Mixer issues

• Feb 6, 2021 - 21:14

Tested in 3.6.0 & 3.6.1 latest app-images from download page
OS: Linux Mint Cinnamon 20.1

I started a new SATB Closed score (in 3.6.1) to transcribe a piece. Somewhere around when I close to finishing i noticed some strange things going on in the mixer window, In both the men's and women's parts when I opened them up:

1) When I move the soprano or tenor volume controls, the main volume control for that section moves in tandem. When I move the alto or bass, just those controls move. This does not happen in 3.6.0 with same score.

2) When I mute soprano or alto, the main section (women/men) is also muted.

3) There is a Harmony volume control in both the men and women sections.

Thanks!

Comments

• Feb 7, 2021 - 04:14

It would help if you attach your score, but all of this sounds normal to me. The "men" and "women" have multiple channels, and the main slider controls both, but you can also control them independently - that's the whole point, The harmony channel appears whenever there are chord symbols on the corresponding staff.

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• Feb 7, 2021 - 20:13

Thanks to you both for responding so quickly.
I think I did not state the problems correctly. If I may try again;

Volume Controls:
In SS1 I have moved the tenor VC to the top. Notice that the Men master VC has moved to the top also.
In SS2 I have moved the tenor VC to the bottom and the soprano VC to the top. Notice that the master VCs for both sections have moved in tandem with the soprano and tenor controls.
In SS3 I have moved the soprano VC to the bottom and the Women master VC has moved to the bottom also.

In all of these test cases movement of the alto or bass VCs does not affect the main VC for either Men or Women. Note also that movement of the soprano or tenor VCs to the bottom shuts off output of the alto and tenor voices regardless of the position of their VCs.

Lastly, I just noticed that moving the alto or bass controls does nothing on playback even though I am using voices 1 & 2 (soprano & alto) in the treble clef and voices 1 & 2 (tenor and bass) in the bass clef.

I will do another reply for the Mute button weirdness.

Attachment Size
MenVol_SS1.png 33.06 KB
M+WVol_SS2.png 33.6 KB
WomenVol_SS3.png 32.87 KB
SATB Test Score MS_3_6_1.mscz 12.01 KB

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• Feb 7, 2021 - 23:14

I'm a bit confused by the big picture here. Were you expecting to have independent control over the two parts here? If so, don't you need to actually add the appropriate texts to the score from the palette? Right now both parts are on channel one. Try adding the T/B text from the palette, or set up your own that assigns voices 1 & 3 to tenor, 2 & 4 to bass (similarly for S/A).

As I said, the slider behavior is normal - the main channel slider controls both the subchannels, but the subchannels can be controlled independently as well. The main channel slider is tied to the main subchannel, so moving the tenor slider indeed moves the men slider also, but leaves the bass alone. Moving the men slider on the other hand moves both tenor and bass.

But again, nothing you do to the second subchannel will have any effect until you actually assign sone notes to it, and so far you haven't.

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• Feb 9, 2021 - 23:41

Thanks. a lot to think about.

I have used voice 1 & 2 in both the bass and treble clef. Is this not what you are referring to? When I look at the midi section of the Mixer inspector, I see Port 1 Channel 1 for Soprano, Port 1 Channel 2 for Alto, Port 1 Channel 3 for Tenor, Port 1 Channel 4 for Bass. Is this what you are referring to?

In the past I have not had to do anything else for this to work.

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• Feb 9, 2021 - 23:46

Using voice 1 & 2 is great, yes. But if you want this to actually assign the voices to different mixer channels, you need to add the S/A or T/B texts from the aplettye. This whole system is relatively new, but for as long as it has existed, that's been what you needed to do to get the independent channels - there has never been a release in which voice 2 automatically went into a separate channel.

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• Feb 9, 2021 - 23:48

As I explained previously, yes, the Women slider controls those two subchannels, as you see by watching the sliders. However, until you actually add the required text, the change to the Alto subchannel is irrelevant, because the channel isn't used for anything unless you add the text. Just add it to the first note of the score and from that point forward, everything on voice 2 goes to channel 2.

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• Feb 7, 2021 - 20:23

Mute buttons:
In SS1 I have muted the alto and bass to show that it only affects those individual controls.
In SS2 I un-muted alto and bass and clicked the mute buttons for soprano and tenor. Note that the master mute buttons are also on.
In SS3 I clicked the master mute buttons and it muted everything as expected.

I fully expect that I am actually doing something wrong. But for the life of me I cannot figure it out.

Thank you for your time.

Attachment Size
Mute_SS1.png 33.72 KB
Mute_SS2.png 33.29 KB
Mute_SS3.png 33.38 KB

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• Feb 8, 2021 - 18:47

I was intrigued by the OP. I don't use different voices often, so some of this is new to me.

So adding staff text T/B assigns tenor and bass to different voices. Though it was unclear that I didn't have to change the text, as in the case of some other staff text.

But the last little bit that I needed is that tenor and bass have to be written in those voices in the score. At which point, the individual controls in the mixer work.

Do individual voice dynamics work, also?

I've used MuseScore for a few years now. My needs are simple. As a result, I had no idea that Staff Text Properties and its relation to voices in this specific case, was a thing. I find nothing in the manual about T/B, or the specific need for the parts to be in voices. If the music was already in different voices in the score, that would be different.

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• Feb 10, 2021 - 00:16

I think this is all making sense to me now. I did have staff text for Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass, but assumed I was just putting text in place. And since the section (actually most of this song) is written in unison for Soprano/Alto, Tenor/Bass. I could not figure out how to get the voices to sing in unison without them looking separate (putting in a separate set of notes for Alto and Bass). other those separate notes all invisible.

Hmmm

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• Feb 11, 2021 - 01:33

OK, I may have stumbled across what I was doing wrong, at least within the context of SATB Closed with Piano.
I was copying series of notes from bass to treble clef, or the reverse, or within the clef, depending on where I needed to repeat phrasing or sequence or etc. I was trying to be lazy and not have to input everything with my 32-key MIDI keyboard or mouse. Then I would try to change voices on the copy or the original or ??? I think I confused the software.

I figured this out by going back and resetting voices of existing notes in both treble and bass clefs. First going to the alternate voice (exp: 3 for tenor, 4 for bass) then back to primary voice (exp: 1 for tenor, 2 for bass). I got this idea when one of the previous posters said I should be using 3&4 in bass clef. My understanding had been to use 1&2 in both clefs. Anyway, when I started more or less resetting everything, more of the voices started working. Then going back to 1 & 2 worked just fine.

At least, this is my guess. My score appears to be working correctly as long as I use separate note lines and voices appropriately, no trying for unison, and no inappropriate copying.

Thanks to all for the assist. I very much appreciate it!

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• Feb 11, 2021 - 03:29

No, you absolutely positively should always use 1&2 in either staff. You should never use voice 3 unless you are trying to actually put three voices on the same staff, like if you want to write SSA or TTB all one staff.

Once again your score as you posted it is fine except you left out the step of adding the necessary text. Yur use of voices is exactly as it should be, and there is nothing wrong with copy and paste. Simply add the text and everything works.

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