Range control for "changed" instrument.
I have a "change instrument" text control in the middle of a part. There seems to be no way to set the range (i.e., the highest and lowest available notes without complaint) for the new instrument. "Staff properties" gives me the "old" instrument, and expanding its range doesn't help. I care because it messes up coloring.
Comments
You can disable that coloring
In reply to You can disable that coloring by Jojo-Schmitz
I tried messing with it and can't unmess it. It changed the "transpose". Still need a way to access those properties; their inaccessibility is a bug.
In reply to I tried messing with it and… by [DELETED] 1831606
Did you try messing with the following?...
In Edit - > Preferences, uncheck the box 'Color notes outside of usable pitch range'.
See:
https://musescore.org/en/handbook/preferences#note-input
In reply to Did you try messing with the… by Jm6stringer
Yes, I understand that that's a work-around, but the instrument properties should be accessible.
In reply to Yes, I understand that that… by [DELETED] 1831606
I haven't looked at it, but I suspect that in version 3 if you use the change staff option, rather than change instrument, you will be able to edit instrument ranges for the staff.
In reply to Yes, I understand that that… by [DELETED] 1831606
And they are, but only those for the first instrument. Extend the range so it covers both.
Or, if you managen to get the instrument changes on system breaks, just add the 2nd instrument, cut and paste the notes across and use 'Hide empty staves'. Or instead of a system break use a zero width horizontal frame to separate them.
In reply to Yes, I understand that that… by [DELETED] 1831606
I don't know your exact use case, but I would think that if one is coloring note heads - for whatever reason - the first thing to do is to disable MuseScore's 'out-of-range' coloring feature - to avoid the very problem you encountered.
Especially if one has multiple different "changed" instruments in the score, there's no need to tweak the tuning range of each and every instrument change in order to obstruct MuseScore's 'out-of-range' feature.
(So not really a work-around.)
In reply to I don't know your exact use… by Jm6stringer
My use case is a double-bass (contrabass) with a low C-extender, which is always used in performances of Bach cantatas and other Baroque music where C1 is everyday. If MuseScore had support for such instruments, I wouldn't have to "obstruct" what it has, thank you.
In reply to My use case is a double-bass… by [DELETED] 1831606
You do not need to "obstruct" anything. Simply don't use "Staff Properties" at all.
Just uncheck the box 'Color notes outside of usable pitch range' on the Note Input tab in Edit - > Preferences. Done.
I encounter a similar situation with a 'dropped D' tuning on guitar. (Lowest string tuned a whole step lower), so I disable the out-of-range color feature altogether. It takes a few seconds.
You wrote:
If MuseScore had support for such instruments...
Actually, MuseScore does support contrabass with a low C extender. In Staff Properties, the usable pitch range for professional shows C1 to G4; amateur E1 to D4.
So, if you are transcribing "Baroque music where C1 is everyday" and you wish to eliminate the green color so you can color the noteheads, the simplest way is using Edit -> Preferences -> Note Input and uncheck the box 'Color notes outside of usable pitch range'.
However, if...
1. You dislike the green color when you enter notes between C1 and E1 because you can't color over it.
and
2. You don't want to uncheck the color notes feature using Edit -> Preferences -> Note Input, to eliminate the green.
and
3. You wish that the amateur range had its usable pitch set for baroque music where C1 is everyday.
and
4. You enter contrabass notes below C1 and need the red color to inform you of unplayable notes, then you can modify the Instruments.xml file to your liking.
For example, try this Instruments.xml which has both amateur and professional pitch ranges for contrabass set equal: instruments.xml
It will output like this:
![Contrabass_C-1.png]( "Contrabass_C-1.png")
...and let you color notes C1 to G4, even while using 'changed instruments'.
Of course unplayable notes below C1 that you enter will always remain red (as will notes above G4).
Regards.