The 'play transposition' function
I have a score written for alto saxophone but I want it to play back in the pitch of a soprano saxophone without a key signature change or note transposition. I hoped that the 'play transposition' function in 'stave properties' would do this but it doesn't. The 'play transposition' function transposes the key signature and the notes which makes its title confusing.
Is there a way to change the playback pitch to that of another instrument, (in this case Eb alto sax to Bb soprano sax), without effecting a key signature or note transposition?
Comments
The "play transposition" feature is meant for the much more common case of simply switching between the written and *concert* pitch for a single instrument, not facilitating having a single part be played by two different instruments.
I'm a little confused by what you are trying to do in any case. Did you enter the notes at the wrong pitch and now you're trying to correct for it? If so, then you should simply transpose it for real to get the notes correct (Notes/Transpose). Maybe if you explained better what you are trying to do we could offer better suggestions. I'm having trouble picturing what you mean. Attaching the actual score would help as well.
In reply to The "play transposition" by Marc Sabatella
Marc, what I wanted to do is a bit odd I suppose so I am not surprised that you're confused - I was for a while too !!
I'm working on a score of Gabriel Faure's Pavane for alto saxophone and guitar and I attach the first few bars of the piece. As you can see the concert pitch guitar is in E minor and the Eb alto sax is consequently in C# minor. The person who's going to be playing this also plays a soprano saxophone and wanted to know if it would 'work' if the soprano sax played the alto part as is, putting the Bb soprano sax in C# minor, and the guitar was consequently moved to concert B minor. I just wanted to do that quickly in Musescore to hear what it sounded like.
As it happens I think we're sticking with the alto sax, but I'd be interested to know if there is a way to do what I wanted to do.
In reply to Marc, what I wanted to do is by Peter B
Oh, sure, it would work to have a soprano player play the part as is if the guitar part were transposed. What i would do to make this happen is first turn on the Concert Pitch buttn so both parts are in the same key (E minor), then actually transpose the score itself (select all, notes / transpose) to B minor, then change the instrument for the saxophone part to soprano, then turn Concert Pitch back off.
The main point is, if you want to change how a score *soinds*, you have to actually transpose it. The "play transposition" staff attribute defines the relationship between sound and appearance, but it doesn't change the sound. Thus, it changes how the notes are displayed when Concert Pitch is, not how they sound.
All of this is "in theory". In reality there are bugs that appear when changing instruments or changing the "play transposition" after a score is create in some case. I forget the details, but it has to do with whether youa re in Concert Pitch mode or not when you make the change.
In reply to Oh, sure, it would work to by Marc Sabatella
OK that's very helpful Marc, thank you. I had not realised that we can't change the playback pitch without transposing. The solution you suggest works perfectly though, namely, transposing the whole score while in concert pitch, then transposing alto to sop and then switching out of concert pitch.
I've noticed the bugs !! One I keep forgetting and getting messed up with is that it's not possible to 'undo' and instrument change using Ctrl+Z. This gives some very spectacular results. You have to go to 'stave propertioes' again and change instruments back again to get back to the original.
Thanks for your help