How do I change instrument options when used in a score?
Hi everyone. I am back with yet another question! I am working on a very complex score that will take me weeks to complete. Midway into the score, I need to change my "women" voice from "aahs", to "oohs" for just a few measures, then switch back again. I know I could add a whole new instrument to the score and only use it in these few measures, but I am trying to use the "Change Instrument" text feature of MuseScore, to switch sounds midway on an existing instrument. I can "change instruments" to a new one, but when I try to change the sound from aah to ooh, the option does not appear. For example, I can change from "voice" to "women", but I cannot open the secondary "sound menu to change from female aah to female ooh. It just doesn't even appear. The new "women" menu stays as an aah.
Is there a way to do this using the "change instrument" text option, or must I add a whole new instrument to the score, set it to women oohs, and use it for only a few measures?
Comments
After adding the instrument change, open the mixer (View / Mixer), then click the little arrow at the top of the channel strip for the instrument to expose the subchannels. Then select the subchannel corresponding to the new instrument change and use the control at the top of the mixer to change the sound.
In reply to After adding the instrument… by Marc Sabatella
Marc:
That is not how it is working. If I "Change Instrument" using the text command on an instrument channel, a menu opens, asking what new instrument I want. If I change the sound in the mixer from "Voice" aah, to "Women ooh" by using the controls in that instrument channel, ALL the sounds on the channel change to an ooh, from the beginning of the song. I don't want that. I only want the ooh to occur for perhaps 6-8 measures, then return to aahs.
If there is a way to do this I don't understand, please explain in step by step detail, or point to a page in the manual that will explain how. Thanks in advance. If not, I can always create a whole new channel (Women oohs), but I'd prefer not to, since it will only be used for a few measures.
Regards
Frank
In reply to Marc: That is not how it is… by fsgregs
The steps I gave are the steps, but they are not the steps you just said you performed. You completely skipped the important part - clicking the arrow to expose the sub channels of this instrument. You should see one sub channel for each instrument change. Then you can select just that sub channel to change the sound just for that instrument change.
For more info as well as pictures that show the arrow and the sub channels for a violin, see the Handbook section on the mixer, and in particular, the section on the track area:
https://musescore.org/en/handbook/3/mixer#track-area
In reply to The steps I gave are the… by Marc Sabatella
Nuts! I am not sure I understand.
Here is a screenshot of the Choir track in MuseScore. Notice that after clicking the arrow (after changing instrument), there are FIVE sub-channels in the Choir track.
OK, now in the past, if I changed any of these sub-channels to a different sound, the sound of the choir changed for the entire song. Apparently now, if I use "Change Instrument" in the score, open the Mixer & click on the arrow, it will display these five sub-channels. Now, it I understand correctly, I can change ... which one of these sub-channels? The last 3 ... the last 4 ... the last 1 or 2? I tried changing from aahs to oohs for the last 2 sub-channels and it did seem to work (all choir sounds before the Change Instrument text entry still sounded like "Aahs, but I think it is because I did not change the 1st three of the five sub-channels). Just how do I edit the sounds in the sub-channel menu when there are five separate sub-channels, without changing all the sounds before the "Change Instrument" insert?
In reply to Nuts! I am not sure I… by fsgregs
Hard to say much from just a picture - it's virtually always way more helpful to attach your actual score. And tell us exactly which measure you are talking about. Then we can help you figure out which mixer subchannel to use.
But yes, every time you add an instrument change, you get a new subchannel. The subchannels added for the sake of the instrument change will not affect the whole song - just the part that the instrument change applies to. However, there may well be other subchannels that are present for other reasons, and those might indeed affect the whole song. For example, the "Men" instrument comes with two subchannels already, designed to allow you to have independent control of voices 1 &2. And each time you add another "Men" instrument as part of your instrument change, you'll get two more subchannels.
In reply to Hard to say much from just a… by Marc Sabatella
Marc:
Ahhhh! I got it. I had no idea that when I changed instrument, two new sub-channels appeared in the Mixer menu that I could change independently. You are right of course. When I took out the Change Instrument text, the last 2 sub-channels disappeared. When I put it back and changed them alone, I got my Ooohs while leaving my Aaahs prior to the change alone. As always, thanks a bunch (big smile).
PS - it would be very useful to add that fact to the Manual section on changing instruments, which I understand is a Wiki. I know how to make edits and just added a few lines and images to the appropriate text to clarify what you just taught me. See them here: https://musescore.org/en/handbook/3/mid-staff-instrument-changes