Importing MusicXML from Sibelius Causes Red Notes and Super Quiet Vocal Playback

• Feb 20, 2024 - 00:10

Before my Sibelius trial ran out, I remembered to export my TTB w piano WIP as a musicxml because I read that was the format most compatible with MuseScore. When I imported the musicxml into Sibelius, it messed up a few things I haven't been able to fix.

1) A lot of the vocal parts have red notes for some reason. The notes still make the correct pitch (absurdly quietly) when I click on them.
2) The vocal parts all play back at ridiculously low volumes. Even using loud dynamics, the notes are still much quieter than in my other scores.
3) My drum notation was completely messed up. I was able to mostly fix this by importing a midi that I had exported from Sibelius, but it was odd that the midi was far more accurate with the drum notation.

I don't care if the notes stay red in my score, but I want to know why they're red in the first place when that seems to relate to notes out of an instrument's range. The vocal playback being such low volume is obviously the most pressing issue.

I've attached the musicxml and here is the link to the published song where the vocals play super quiet no matter the dynamic. https://musescore.com/user/77516089/scores/14502547

Thanks for any help

Attachment	Size
Rise - With Main Drum Parts and double time.musicxml	856.85 KB
Rise - With Main Drum Parts and double time.mid	18.31 KB

Comments

lweismantel@gmail.com

• Feb 20, 2024 - 00:36

And here's the MS file. I did make sure the vocal clefs are marked correctly because I saw someone else had a similar issue. It seems that any note below the tenor middle C is being marked red.

Attachment	Size
Rise - copy.mscz	82.48 KB

underquark

• Feb 20, 2024 - 00:53

The red notes are considered outwith the range of a normal tenor. It looks like the tenor stave is marked with a clef with an 8 below it (so far, so good), but it also has the stave set to transpose down an octave. Does this look/sound more realistic for the tenors? It does have the T1 part sing a C5 at the end, but I assume you have a good tenor singing this.

Attachment	Size
Rise_above.mscz	82.72 KB

Jojo-Schmitz

• Feb 20, 2024 - 06:59

This duplication, g-clef ottava bass and octave transposing IIRC is a known issue with Sibelius MusicXML export

bobjp

• Feb 20, 2024 - 04:55

The notes are red because they are an octave too low for tenor.
Turn the volume for vocals up in the mixer. That's what the faders are for. While you are at it pan the vocals so that things sound like they are spread out before you. Like a choir would be if you were in front of them.
The drums are messed up because Sibelius uses a totally different notation system than MuseScore. Personally, I think that the MuseScore system is needlessly complex. It forces you to use shortcuts. I'm a mouser. I hate to have to use so many shortcuts.

Leon Vinken

• Feb 20, 2024 - 06:21

The drums are messed up because MuseScore 4 requires the drum instrument to MIDI mapping to be present in the MusicXML file, but Sibelius does not export it.