MusicXML import ignores string/fret

relates to #270643: [EPIC] MusicXML import/export issues

Just tested this out in the 3.5 alpha, where this is now correct.
Don't know which commit fixed it yet

Automatically closed -- issue fixed for 2 weeks with no activity.

Was fixed in 3.5.0, but is broken again in 3.6.

Well, but different from the original report, that sample file uses string 4 fret 1 in 3.5.2 and 3.6.2 rather than string 3 fret 8, as it did in 2.3.2

So now, not only the fretting from the XML file is ignored, but also a note in a different octave is used. I am not able to judge which version used the right octave. It is possible that this test file is wrong.

For me MuseScore 3.6 ignores fretting information from other files (that I care for) too, while 3.5 used to accept those. I do not have a simple test file to provide, though.

Please provide:
- more information on exactly what is perceived to be incorrect (expected versus actual) in which MuseScore version
- a file (preferably short) displaying the behaviour

Hi Leon,

Thanks for looking into this.

I made a simple Overture "Guitar + Tab" test file with five E notes, each with a unique string assignment.

After importing to Musescore all the E notes are on the E string despite Overture specifying the strings. For instance, the MusicXML shows the tablature staff's second note as the 5th fret of String 2

This is the MusicXML file exported from Overture:

      Tablature string assignment (from Overture).musicxml

scorster

Last night (using MuseScore MacOS 3.6.2.548020600) I noticed at a glance all the fret numbers were on string 1, meaning that MuseScore missed the string assignments. A that time I didn't pay attention to the fret numbers that Musescore displayed on the E string. However this morning I noticed that all E4 notes (on the top line of the tablature staff) were marked 2nd fret! So I looked into Overture's XML and Musescore's String Data.

Overture's tablature staff description looks credible:

But on import the MuseScore String Data shows a 3-string tuned D A D ... and yet the staff has six strings, in accord to Staff Properties>Lines = 6.

Here's the Overture file in case anyone one can make use of it. (It's zipped due to forum's posting file type restrictions.)

      Overture - Tablature string assignment TEST for MuseScore import.ovex_.zip

scorster

Fret number is indeed a regression introduced after 3.5.1, for both files attached to this issue. Tested 3.5.1 and 3.6.2. The string data issue also reproduces for me, but only on 3.6.2 and only with the Overture file.

Cause found: a combination of missing instrument identification in the Overture file (in part P2), MuseScore MusicXML importer bugs and changes to instruments.xml leads to misidentifying the instrument as a three string bouzouki. Will add more information later.

Thanks so much for looking into this.

I think Encore also exports to MusicXML without an instrument identification. I can look into that ... or if you're interested I can send an Encore generated MusicXML file.

scorster

More details: in order to add instrument information present in instruments.xml but not in the MusicXML file (e.g. pitch range and articulations), the importer tries to find a matching instrument by searching instruments.xml for MusicXML ID, name or MIDI program. Unfortunately, neither of these is unique, leading to incorrect identification. Furthermore, due to a bug in the importer, the string data in instruments.xml gets priority over the string data in the MusicXML file. This causes the "three strings" issue.

Also, this issue has been marked as fixed some time ago, but with today's knowledge about the exact cause combined with the lack of any commit referring to this issue, I strongly suspect it was never solved but simply was masked by updates in instruments.xml.

Proposed solution would be to remove the attempts to find a matching instrument in instruments.xml (as it is too error prone) and accept the fact that pitch range and articulations will not be set after MusicXML import. This is a trivial change.

@scorster, thanks, will contact you if I need Encore files. I think the issue is broader than Encore, e.g. Sibelius also often lacks MIDI program numbers. In general almost all information describing a part or a part's instrument(s) is optional in MusicXML, and thus sometimes absent.

An even simpler solution would be to allow the string data present in the MusicXML file to overrule the string data from instrument. This is a simple change to MusicXMLParserPass2::staffDetails, which results in correct tablature, but the resulting MuseScore file (attached) still contains a few items in its instrument definition that are bouzouki specific (instrument id, useable pitches, channel settings).

Also, as sound or MIDI program do not define an instrument but a sound and instrument names are also not suitable to reliably identify an instrument in instruments.xml, the MusicXML importer should probably not try to do that.