Chord playback coupled to slash notation
I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I can't find the relative threads, so I'll ask again. Also, maybe this feature already exists, and I just haven't found it yet. If that is the case, I'd be very happy if someone could point me in the right direction to find it.
There's been a lot of discussion about toggling on and off chord playback, and also discussion about the sounds which are heard (or are not heard) with slash notation.
It is not always advantageous to fill the staff with all the notes of written chords, especially for instruments like guitar, where many players would prefer to use their own voicings for the chords. Rhythmic/slash notation is perfect for these situations, but unfortunately, we lose the playback when we toggle from traditional to slash notation.
Prior to MS 3.X, when chord playback was implemented, I would go through a bit of a workaround to notate slash notation for guitar rhythms, while the actual notes were played in a duplicate/hidden instrument. This worked fine, but it meant that any edit in either part would have to be duplicated in the other, which is time consuming, and sometimes errors occured when making the duplicate edits.
Chord playback, while a very useful tool, does not appear to have the ability to play much in the way of rhythm.
What I would like to know is if it is possible to create a playback option which instructs MuseScore to play chords using the rhythm indicated in the slash notation? I was told in the past that it was not possible at the time for the program to decipher the notes hidden under a rhythmic slash. This seemed odd at the time as you could easily toggle between exact pitches and slashes, yet not recognize the notes under the slash. With the developments in chord playback, is there a reason that MuseScore cannot yet apply the written rhythms to the indicated chords?
Thanks so much.
Comments
To me the simplest solution to any issue like this is to add a separate staff for the playback, add the notes, and set it invisible.
But for the record - you can easily enable the playback of rhythmic slash notation, just select the passage, click the Notes button, and check Play again.
In reply to To me the simplest solution… by Marc Sabatella
"To me the simplest solution to any issue like this is to add a separate staff for the playback, add the notes, and set it invisible."
This is precisely what I have been doing. It definitely works, but I was hoping with the developments in chord playback, that it might now be possible to link that feature with slash notation. The way I have been doing things, I would notate the entire part, and then convert the chordal passages to slash notation. Melodies, of course, I would leave as is. If there is a section where I am stipulating a certain chord voicing, I'll usually leave one or two measures as traditional notation, and convert the rest to slash. It would be a great time saver if Musescore could take over the "heavy lifting" of voicing each chord for me.
"But for the record - you can easily enable the playback of rhythmic slash notation, just select the passage, click the Notes button, and check Play again."
I was unaware of this solution. It works great! Thank you.
They need to put that back someday