Change Tam-Tam Soundfont
Hey.
My name is Robert Zaitsev, and I am a composer who writes mainly for orchestras (as you can see from the scores on my account). I want to say, first of all, that MuseScore is an amazing software for composing music. It is quite versatile and the soundfont is great. However, there are a few drawbacks.
The one I want to focus on for this forum post is the fact that the Tam-Tam sounds like a Chinese Cymbal. This is really quite inaccurate, as a tam-tam is basically a gong and is supposed to sound like one (as a minute of Internet research will show). To connect, a lot of my pieces call for a gong in the score, and having it sound like a Chinese cymbal is really quite a drawback to the overall sound.
Therefore, I would like to request that the developers working on MuseScore please change the soundfont of the tam-tam, or at least show me how to get an actual gong/tam-tam sound into MuseScore for the part. It would really help me in my compositions.
Comments
Perhaps https://musescore.org/en/node/139586 will lead you to a good (or at least acceptable) sound font. See https://musescore.org/en/handbook/soundfonts-and-sfz-files for info on using them.
AFAIK Tam Tam isn't included in General Midi, so you've to add a special sound font to change the sound, see: https://musescore.org/en/handbook/soundfonts-and-sfz-files.
I can remember similar requests, so take a look on requests of: https://musescore.org/en/forum/776
I'm no expert on gongs, tam-tams and Chinese cymbals so I'm not attempting to sway the MuseScore developers as to what route to take. Here's what I have found. The only of these by name that are included in the GM standard channels is the Chinese Cymbal (See here and search for the three instruments). In the English Wikipedia it says the Tam-tam is a type of gong and is what is used commonly as part of a symphony orchestra. The French Wikipedia says to not confuse a Tam-tam with a gong (I had a discussion with cadiz1 concerning this at one point and was amused that the two languages were in direct conflict with one another). Everything I've read says that a Chinese Cymbal (I usually find it called a China Cymbal in my online searches) are a type of crash or splash cymbal depending on the source. The default sound in MuseScore is a type of splash cymbal.
In reply to I'm no expert on gongs, tam… by mike320
Your information is actually completely correct. The main difference between tam-tams and gongs is that gongs are usually tuned, and have a rather broad bump or flange in the center. The tam-tam has none of these features. However, in English speaking countries, the main collective word used to describe both tam-tams and gongs is the word "gong", while in other countries (i.e. Europe) the collective word is "tam-tam". Just FYI.
In reply to Your information is actually… by TornadoDog33
Then the best route to take is to follow my link above where there is at least one gong sound font (or search the web for a better one) and add that soundfont to your synthesizer. One thing you will want to do is put this soundfont at the bottom of the list in the synthesizer so the automatic sound assignment for other instruments doesn't get messed up.