Steelpan Notation

• Aug 4, 2018 - 05:03

Good evening,

I use MuseScore mostly for arranging for a steel band. I (finally) found the steel drums, but I have some suggestions for improving it.

1) The Steel drums should be renamed Steelpans, as they are called in their country of origin.

2) The number of steelpans should be expanded to include the ones here (MuseScore Steel Drum.mscz). (No, they do not follow Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass....that's for voice.) (P.S. It is possible to have more pans than these, but these are the more common, more standardized ones.)

3) The typical range for each of the pans have been noted in the score (MuseScore Steel Drum.mscz). Because of the nature of the instrument, the amateur and professional ranges are always the same.

4) The tremolo option in musescore is too harsh when used for playback. It's much louder than the notes without the tremolo and so, they often get lost in playback. So if it could be made to the same volume level as the strike (ie the steel drum without the tremolo), that would be lovely. Often, I have to switch to another instrument to hear the length of the notes and then switch back and put the tremolo. It also means I have to make two scores, one for printing (with the tremolos) and one without the tremolos for playback, so it's not so harsh. This might be a good example of the rolls not being louder than the rest of the notes: https://youtu.be/K2aFvU79kvs?t=22.

Thanks!


Comments

As per https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_Pan there are:

  • Tenor (Soprano)
  • Double Tenor (Soprano)
  • Double Second (Alto)
  • Double Guitar (Tenor)
  • Triple oder Four Cello (Bariton)
  • Quadrophonics (Bariton)
  • Bass

As per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steelpan there are some more

Instrument Pitch Inventor
Single Tenor, or Ping Pong Soprano Winston "Spree" Simon
Spiderweb Lead Soprano Tony Williams
Invader Lead Soprano Ellie Mannette
Double Tenor Mezzo-soprano Bertie Marshall
Double Second Alto Ellie Mannette
Double Guitar Baritone Jonathan Francis
Quadrophonic (four pans) Baritone Rudolph Charles
Quadduet Baritone Ellie Mannette
Triple Guitar Baritone Ellie Mannette
Cello Baritone Ellie Mannette
Tenor Bass Bass Ellie Mannette
Six Bass Bass Ellie Mannette
Nine Bass Bass Rudolph Charles
Twelve Bass Bass Rudolph Charles

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