Feature request: Please complete MuseScore's default soundfont.

• Dec 17, 2022 - 00:26

Please complete MuseScore's default soundfont.

Instrument sounds are missing from two of the instrument categories listed in the instrument choices:
Percussion - unpitched
Percussion - body


Comments

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

I need to withdraw my feature request, and instead ask for some guidance in using unpitched percussion.

Part of my issue was that I didn't really know how to enter unpitched percussion correctly. But I found your thread on that topic at https://musescore.org/en/node/274702 Thank you for that.

The other, more major part, is that most of the sounds do not sound at all like real life to me. The sleigh bells come closest. But I cannot get the others to work. Here are some examples.

The shakers have too fast of a decay. IMHO, they need to have a more sustained "shhhhhhsh" sound. The other thing is that, even though they are much, much quieter than a frame drum (in the soundfont a timpani), their timbre is heard clearly in spite of the volume of the frame drum. In the case of MuseScore playback, relative volume seems to dominate, and the effects of the shaker keeping the same rhythm as the frame drum are not heard at all. For some reason, the volume drowns them out even though, in real life, they add a special timbre to the rhythm.

The other issue that I have, is that all of the unpitched sounds (except the sleigh bell and perhaps some that I have not tried), sound like they are a one shot strike. Whereas one should be able to have whole notes tied across measures where a tamborine or a shaker or a rattle (in the sound font a morocca) produce a continuous shaking sound. Note duration and "Tr" ornamentation have no effect. Repeated 32nd notes do not sound at all like the instruments; they sound flat and sterile.

I struggle to produce Native American music. For the Native American Flute, I use a Baroque Oboe. For the frame drum, I use a Timpani. I still have not found sounds suitable for a shaker (even though you define one), or a rattle (which I would expect a Moracca to sound like). I also use Baroque Oboe for a Shakuhachi.

Here are some other sounds that, to me, do not sound anything like their names imply:
The thundersheet is a high-pitched wimpy sound (I envision a thundersheet as a large sheet of aluminum that sounds like thunder when you shake it).
The hand clap sounds like a gun shot.
The finger snap sounds like a high pitched wood block.
The slap sounds like a knock at the door.
The stamp sound like a stick hitting a piece of wood.

Pehaps a better feature request would be to provide a more realistic soundfont.

But for now, let me just request some help in utilizing existing sounds that work for Native American, and also Asian, music.

In reply to by dddiam

Here again I think you are running into the limitations of General MIDI - it simply doesn't provide the framework for the sorts of variations you are looking for. But Muse Sounds does, so I'd be focusing on that. Or using custom soundfonts for the non-standard sounds.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

Thank you, Marc. I found the MuseScore Café video on Muse Sounds. They sound incredible! Will Muse Sounds be an integral part of MuseScore 4, or an add-in? Will Muse Sounds be incorporated into MuseScore.com playback, and downloadable back to other users for playing locally in MuseScore?

I did notice that the beta demo had choices of orchestral instruments (which makes sense). Will it eventually be expanded to include indigenous instruments also?

Thank you for your reply. I did not know about Muse Sounds or about MuseScore Café.

Warm regards,
David D.

In reply to by dddiam

MuseScore 4 released last week, and Muse Sounds with it. Just see the main page of this site for info on updating. Or run the check for update within MuseScore 3.

The audio for your score is uploaded along with the score, so yes, if you’re using Muse Sounds, that is what people will hear online.

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