Instrument name in mixer doesn't match instrument list

• Jan 1, 2023 - 22:40
Reported version
4.0
Type
Graphical (UI)
Frequency
Few
Severity
S4 - Minor
Reproducibility
Always
Status
active
Regression
No
Workaround
No
Project

I am running on the following:
OS: macOS 13.1, Arch.: x86_64, MuseScore version (64-bit): 4.0.0-223472200, revision: 5485621

The UI for the instrument settings is confusing.

It's not clear that the instrument settings name change form is autosaved. This is likely because the "Replace Instrument" looks like the form completion button. After playing with the UI (after confusion) I see "Replace Instrument" button is actually a separate function which has nothing to do with changing the instrument name.

To improve the UI clarity, it would be more intuitive if you had a "Done" button in the Instrument settings pane in addition to the "Replace Instrument" button so that it was perfectly clear that "Replace Instrument" is not the completion button for the form.

However, there are still 2 separate names: one assigned to the mixer name from the instrument, and the other in the instrument panel. You should unify the Instrument list name and the mixer instrument name. Then, present a separate property (in the instrument settings and the mixer) for the actual assigned instrument.

Here's a case that I hope makes the confusion more apparent. I have a MusicXML file that uses a "Setar" instrument that is mapped as a plucked string instrument, but doesn't map to a specific sampled instrument in MuseScore. Note: "Setar" and "Sitar" are both valid spellings, but MS4 uses "Sitar".

  1. Open the "TEST-Setar" MusicXML file in MS4.
  2. Play the score. You can hear the instrument is known to be a plucked string instrument and it plays like a guitar.
  3. Change the name to "Sitar" in the instrument settings pane, but don't replace the instrument.
  4. Now the instrument list shows "Sitar" but the mixer shows "Setar". That's confusing and there appears to be no way to directly change the spelling of the imported instrument.
  5. Change the name to "Sitar Solo" in the instrument settings pane.
  6. Now click "Replace Instrument" in the instrument settings, then find and select "Sitar"
  7. Now both the mixer name and the instrument list name are "Sitar" (and "Sitar Solo" has been autoreplaced in the instrument name list).
Attachment Size
TEST-Setar.mxl 3.18 KB

Comments

I don't know if people worked on it, but same thing here (and on many projects I wrote since february, on each versions of Musescore 4.0.x) Attached a screenshot.

Attachment Size
Screenshot.png 371.86 KB