Dynamics in 4.0

• Jan 4, 2023 - 09:43

I'm Having trouble with the Dynamics with Musescore 4.0. It doesn't automatically get the notes affected by the dynamic to change the velocity. Same with the Crescendo and Diminuendo Harpins. Why is this happening, this is not the fellow Musescore I'm familiar with. Please Help!


Comments

See Manual 4.0: it does not work yet:
Changing playback of dynamics #
[To be added]
Dynamics properties
[To be added]
Let's hope it will be already added in the next update.
Meanwhile I keep using MuseScore 3 for scores where dynamic changes are needed in playback.
I expect them to be quite easily transferred into version 4 afterwards, with dynamics also automatically adjusted.

In reply to by Jojo-Schmitz

Greetings, Jojo
3.0 on my 27” iMac has been quite good (despite the sound fonts).
But I need a physical iMac upgrade for 4.0, as my OS/X is maxed out.
My experience in development QA suggests to me when reading the bug blogs, that there may be “bugs” appearing in -for example- Windows, but not OS/X (and vice versa).
Although I have been patiently awaiting 4.0, I am reluctant to invest 2,000€, primarily until the reported playback (and dynamics) issues are solved.
I am very anxious to listen my pieces with MuseSounds (I have no interest in DAW or VST production).
I assume existing .mscz files load perfectly into 4.0.
Please comment / advise.

Thank you.

Gary Andrews.

I've noticed if you change the text of the dynamic markings the playback won't see it as dynamics, just regular text (if that makes sense).

In reply to by ThatPianoBoi_

But you don't add dynamics that way. Select the note where you want to place the dynamic and select the dynamic you want from the Dynamic palette. This is on the left side of your screen. If that palette isn't there, add it from the Add Palette tab. I know other softwsre adds dynamics the way you are trying to.

(I use the Windows version.)
Am I overlooking something that actually works already in MS4, despite not yet being descripted?
Handbook 3 says:
The following is a list of properties in the Dynamic section of the Inspector:
(...)
Velocity: 0 to 127. Use a higher number to make notes sound louder, use lower number to make notes sound softer.
(...)
Placement: Position on score, above or below staff. Press X to flip.

In MS4 I can only "place" a dynamic (or a hairpin for that matter) (and position it above or below the staff, even flip it), which indeed affects the velocity, but with a certain standard number. I have indeed not yet found out (and I presume SoundMountain hasn't either, hence his question for help) where I can "change" the properties of that individual dynamic in a score to a higher or lower number, as I do in MS3.
[Workaround would be to place another dynamic with a more appropriate velocity and make this one invisible, and/or to simulate a dynamic change with a general text message in a similar font (which does not affect any undesired playback-velocity).]

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

I am afraid those situations are far from rare if a score was imported from musescore 3. I had those worked out quite nicely and now the rare thing is when it works as I intended. I don't understand what "centered in the notes" means; every note, regardless of dynamic (both assigned and audible) has velocity 64 assigned.

Can you give any hint what to do to get where "centered in the notes" can be manipulated since the handbook is hardly more than a table of contents yet?

In reply to by azumbrunn

Centralized, not centered. As in, instead of going to rtwo different places to set velocity - dynamics sometimes, notes other times - now it's a one-stopshop - all velocity setting is done in the notes. Select the notes, change their velocity. 64 is the new "centerline" that means "obey the dynamic". A setting of greater than 64 means louder than the dynamic; a setting less than 64 means softer than the dynamic. The plan is that in a future update, the 64 will be replaced by the actual dynamic value, but it will continue to work the same way in that you only need to go one place to change the velocity.

BTW, it's not at all true the Handbook is no more than a TOC. Have you tried clicking on any of those chapter titles? It's at least 80-90% completed. However, it's true there is no search facility yet, currently making it a bit difficult to find what you want.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

I am not sure that this is an improvement over MS3 from a user's perspective. In MS3 you could modify the velocity (or its pace of change) for a whole group of notes. Now, it seems, I have to change the velocity of every note along a crescendo line separately...
On the upside one can now voice a chord in a piano part (making a line stand out that is "hidden" in the middle of a chord as a live pianist would).
I used to place markings to adjust the sound (and make those markings invisible that a human player would not require). This worked well for MS2 (as well as possible with the available sounds anyway). I that still an option for now?
BTW The problem with the handbook is that the sections still missing are the difficult ones. Most of the functionality is easy to understand for someone coming from earlier versions of musescore. E.g. "properties" is just an updated and significantly improved inspector (who came up with that name?). It poses no problem whatsoever to a user with a musescore "background".

In reply to by azumbrunn

It's not meant to be an improvement yet. It's more of a lateral step that will allow real improvement via a new dedicated "volume lane" in a future release.

But, you shouldn't need to be messing with this just to get a crescendo working - those already play by default. And simply increasing them all the same amount still works in relative terms should you wish to do that - so the same basic effect as doing it with the dynamic.

Invisible dynamics do still work as well.

Which Handbook sections are you wishing were more complete, and - followup question - how'd you like to help? :-) We're all just volunteering based on what we're able to figure out. Take a stab and write something, or start a thread in the Documentation forum to brainstorm what a particular page should be saying.

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

Invisible dynamics it will have to be for the moment then. Now if only there were a way to downscale insanely loud sforzati I could be happy (I have a long note (dotted half) with sforzato in a piano environment. It plays fortississimo for one beat, then reverts to piano. Bizarre.

I don't want to be a perfectionist; it should just be good enough to post on musescore.com.

About contributing: I am just about smart enough to FOLLOW instructions on computers. Giving them seems to be an entirely different proposition. It it were about running chemical reactions of planning experiments...
I'll check out the documentation forum; if I feel I have something to contribute I'll take a stab at it.

In reply to by azumbrunn

I am editing a piece for the pipe organ, and the many sf markings almost make me jump out of my skin every time they play. I too would prefer to be able to reduce the effect of the dynamic, rather than having to alter the velocity of every note marked sf.

In reply to by Moya53

I have meanwhile found that you can tune down sforzati. Select the note and reduce the velocity in the properties dialogue. You have to experiment a bit to find the value that feels comfortable for you.

Marc explained this higher up in this thread in a general way. It was maybe a bit confusingly put. Anyway it took several weeks for the coin to drop in my brain. The solution is not perfect. sf is supposed to be a stress at the beginning of the note followed by reversion to the surrounding dynamic level. Instead the whole note is made loud (though not notes tied to it if I observed correctly). But the sforzato shock can be moderated.

BTW I have not tried to change a fortepiano with is performing fine, except I would like it a bit stronger sometimes. I believe it is supposed to be stronger than sf but musical terminology is not known for great consistency.

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