Independent Instrument Volume

• Jan 21, 2018 - 01:12

I am a new MuseScore user, so apologies if I'm asking a silly question .....

In an imported MIDI file, I have, for example, 5 staves/instruments – Drum, Bass, Banjo, Guitar, Voice.

If I score to play back accumulatively, e.g. start with Guitar intro, then bring in Voice, then bring in Banjo, then bring in Drum and Bass, then each time I bring in an instrument the volume of each playing instrument is reduced, as though all instruments are sharing a volume common channel.

I have checked the manual and played with the Mixer and Inspector but I have failed to find a mechanism/control to maintain Independent Instrument Volume


Comments

I suspect there is no dynamics in the file, so MuseScore is trying to play it at mf (which is the default). As you add instruments, to avoid increasing the overall volume, MuseScore is compensating by keeping the overall dynamic at mf. Typically, as instruments are added, if you want more volume, the score will indicate this increased volume at each instrument introduction.

In reply to by mike320

Thanks for your reply

The original file was created using a "channel" technique which separated instrument volumes and permitted independent control. The MIDI file still shows those "channel" numbers (1,3,10,12) - is there any way I can utilise that information to control instrument volume in MuseScore?

The notes probably have "baked-in" velocities from the import. Try Select All, click "Notes" in the Inspector, and reset the velocity to 0 offset.

In reply to by Isaac Weiss

That seems to have improved playback volume enormously - there is no loner a sharp decline in playing instruments volume when a new instrument is introduced.

I have subsequently introduced an ff dynamic for voice and that seems to work well, too.

Many Thanks

For the record MuseScore, doesn't adjust volume for multiple instruments. Probably the change in volume was already in the file. As Isaac mentioned, you should start by removing that.

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