Problem entering pedal lines
The attached score is the first measure of a score I'm working on. I want a pedal line to extend from beat 1 to beat 4, where the pedal is lifted, and another pedal line from beat 4 to the end of the measure. Per the handbook, I select a range of notes by selecting the bottom note on beat 1, pressing Shift and selecting the bottom note on beat 4. Both notes are now blue. Now when I select a Pedal line from the palette, the pedal line that appears starts at beat 1 and extends all the way to the end of the measure. How do I make it extend only to beat 4? (besides dragging the end of the line, which does not appear to move the anchor)
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| test13.mscz | 5.27 KB |
Comments
If it must be lifted at/before beat 4, then don't include beat4 in the selection when adding the first line?
In reply to If it must be lifted at… by jeetee
I tried selecting just the bottom note on beat 1, and the pedal line that appears extends all the way to the end of the measure.
In reply to I tried selecting just the… by steven_brown1
Indeed, exactly as indicated in the handbook even:
https://musescore.org/en/handbook/lines#apply_lines
In reply to If it must be lifted at… by jeetee
I suspect that Musescore is choking on the 6/8 meter.
In reply to I suspect that Musescore is… by steven_brown1
Funny.. If I read that handbook passage it says to use Ctrl-Click to apply a line to just one note, not shift-click.
But I've just quickly tested your score in 3.4.2 and it's even easier.
1. Click a note in the first chord
2. Click on the pedal line
3. Click on the second note
4. Click on the next pedal line
Done
But if for some reason you've added a line over the full measure, simply adjust its length. Not by dragging (as you've noticed is visual only) but by using the method mentioned on that same handbook page in the chapter just below the one for how to correctly apply a line.
In reply to Funny.. If I read that… by jeetee
It was that last step I was not getting to, because the pedal line extends to the end of the measure before that step. I found the following also works. Click on the first note. Click on the pedal line in the palette. The pedal line appears, extending to the end of the measure. Select the pedal line. Select the 45 degree end for the pedal line in Inspector. The pedal line shortens, ending at beat 4. Thanks for your help.
Now I have a new problem. The inverted V pedal-up marks, created by one pedal line ending in a 45-degree right-slant and another pedal line beginning with a 45-degree left-slant, do not lift the pedal on playback, resulting in dissonant cacophony. It is one problem after another with this software. The saving grace is that it produces a beautiful score.
In reply to Now I have a new problem… by steven_brown1
I think the lift and repress instruction are generated, but if the internal synthesizer somehow messes that up, please open an issue with a short example score demonstrating the problem.
I'm glad to hear that the main (and for a long time only) purpose of this software, namely creating a score for printing/distribution is it's "saving grace".
Playback is still a mere "get a rough idea" thing. And if final playback is your end goal, then (for now) you're in for lots of tweaking; some of which better suited to other programs.
You'll be glad to know that work has started on the next major version which has two main goals: improve the UI and improve the sound system to allow connecting it with better playback libraries.
[EDIT]: A slight response to the "one problem after another" remark. I looked through your past topics and for one found this one which has you asking the exact same question and where someone even included a screen recording on how to enter these lines.
Now there is no problem at all with re-asking a question of which you've forgotten the answer at all, but that's hardly "a problem of the software".
Then there is this one which is also about changing line lengths, where you were pointed to the exact place in the manual holding the information you needed (and most certainly, some of the handbook information is hard to find when you don't know where to look). But then your response shows that you didn't bother to actually read the information at all..
Music notation isn't easy, and while MuseScore tries to make entering it user friendly there's definitely room for improvement. But to call that "one problem after another" is selling the software short in my view.
In reply to I think the lift and repress… by jeetee
Mea culpa. Can I delete the above post in which I wrote "one problem after another"? It was just an expression of exasperation in the moment.
In reply to Mea culpa. Can I delete the… by steven_brown1
I went to edit out the negative part of my comment, and ACCESS DENIED. How about making the punishment fit the crime?
In reply to Mea culpa. Can I delete the… by steven_brown1
No worries, we all get frustrated some times.
Perhaps next time, don't wait until frustration hit to post your question here :)
In reply to Now I have a new problem… by steven_brown1
As mentioned, though, the "quick change" pedal mark does work for playback when entered correctly. If you have a score in which this appears to not be the case, please attach it so we can see what's going wrong.
In reply to As mentioned, though, the … by Marc Sabatella
I did enter it correctly and it does work for playback through the computer's internal MIDI synth. It does not work for MIDI output though, probably because the pedal up and pedal down events have the same MIDI timestamp. I verified that by connecting MIDI-OX to the MIDI port Musescore uses for output and playing test14.mscz. I captured the output of MIDI-OX to the file MIDI_log.txt. The pedal up and pedal down events are at timestamp 65329.
In the real world, a pianist cannot lift the pedal and depress the pedal at the same time, and if the pianist could do that, the damper would not have enough time to mute the vibrating strings. My suggestion is to enable the user to move the pedal line anchors to the left or right in increments of a 1/64 note, without changing the appearance or length of the pedal lines on the score.
In reply to I did enter it correctly and… by steven_brown1
Ah, you hadn't mentioned using MID output. The built-in synthesizer plays these correctly, as do many external ones. But there are some that will get confused if they see a pedal off and on that are too close together. Sounds like you're running into that known issue.
A user shouldn't have to resort to manual tweaks to the pedal line, so I wouldn't recommend anything like that as a workaround. better to simply have the MIDI output automatically adjust for this. Sounds from the other thread you started that you've tried the new options that are now provided for this and not succeeded yet, but I have no insight into that. In theory it should work though. It could also be something to take up with the company that provides the synthesizer you are using, since that is what is struggling to keep up.
In reply to Ah, you hadn't mentioned… by Marc Sabatella
Ah, but Pianoteq seeks to model a real piano in every way. If a piano synth were to silence the vibrating strings instantaneously at the time of a pedal up event, that would be unrealistic.
In reply to Ah, but Pianoteq seeks to… by steven_brown1
Perhaps so, but since it has been a practically universal standard in the sequencing world to do this, and most
other synths handle it as expected, it still seems worth a suggestion on their support forum to provide an option to do the same.
In reply to Perhaps so, but since it has… by Marc Sabatella
I would rather not bother Pianoteq about that and just use the internal MIDI synth of the computer when using Musescore, because the purpose is not playback but to create a score. The MIDI file that I import into Musescore has pedal up and pedal down events close together but not simultaneous. The spacing is typically the amount of a sixteenth or a thirtysecond note, depending on the tempo. However, Musescore does not import pedal events from a MIDI file, so I have to enter them manually into the score. When a pianist sees the inverted V in a pedal line, I think he or she knows to release the pedal long enough to dampen the vibrations enough that one chord does not clash with the next. Basically, it is not really a problem that needs fixing, in either software.