Crescendo/diminuendo on same note works in MuseScore but not in MIDI files
Hi,
I'm keeping on experimenting with MuseScore and I'm having a great time! I already published two small scores in my profile (on my way to more ambitious works!), and both were very fun to write.
I've noticed something weird when exporting my latest effort, though. Specifically, it's a simple piece for cello and piano, so I wanted to export it to MIDI and work with Ardour or another DAW to get better sounds (e.g., a more realistic instrument rendering). What I experienced, though, was that while simple dynamics seem to be working fine, crescendos/diminuendos as hairpins don't seem to have effect unless a note changes: I guess that for simple dynamics it makes sense, because in the MIDI it's velocities that are affected, but since the crescendos/diminuendos seem to work as expected even on the same note in MuseScure, I assumed a different control was being used there (possibly volume?). At any rate, when I tried to play the MIDI with external tools (Ardour, QTractor, Timidity), they didn't have any effect until the following note started playing, when volume suddenly changed.
If you need a score to use as a reference, you can find it here:
https://musescore.com/lminiero/elegy-in-b-minor
A good point for testing is at about ~1:46 (measure 46), when there's a diminuendo followed by a crescendo: this plays beautifully in MuseScore (desktop, web, and audio export), but not, as anticipated, when exported to MIDI.
Not sure if other players/sequencers are to blame here, or if a non-standard control is being used by MuseScore for this functionality which is then ignored by other tools?
Thanks!
Lorenzo
Comments
By default MuseScore uses CC2 for these, but can be configured to use CC1, 4 or 11 instead: https://musescore.org/en/node/290616#Set-up-MuseScore-to-play-back-Sing…-(SND)
In reply to By default MuseScore uses… by jeetee
Thanks for the quick answer! I'll play with these settings to see if I can get them to work.
In reply to By default MuseScore uses… by jeetee
Unfortunately none of those seemed to have any effect :-(
In reply to Unfortunately none of those… by [DELETED] 33854647
Most likely whatever program you are using to play those MIDI files doesn't know how to do this, then - that wouldn't be uncommon, as most MIDI players probably use velocity only. Which is to say, I think the info isam you are using to play them is ignoring it because it doesn't understand it.