How to save definitions of new instruments?
How can I define and save the definition for a new instrument?
An example would be the resophonic guitar in GBDGBD tuning, colloquially known as a "dobro." The dobro is similar to a steel-string guitar except for its tuning, pitch range, portamento, and slow decay of notes. Every time I use one in a score I have to start with a classical guitar instrument and modify it.
I would like to be able to define a Dobro and then just select it like other instruments. . .
Is there a way?
Comments
See How to edit or create a new instrument and Soundfont, MIDI velocity and instruments.xml
In reply to See How to edit or create a… by Jojo-Schmitz
Jojo, Thanks for the pointer.
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The instruments.xml file appporoach works but is definitely pretty "techy". Another possibility that might be easier for most people would be to simply set up one score the way you like and save it t your Templates folder (under Documents/MuseScore3, right next to your Scores folder). Then it's available to select from every time you create a new score, and you can add or remove instruments as you see fit. So you could have one template that's a solo dobro and you can add other instruments to, another that's a bluegrass band or whatever where maybe the most-commonly used instruments are already there.
In reply to The instruments.xml file… by Marc Sabatella
. Thanks, Marc, for the work-around. I'm already doing this, but it's a kludgey approach. It would be much more useful if there was a way to save an instrument from a score.
. Am I right in assuming that ":/data" at the start of a file pathname indicates data that is built into the executable and an "Instrument list 2" file will preempt any built-in instrument definitions with the same "Instrument id" but leave all the other built-in instruments defined?
. And while I have your ear, I see that the definitions for mandolin put them in the genre "popular" but the genre selection drop-down in the instrument selection window does not include "popular" although it does include "Pop/Rock". . . (there are only a few of us who have ever played a mandolin in a rock band) . There is probably much more mandolin music scored for classical pieces than rock.
. The genre list does seem heavily slanted to European classical music. Does that reflect the intrests of the program's creators? Of course, a genre of "Country Music," "Bluegrass," or "String Band" would not be unwelcome. . .
. Thanks again for your help.
Best,
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In reply to Thanks, Marc, for the work… by psl
I wouldn't think of the template as being a kludge, it's just a different tool for a different purpose. It would kind of suck if you keep writing music for the same five-piece ensemble that included a dobro and you kept having to choose those same five instruments over and over. Giant waste of time when a template does the job so much more quickly. But, if you tend to write for tons of wildly different ensembles that all just happen to have dobros, then indeed, being able to select it from the instrument would be nice. Probably there are more people in the first category than the second, and I know nothing about your own interests or background, so I thought it worth mentioning the more generally-useful solution., but obviously both have value.
Anyhow, yes, ":/data" is a designation for files compiled into MuseScore. The second list is designed to supplement the first - that is, it should generally only contain the new instruments. No idea what would happen if an instrument is reproduced on both lists or if that behavior would be expected to be the same from release to release or if it's random chance, so I'd recommend against relying on whatever happens to be the case today.
The available genre are meant to describe the ones suggested by users with a reasonably well-defined set of common instruments. It isn't meant to identify every single sub-style of music. So, there are definitely instruments used in jazz that are not used in early music and vice versa, and that's a pretty easy line to draw. But saying which instruments are commonly used in one sub-style of pop versus another is much harder and arguably less valuable. Really, ever since the search box was added, I question the value of the genres at all.
In reply to I wouldn't think of the… by Marc Sabatella
Again, thanks for your thoughtful response.
It would be a very useful thing to be able to redefine the built-in instruments in a .xml file without having to make up new names. For instance, if I create a new Genre called "bluegrass" and want to include many built-in instruments in that genre (e.g. the mandolins, banjos, guitars, etc.) It would make sense to simply copy their definition into my personal instruments .xml file and add a
. bluegrass
line to each one without having to define a bunch of nearly identical instruments with new names like "bg mandolin," "bg mandolin-tablature," "bg banjo," "bg banjo-tablature," etc.
I take your point about wondering if the genres are needed at all, but it is handy to be able to display a set of instruments associated with a genre, whereas searching for "banjo" shows a list of instruments only 40% of which are of interest and does not show the mandolins and other instruments that would be interesting for a bluegrass or string band genre. For that matter, being able to display an impressive list of genres for which there are instruments defined makes Musescore look good!
I also see your point about not being dependent on behaviour that's likely to change from release to release, but certainly there are some things that are unlikely to change from release to release (e.g. the ability to save a template) so if the ability to specify a file of new instruments is retained, surely the way that file is interpreted should be retained also.
In any event, happy new year!
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