Steel Pan Muse Sounds Addition
Hello,
I do a lot of compositions and arrangements for the steel pan (known in Musescore as the "steel drum") and I'd like to see the instrument added to the Muse Sounds library with new, high-quality samples that (hopefully) include rolls. MuseScore's default steel pan sound is about as good of a sound sample for the instrument as there is currently available – there are no free custom soundfonts that sound any better and even Sibelius's steel pan sound is worse – but it's still not great and the rolls are atrocious.
The steel pan art form is rapidly expanding throughout the world and so much literature is being written for the instrument, so I think it would be nice if the instrument were given some new samples and included in Muse Sounds for those of us who write said literature using MuseScore.
This would also be a good time for a reminder that MuseScore's naming convention for steel pans is inaccurate. See this post: https://musescore.org/en/node/284198
Thanks for your consideration!
Comments
Some things come to mind.
Naming conventions vary from country to country. Names of note durations, for example. I'd be surprised if Steel Pan were to become universal. But you never know.
I don't know of any font that has a dedicated roll sound. Unless it is the Buzz Roll sound. Which I hope you are not using. That one, in any software I've heard, is terrible.
In reply to Some things come to mind… by bobjp
It’s less so that the name “steel drum” is wrong (although throughout the world the instrument is officially known as the steel pan) and more so the fact that each of the instrument’s voices are named incorrectly in Musescore — this is laid out in the post linked above. The names for each of the instruments do not differ around the world; they are all called the same thing, much like a viola is called a “viola” throughout the world and a cello is called a “cello.” It’s a simple, no-brainer update.
With regards to the rolls, it sounds to my ears like some of the other Muse Sounds percussion soundfonts (e.g. marimba, xylophone, snare drum) have dedicated roll samples that are triggered by a note with a tremolo marking on it. This could easily be implemented on the new steel pan samples as well.
In reply to It’s less so that the name … by Oliver Harrington
You might notice that cello is "violoncello" and bass is "Contrabass" in MuseScore. Bass also goes by String bass, Upright bass, and Double bass.
I just looked up three steel pan manufacturers. They use both drum and pan. They also do not use all the same names for the different instruments. MuseScore names seem to be incorrect. But they must have gotten them from somewhere.
I know of no drum fonts that have a dedicated roll sound. Remember that the tremolo marking that you may have heard will differ depending on tempo. As well as the amount of reverb used.
MuseScore is open source. Anyone is welcome to make improvements. to it.
In reply to It’s less so that the name … by Oliver Harrington
Steel drums and steel pans are different instruments and are played differently (steel drums are played with sticks, steel pans with hands), so sound different too
In reply to Steel drums and steel pans… by Jojo-Schmitz
Not quite. The steel pan and steel drum are the same instrument — a bowl-shaped surface hammered out of a 55-gallon oil drum that is played with rubber-tipped mallets and has been around since the 1930s. The instrument’s official name is the steel pan, but many people dubiously refer to it as the steel drum.
The handpan, on the other hand, is made from two metal halves glued together and is played with the hands. This instrument has only been around since the late 2000s and as such is a less well-known instrument, although many people think the steel pan and the handpan are the same instrument.
There is far more notated literature being written for the steel pan than there is for the handpan, because steel pans are most often played in large bands (called steelbands) whereas handpans are not; there are also several different voices of steel pan that cover a large pitch range, whereas the handpan (as far as I know) only consists of one alto/soprano-range instrument at this point. This is why I’d much rather see new soundfonts for the STEEL pan, not the HANDpan.
In reply to Not quite. The steel pan and… by Oliver Harrington
Nope. There is one instrument called steel drum and steel pan and another called steel pan or hand pan
The confusion is that both can be called steel pan
In reply to Nope. There is one… by Jojo-Schmitz
The handpan uses similar physics and metallic properties to the steel pan to make its sound, so it’s technically a subcategory of the steel pan, but it’s a completely different instrument. I know of nobody within the musical community that refers to a handpan as a steel pan or vice versa — they are two completely distinct instruments with different names, playing techniques, ranges, voices, etc.
All I’m asking in this feature request is to have the steel pan (or steel drum, if you insist) added to the list of Muse Sounds instruments with new samples.