible. You will want some playback so you might as well pick a note and let it play so you'll have an of how it will sound, at least one interpretation.

For the scale, you're going to identify the notes set by the harpist some way. If you want the glissando to have notes outside of the key signature, then make a chord of the notes that are not in the key signature on the first beat of the measure or the first beat possible to affect the glissando, make it invisible and not play. You need to put the notes in all octaves played by the harpist and on the proper staves of course. Also put the notes in an unused voice since Harp music will never have 4 voices and a glissando. This will make the glissando play as you want.

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