Trombone Glissandos and Low Notes

• May 7, 2017 - 19:59

It would be really cool if the MIDI trombone sound could play glisses that are playable on the trombone (or even not playable if it's too much work) smoothly; that is, without going through each chromatic pitch note-by-note. This is one of the ever-decreasing number of things Finale can do that MuseScore can't.

Also, the bottom ranges between "Tenor Trombone," "Trombone," and "Bass Trombone" are just wrong. Tenor trombone (no F attachment) is shown as having a pro range of E2-D5, which is correct. The problem comes in between the instruments labeled "Trombone" and "Bass Trombone." The lowest note of the Musescore "Trombone" is shown as B1, while the lowest note of the "Bass Trombone" is shown as C2. In reality, if we think of the generic "Trombone" as a tenor trombone with an F attachment, its lowest note before pedal tones would be a very sharp C2 and it would not be able to hit B1. This is what makes Bass Trombone different, because by using both valves, it CAN play B1. So, without counting pedal tones, the lowest playable notes should be E2 for "Tenor Trombone," C2 for "Trombone," and B1 for "Bass Trombone." (Don't listen to the websites that tell you that tenor and bass trombone have the same range. If they did, then why would both exist?)

Now to get into pedal tones. Bass Trombone is a unique brass instrument because it is the only one that regularly uses pedal tones as legitimate notes in solo (and occasionally orchestral or big band) repertoire. A high school (amateur) bass trombone player will most likely be able to play at least to Ab1 with good tone, and a professional will be able to play down to Eb1 (and even down to Bb0 but with less clarity/flexibility).

I love this notation software, I hope these changes can be made so it can become even better! Finale will be going out of business in no time!


Comments

We've discussed trombone ranges before and realize they are bad, we just didn't have a trombone player in the conversation to give us good input. When you add an instrument, you can change the range to whatever you want. Right click the staff and select staff properties. You can see the buttons next to the min and max notes for pro and amateur. If you save it to a template it will retain these values.

In reply to by mike320

Thank you for such a quick reply! I've done the range changes for my own scores before and it works; it would just be a good default change to make so potential composers have a better idea of what is and isn't possible. I'm just a college student majoring in bass trombone performance, so I'm probably not quite qualified to ask to you to make these changes, but I'd still recommend you ask a pro and see what they say.

In reply to by Valveless

You have experience with the trombone that others on this forum do not have. You input would be valuable. Our previous discussion mostly centered on what online sources said rather than the experience of a real trombone player. If you were to suggest the pitches you listed earlier, they would most likely be incorporated into a future version of MuseScore. Use the Issue tracker to the right to make a formal proposal. Select feature request, normal and don't assign it to anyone.

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