Saving in Windows, then Opening in Mac
I use MuseScore 2.3.2 on a Windows laptop. My instructor uses MuseScore 2.1 (I think) on a Mac. When I save a file, all the notes print in the right place. When he opens it, all the "C"s are printed down an octave, but they play just fine. (i.e. C4 in Windows shows as C3 on Mac, but plays as C4 in both.) Does anyone have any ideas why this might be happening?
Thanks in advance!
Josie Thane
Comments
Is this every score or a specific score? What instruments are involved?
If you are talking about a contrabass, then you may be using concert pitch while the teacher is using transposing pitch. When the concert pitch button looks pressed notes are displayed in concert pitch, when it does not looked pressed it is displaying transposed pitch.
If you are talking about instruments that do not transpose an octave, then you will need to attach a score and tell us a sample note that your instructor sees wrong. Mac and version 2.3.2 vs windows and version 2.1 should make no difference in these displays.
In reply to Is this every score or a… by mike320
The .mscz attached is what I submitted to him. The .jpgs are screenshots from the video response he sent back to me. He commented that some of the notes seemed to be out of place, even though they played right (as opposed to where they showed on screen). I also attach a "how it should look" .jpg just in case the .mscz doesn't look right to you.
This is the first assignment in composition class, so I don't know if it's this one or every score. As you can see, it's a multitude of instruments, all on one staff, just back-to-back-to-back. That may have something to do with it, but again, I don't know.
And you have it backward - I have Windows/MuseScore 2.3.2, he's on a Mac (and I assume MSC 2.1). But I agree - it should make no difference.
Thanks!
In reply to The .mscz attached is what I… by jmthane
I was trying to make sure you didn't override the automatic transposition in MuseScore and this is what I found on the first song, the Trumpet
This is when I opened the file
![position 1.png]( "position 1.png")
![position 2.png]( "position 2.png")
![position 3.png]( "position 3.png")
![position 4.png]( "position 4.png")
Then I pressed Concert Pitch
Then I turned off Concert Pitch
Then I turn on Concert pitch
I think this is a bug when an instrument change occurs on the first beat of the song and probably unrelated to the other problem that is obvious in the french horn. The problem with debugging this is that I don't know what instrument definition was used for the French Horn. What I mean, is you could have a different instrument.xml file than your instructor. This should not have the (apparently) random notes moved an octave on the staff, but I'm not sure what's happening. I suggest that you try using the same version as the teacher until the bug is chased down and fixed so it won't affect your grade.
You can use 2.1 at the same time as 2.3.2 on your computer if you download it from https://ftp.osuosl.org/pub/musescore/releases/MuseScore-2.1/unsupported/ and download the file MuseScorePortable_2.1.paf.exe
In reply to I was trying to make sure… by mike320
That's an interesting bug. I didn't even mess with that - might drive me even crazier than I already am. ;-)
Anyway, the instructor was on version 2.0. He updated to 2.3.2, opened the file, and everything looked like it was supposed to, so I think we're good.
Thank you!
In reply to The .mscz attached is what I… by jmthane
There have certainly been bugs in older versions that could cause certain notes to not be interpreted correctly depending on the exact order in which things happened. So without knowing more about how this score got into this state, my guess is, his older version is simply experiencing one of those bugs that is already fixed in your more recent version. But - you might want to verify if he really is on that older version, and simply encourage him to update.
Specifically, versions of MuseScore prior to 2.1 did not handle transposition correctly if you changed instruments mid-score, and that's exactly what you are doing. If your teacher truly has 2.1 it should work, but if he has anything older, then indeed, you can expect issues.
Realistically, I am not sure what your assignment was in terms of why you choose to have these instruments changes, but a better approach might have been to actually have separate staves for the different instruments, then use "Hide empty staves" in Style / General to only show the relevant one for each melody.
That said, even in 2.3.2 I do see the bug Mike mentions in your score where bad things happen if you try toggling the Concert Pitch button on and off, and I can reproduce this in a score from scratch too. The key (sorry) to triggering the bug seems to be that you have to have a C major (concert) key signature and an instrument change right at the beginning of the score. You could avoid it in this score by using the technique I described above to avoid instrument changes altogether. Or, change the actual instrument for the score from piano to trumpet in Staff Properties, then just delete that first instrument change.
In reply to There have certainly been… by Marc Sabatella
He definitely was on an older version - 2.0. He updated, and all is well.
(I had started with all piano, then saw we could and should use different instruments. In a time crunch, I opted to do the changes on the same staff as opposed to creating multiple staves or files, since I was about 5 melodies in.)