UK Brass band Template

• Nov 24, 2013 - 16:52

The UK Brass band template is incorrect. As set up at present it is similar to the Salvation Army template. After the top two staves for Soprano and Solo Cornet there should be staves for "Repiano Cornet", then "2nd Cornet", then "3rd Cornet". The remainder of the instrument layout is correct. Although it is possible to amend the template each time it would be better for the template to be corrected in the programme coding.
Phil27


Comments

Actually, you don't have to make the change each time - make it once, delete all measures, and resave back to the templates folder (perhaps under a different name). A template is just a score with no measures; you can create and edit them yourself.

That is not to say the provided template shouldn't be made as good as possible of course - just pointing out a good workaround exists now. The templates are going to be redone for 2.0, and while I know nothing about UK brass bands, Wikipedia does appear to support your observation, so you might want to submit this as an actual issue to the tracker (see menu at right of this page).

For a free programme Musescore is very good. However when you have prepared a score for a number of instruments, the procedure for saving and printing the individual parts is a long winded and cumbersome process. Would it be possible to incorporate into the programme an automatic saving of all the individual parts? Alternatively would a plug-in function to do this be possible?
Phil27

In reply to by Phil27

2.0 will indeed have "linked parts" which work more or less like the Sibelius and Finale equivalents. A single command automatically generates all parts for the score, they are saved as part of the main score file, and links are maintained so that an edit to the score automatically reflects in the part and vice versa. To be sure, this facility is still perhaps not all that well tested and could benefit from more people trying it out. I've reported the issues I've found.

However, even in 1.3 there are things you can do to simplify the process. First, the template itself can have the parts already defined. I see the UK Brass Band template does not, so have to manually set up the list of parts on every score. So if you're going to make your own customized version of this template to correct the issue with the cornets, you might as well also go ahead and go through the part definition process - defining the parts in File / Parts. Don't actually create the parts, just fill out the list in the dialog. If you save your customized template with this already done, the parts will already be defined in the scores you create from the template, so all you'll have to do is hit Create Part for each.

My usual workflow is to create my score, then make a copy where I change the formatting (size / orientation of paper, size of notation, etc) to be more appropriate for parts. I generate my parts from that copy. I generate all the parts at once then immediately go through and save each. Once you've set the correct folder for the first part, the rest automatically go to the same place. Also, due to a bug the indenting doesn't work properly, so before I save I click in the indent area and hit Delete to remove it (I believe it's actually just an instrument name full of spaces).

With good formatting settings, I find the parts come out looking pretty good out of the box, but usually require some manual adjustments here and there. Still, I like to run through and save everything first before spending time on any given part.

For 2.0, File / Parts will have a single "New All" button that automatically defines and generates all parts in one step, and as mentioned, the are automatically saved as part of the score itself, with all elements linked between score and parts. So that's a pretty big time saver. Also, there will be an option to control the formatting for parts, so one shouldn't have to first create a separate "parts score". Not sure if that facility works yet or not - I think it didn't last I checked. But all indications are that as of 2.0, the management of parts should be more in line with Finale and Sibelius.

In reply to by brass_bander

Thank you for that - unfortunately we won't be able to use it for MuseScore 2 as the file format is changing.

We are currently waiting for the programming team to let us know that the file format will no longer change before we start rewriting all the templates using the new file format.

Would you be able to provide us with a new UK Brass Band template?

Incidentally I had noticed that the Repiano Cornet was missing in the 1.3 verswion :)

In reply to by brass_bander

The differences between my template and the UK Brass Band are:-

1. added a Rep part. Renamed 1st & 2nd cornets to 2nd and 3rd cornets.
2. For the Horns, Eb bass when you right click on the staff->staff properties the "Play transposition" states minor third, while it states major sixth on the UK Brass Band template.
3. For all instruments the +octave setting is set to zero. This is not the case on the UK Brass Band template.

Do you still have an unanswered question? Please log in first to post your question.