Playback tempo is different to written tempo

• Sep 11, 2019 - 14:56

My score plays at 120 BPM regardless of what tempo markings I add at the start of the piece...any idea what's going wrong?

It updates to the correct tempo when I save it but reverts back to 120 as soon as I make any changes.

I've checked the Play Panel and Tempo is set to 100%

I'm using Musescore 3 (AppImage) on Lynux.


Comments

Which version of MS3? I seem to recall that there were some tempo issues with the early release, though that may have been only for scores created with MS2 and earlier.

I have got the same problem. Musescore 3.6.2 plays back at 120 bpm regardless of any other settings.
I can NOT override the tempo. If I try to change this parameter it snaps back to whatever percentage, so that the resulting tempo will again be 120 bpm.
The attached screenshots show the problem:
1.) musescore-no_tempo.png: Playback is set to 120 bpm
2.) musescore-80bpm-playback_at_120bpm.png: I only double-clicked the symbol. Automatically the speed is
set to 150% so that the playback tempo remains at 120 bpm.
3.) musescore-80bpm-playback_at_120bpm.png: I changed the tempo from 80 to 160. Again the speed
automatically changes, this time to 75% so that the playback tempo remains at 120 bpm.

I have checked all the references to the manual?
Does anybody have any ideas beyond those references on how to solve this?

Thanks for your help.

System: Musescore 3.6.2. installed on Manjaro Linux from the arch site

In reply to by achim@achim-rothe.de

It's hard to diagnose problems from pictures - it's almost always better to attach your actual score then simply list precise steps to reproduce the problem, That way it's easier to point to the specific step where you are perhaps doing something wrong, or perhaps there is some sort of bug in the software.

As it is, I can simply suggest, try adding the tempo mark and not even opening the play panel - that is only meant for temporary overrides to the actual tempo (like for rehearsal purposes taking a piece slower than normal). It is not meant for actually changing the real tempo of the piece. So if you've previously opened it during this session, be sure to reset it to 100%.

Then, after adding the tempo marking, actually hit the play button and see if if it plays at the desired tempo or not. If not, then attach the score so we can investigate. But I suspect you will find it does work as advertised.

Now open the play panel. it will still be at 100%, because indeed, you have not applied any temporary override to that reaactual tempo. The piece really will play back at 100% of the marked tempo.

As an entirely separate matter, after getting the correct tempo in the score, if you also wish to temporarily override it - to play at 75% of the marked tempo, say - then you can move the slider to 75%. It will, as a courtesy, tell you what BPM this happens to correspond to, but keep in mind, that's only the initial tempo it is showing you,. You piece might well have tempo changes in it. The slider doesn't set all of them to the same value - it's really about the percentage. So each tempo marking will be scaled to 75% of the stated value. The value shown as a courtesy in the play panel is just the scaled value of the initial tempo.

Now, it is true that if you change the actual marked tempo in the score while the play panel is open, that scaled number won't change right away, not until you actually start playing the score. That's a bug, I guess, but a very minor and harmless one. The score always plays back correctly, though.

In reply to by achim@achim-rothe.de

Hi Marc,
thanks for this fast reply. I just created a new score from scratch so no potential hidden stuff would be there.
Added a scale in quarter notes and put in the tempo from the pallet not hitting F11.
Played it pack in order to listenend to the tempo. Changed the tempo to 200 in the score not using the inspector.
Inspector shows tempo 200. Played the file back - it plays back at the same speed as before.
Are there any preferences stored somewhere that I should remove?

Attachment Size
test_always_same_tempo.mscz 8.1 KB

In reply to by achim@achim-rothe.de

OK, here is what I tried:

1) I load the file
2) I check that my tempo scaling is set to 100% in the play panel
3) I hit play.

Result: the cursor moves at exactly 80 BPM as verified by my metronome app.

4) I look at the play panel

Result: I confirm it is still showing the 100% scaling I had set, and I also confirm that the courtesy display of the scaled initial tempo is 80.

5) I change the scaling to 200%,

Result: the courtesy display of the scaled initial tempo changes to 160, and the playback starts going twice as fast.

Are you following these steps or some others? If you continue to have problems, can you list the precise steps as I just did, and describe at exactly which step something appears to go wrong?

In reply to by Marc Sabatella

Hi Marc,
thank you for your answers.
I tried your steps and it did not work on my computer; The tempo stayed the same. So I figured, it has to be MY setup.
Deleting ~/.config/MuseScore/MuseScore3.ini did not help.
Choosing PulsAudio as a driver in MuseScore: everything works fine.
Choosing Jack as driver in Musescore: everything works fine.
Starting Carla (wich I use to route inputs and outputs): here comes the trouble.
It appears that with MuseScore's standard input/output settings "time master" turned off, the tempo is controlled by Carla (in the Transport section).

>>> Enableing "time master" in MuseSore's input/output settings solved my issue. <<<

Now changing tempos in Musescore (editing with the tempo tool as well as with altering the percentage in the playback tool) does effect the playback speed of my scores.

Thanks for your answers that got me on the way.
I hope this description helps others, too.
Achim

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