About everything with this unusable program

• Dec 4, 2024 - 16:17

The latest version downloaded today still doesn't playback properly. It is awful to listen to with distortion, crackles, instruments missing and pretty much all dynamics completely screwed up.

Where do I start here? The ease at which issues occur is so evident. They change instrument banks and sounds so as I had to do today because my shortcut had malfunctioned and the program could not be located on the apps list, I had to download again.

Common issues:

  1. Appalling and unusable playback. It';s so crackly and distorted one cannot hear what is going on. The lack of actual music playing in seconds is so distorted a piece lasting 10 minutes can take up to 13.40 to play in real time. This playback issue has been going on for version after version and this latest one is even worse.

  2. Instruments drop out whenever they so choose. The lag when pressing the play button to hearing anything at all can be 4-5 bars, depending on tempo of the piece. It can last for minutes.

  3. Dynamics can affect all instruments and when using a tied note, the dynamic will distort the note itself causing drop out. This is especially so if you notate dynamics rhythmically.

  4. It doesn't save properly. I have had to try up to 24 times to save. An unknown error is what is noted.

5 It now no longer exports properly.

  1. The instruments are problematic. I was using a solo violin option but this had a built in portamento that I had to rewrite the parts creating very short gaps to stop 16th note or faster runs just sounding like a glissando. Now this option is no longer present meaning I had to spend yet more on samples which are not as good as the original solo violin used.

  2. This program crashes regularly. Shortcuts just stop working and the only option is to remove the shortcut from Windows. There are also what appears to be registry problems where the program isn't even on the apps list when checking after a shortcut failure.

  3. When reinstalling to another version, scores that are saved can no longer be used. Either the instrument sounds are changed, dynamics altered, or the score doesn't open at all.

  4. The dynamic preset levels are often difficult to use and the mixer provides little support Either it's too quiet or loud and one can try and get round this by using accent at a lower dynamic but this rarely works

Playback is dreadful and the response from Musescore is this:

Hello,
Thank you for reaching out to us.
We provide support for the free notation software via the Musescore forums.
You might also find some useful info in our Handbook, How-to articles, or YouTube channel.

You can report an issue or ask questions on forums, Discord, or GitHub (the best option).
Feature requests can be posted in this thread.
You can find the full list of the forum threads here.
So please repost your message in the forums, and members of our community or our developers will help you.

Looking forward to seeing you in our forums!

The last comment is absolutely annoying. Do these people know how long it takes to write a score for full orchestra and soloist then at the final week find out the program no longer works and any saved mscz has to be double checked to see if it works and play as it once did. This is never the case with new download exe files.

  1. Can anyone assist with getting the playback considerably better so it plays in time and with all instruments playing at the correct dynamic?

    1. Can anyone tell me how to get the solo violin option back from previous versions. I've tried downloading older versions but it reverts to the latest. What the heck are slow and fast violins?

  2. Can anyone assist with making sure the mscz files export properly without drop outs?

4 Is there anything that can be done to change the preset levels of dynamic such as ppp; pp; mp; mf etc. When one gets past f, the volume is not altered by fff etc.

The amount of work and time spent on this piece only now to find I have to try and save what I can for a not so good and polished version is really upsetting. This piece has taken 2 months to write.

Can anyone advise? Why is playback such an issue with this latest version as it has been for the last 5 versions I tried?

Comments

• Dec 4, 2024 - 17:04

OK. Where to start?

Did you happen to see the recommended specs for MuseScore 4 that are listed on the download page?

If you have just MuseScore 4 on your computer (BTW, you don't say what OS you have), you already have sounds from the previous version. They are called Basic sounds in the software. Did you think to try Violin Solo 2? Probably not. The numbers refer to playing style, not desks. This is common in notation software. Did you refer to the "How To" in the manual section like the note from the developers said? Doesn't sound like it. There is one for playback issues. Take a look at it and see if it helps. There can be issues with dynamics. However, I do not experience any crashes, problems with saving, or drop-outs. So it is possible. The only time my program crashes is if I open a score that crashes for another user. Never, ever crashes using scores created on my system. I have heard that some user created shortcuts can be a problem. I don't know about that because I only have one, and it still works.

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• Dec 4, 2024 - 17:26

Hi, thanks for the message but I'm not sure how the comment that I haven't was made. The problems I'm having seem to be similar to many other people. Playback is horrible and hasn't worked on any version properly. have referred to the how to manual many times to see if new items appear but the issues I'm experiencing are not mentioned in the how to section The numbering system I am familiar as I have been using music software for over 30 years with such as Finale or Sibelius. The violins in the MS basic option in the 4.2.3 version downloaded has no longer the solo violin option. It has slow/fast violins etc. I'm not sure what those are supposed to be but don't sound right here anyway. So yes I did try the how to but without success.

I have never been able to playback anything smoothly since using this system. My system is Windows 10 and not 11. I'm not sure why the rep here could not pass on the message to the developers as I'm sure it will be just as time consuming to read through forums.

The glissandi effect on the solo violin was a problem but the sound was better than the cine-strings solo versions even with the extra work needed to stop the glissandi effect on faster notes.

So there is no fix only a problem getting worse. Sadly I can't attach an mp3 file to show how back playback is in this latest version.

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• Dec 4, 2024 - 19:27

Yes, the problem is particularly bad with the latest 2 versions. The problems noted are experienced by others so I don't believe it is my OS that causing the problems. Sections of the score crash whether they are ful orchestra or not. Playback has always been an issue as is the lag which is particularly bad on these last 2 versions. But again it doesn't explain the shortcut issues and the program being removed from the registry or apps list.

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• Dec 4, 2024 - 21:20

Please help us help you. Please answer the questions put to you.
Yes, many people have trouble with playback. That's because either they don't have a powerful enough computer, or they don't have it set up properly. Or both. FWIW I have MU4 running on a vastly underpowered old Surface. So it is possible. There are no symptoms listed in the How to. Only a list of settings to change or check. These work in W10 or W11. Even Sibelius suggests turning off Exclusive mode. Don't know what that is? It's in the HOW To. I explained about the violin problem you had. It seems you didn't read it.
FWIW, I have MU4 running on 5 computers. Only one of which meets the specs. The rest only have slight stumble starting playback. I hardly use shortcuts so I can't help you there.

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