Reloading instrument list in existing score

• Jun 3, 2016 - 02:26

I've been trying out Jeff Rowberg's handbell soundfont from handbellpractice.com with Musescore 2. Not wanting to screw around with instruments.xml while still learning, I created a new (very sparse) instruments list XML file for this soundfont and put it in "Instrument List 2" box in the Musescore|Preferences|Score config.

After working with a score for a while, I made some changes (improvements, I hoped) to the list, but the changes don't appear in the existing score. Specifically, I try to change the instrument channel with a Staff Properties Text to a new channel that I just added to the list (and that's already in the sf2 file), but the channel doesn't appear the the channel list in the Staff Text Properties dialog.

To test further, I created a new blank score, dropped a Staff Text on it and opened the Staff Text Properties dialog again. This time -- in the new score -- I see the new channels, and I can select them and they behave as I expect them to.

I can close the old score and re-open it and the additional channels don't appear. I can close Musescore and re-open it and they don't appear, either. Does the existing score cache the custom instruments list?

Other than recreating the old score, is there any way to make Musescore recognize the changes in the instrument list for an existing score? Am I just doing something stupid that I don't notice?

Any suggestions appreciated. If I've left out something crucial, let me know please.

Thanks!

Musescore 2.0.2 revision f51dc11 on Kubuntu 14.04

Comments

• Jun 3, 2016 - 02:51

I appreciate the lengths you went to in investigating it! As you've found, the instrument definition is baked into the file and doesn't stay linked to instruments.xml. There are two ways forward:

- Save the score to MSCX format instead of MSCZ, and you have an XML file that, with a little effort, you can update to match instruments.xml.

- Go into Staff Properties and use the "Change Instrument..." button to change the staff back to the same instrument—which it will do using the new definition.

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• Jun 3, 2016 - 03:25

Thanks, Isaac. That explains what I experienced perfectly.

Option 2 was much easier. I did investigate the first and saw that indeed the instruments that had been loaded in the score were embedded into the score itself and not loaded dynamically as I had initially guessed. My mental model of how Musescore operates was not a perfect replica of the real thing.

i'm probably going to recreate the score anyway: what I learned from instrument list editing has pointed me in a slightly different direction than I first took.

Again, thanks.

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