Mixer solo button
Greetings,
I think it's a bug.
I was just exploring the mixer and noticed that it is possible to press more than one "solo" buttons. So, if there are 2 tracks and I press "solo for track 1, then press "solo" for track 2, one would expect that the "solo" on track 1 would automatically turn itself off when "solo" for track 2 is pressed. But they are both on, so it defeats the purpose of "solo".
Hope this makes sense.
Comments
Yes this is somewhat confusing, IMHO the solo buttons should rather be radio buttons, at most one being active at a time. It is not though, so you can solo multiple instruments.
The reason it works this way:
If, say, a score contained 20 instruments and one wished to hear only the piano and guitar parts sounded together. Pressing 'solo" for those 2 eliminates having to press "mute" for 18 (with "solo" acting as a radio button).
So...
Rather than 'mute" and "solo" buttons, they are, and should be labelled, "mute" and "play" buttons.
(Choosing "play" for a single instrument logically makes it solo.)
In reply to The reason it works this way… by Jm6stringer
Thank you both for your replies.
If the button functions as intended then there is clearly no bug. I can see the advantage if it functioning like this.
And I guess there is no perfect single word to describe the function. But I do think "play" would be a better choice of words, as the word "solo" is used in other software to actually isolate a single track.
Perhaps that's something to consider tweaking in a future upgrade.
In reply to Thank you both for your… by Adinol
The Solo button is different from Play though, Play is the default, for all instruments (if neither a Solo nor a Mute button is pressed), Solo (here!) means to play only those that are soloed (and Mute means play everything except those that a muted)
In reply to The Solo button is different… by Jojo-Schmitz
Solo:
1. Music. performing alone:
a part for solo bassoon.
alone; without a companion or partner:
a solo flight.
Jojo wrote:
Solo means to play only those that are soloed
I am familiar with 'MuseScore speak' (ah yes, 'chord' was first word learned) which allows hearing guitar, flute, violin at the same time to be considered 'solo'.
I also understand the OP's questioning the meaning of "solo" button.
In reply to Thank you both for your… by Adinol
But I do think "play" would be a better choice of words...
Hmm...
That's what I thought, too...
...but Jojo's comment that Play is the default for all instruments confounds the use of "play"...
so with a score of 20 instrument (already playing) how can a few instruments be selected and the word "play" assigned to single them out. They are already playing!
I agree that "solo" does not seem to fit 3 instruments sounding together, either.
Perhaps something like a "mute others" button would allow a selection of instruments to be sounded together.
In reply to But I do think "play" would… by Jm6stringer
Perhaps there is another word that no one thought of, yet. Perhaps the word "highlight" or something along those lines.
In that case there could still be a solo button that would override any highlight selections.
In reply to But I do think "play" would… by Jm6stringer
Or change the other Solo buttons to Duo when the first Solo button gets pressed, to Trio when the 2nd gets pressed, etc...
As far as I can recall, every mixer I have ever used labels these buttons the same way, and they work the same way as well - you can "solo" as many tracks as you want.
In reply to As far as I can recall,… by Marc Sabatella
Wow, you are right, Marc. I just checked Garage Band. I guess I had a false memory of it working like radio buttons.
Thanks for the clarification.
In reply to Wow, you are right, Marc. I… by Adinol
Marc is right, and he mentioned just mixers with physical UIs, but the behavior is analog to all DAWs, too. So don't you change it, developers!
I have noticed that, while reviewing non-adjacent parts in a score...using the "solo" button in the mixer...that frequently (after making changes to a particular part), the "solo" will automatically disengage for one or more of those parts I need soloed. This is a bit troublesome, because I then have to go back to the mixer and "re-solo" those parts again. Is there a way to make solo selections persistent until deliberate de-selection? Thanks.
OS: macOS 13.4, Arch.: x86_64, MuseScore version (64-bit): 4.1.1-232071203, revision: e4d1ddf
In reply to I have noticed that, while… by Jacksonian
That should be the case already. If you have a specific score and precise steps to reproduce the problem, please post them here so we can understand and assist better.