How can I get two or more chord symbols to play simultaneously?

• May 3, 2022 - 17:51

Hi. I recently began a new song and in some measures, added chord symbols to two particular staves. For example, I added chord symbols to the "strings" stave, and the same chord symbols to the "cello" stave. I changed the voices in the Mixer so that each chord symbol played in a different voice. I also made sure all chord symbols play throughout the song by default. (see screenshot below). However, when I tried to play back the score in the mixer, I discovered that only the Strings chord symbols played. The Cello chord symbols remained silent, even though its "play" box was properly checked in the Inspector.

Screenshot 1.png

Is this a feature of MuseScore 3.5, allowing only 1 chord symbol to play at a time, or am I missing how to get two or more chord symbols to play in two different voices simultaneously?


Comments

In reply to by Jojo-Schmitz

Thanks so much for your reply. From it, I learned that I should be able to get two or more chord symbols to play simultaneously. Since I could not, I explored the problem, and found the answer. I am using a few soundfonts that are NOT MuseScore default fonts. They come from different but free other sources on the net. It is these that are the problem. When I changed the voices of the strings and celli to MuseScore defaults, BOTH chord symbols played just fine together.

Apparently, if I want two chords to play together, I either have to insert the individual chord notes into the measure (and they will both play), or I have to use only MuseScore default soundfonts.

Thanks again JoJo.
Frank

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

Thanks Marc. To update the post, I discovered further that I am using a different Grand Piano soundfont in all my scores. It is richer in tone but it does not appear to be "single note dynamics" compatible, in that when I insert changes in dynamics such as a crescendo or decrescendo mark, it has no effect on the piano notes in the stave. If I change the instrument to MuseScore default grand piano, however, the marks work fine. So, something is different about the piano soundfont I use that ignores things in the score. Probably, it is simply not single note compatible.

In any case, I discovered when editing the chord symbol instrument type in the Mixer, all chord symbols in the score were automatically assigned that grand piano sound, even if I set that track to be violins or cello, or ... When I separated the violin track into its parts for example, I discovered all the tracks were violin EXCEPT the harmony track. That still read "Grand Piano" and when I played the song, the chord symbol was silent. That is because my piano sound is not a MuseScore piano but something else. When I changed it in the mixer to a new sound, the chord played fine along with all the others. I'll work it out! Thanks for the comment.
Frank

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