Selecting certain measures for solo playback
I am currently working on a piece for wind ensemble. It has 32 parts, and sometimes I find it useful
to hear just the woodwinds, for example, or maybe just the trumpets, etc. I think it would be very helpful
to be able to highlight just the measures that I want to hear. A drop menu could appear with the option to solo or mute. This method, as opposed to having to go into the mixer and solo each individual instrument, would be extremely helpful, in my opinion.
Comments
This is almost certainly going to be in MuseScore 4. Should be useful indeed for cases where the staves you want to hear together are adjacent and thus selectable together.
Meanwhile, for sections you want to hear by themselves often, another approach is to generate a part for them - like, in addition to parts for each instrument, have one that contains all woodwinds.
In reply to This is almost certainly… by Marc Sabatella
That is the method I have been using, but it can really start to add clutter, and I don't write for very large ensembles.
In reply to That is the method I have… by xavierjazz
Thanks xavierjazz. I've also been doing some writing for a latin variety band with 5 horns. Like you say, it can start to add clutter, but a lot more manageable.
Musescore 4 should be great.
In reply to This is almost certainly… by Marc Sabatella
Wonderful news! Can't wait.
I do have 4 parts that I've made for this piece: ww, brass, perc., and another blank page just to write down notes and ideas. This works well except for the fact that if I make changes to the big score, I have to copy and paste to the smaller score, and vice versa. Not such a big deal, I suppose.
Thanks for the reply with the good news Marc.
In reply to Wonderful news! Can't wait… by James Stockwell
? If you created these as parts, no copy/paste is required, changes to the content of a score always reflect in the parts automatically.
In reply to ? If you created these as… by Marc Sabatella
I think what I've done is create different scores: ww., brass, and perc., and I have them open all together. I know how to create individual instrument parts, and changes made to the score would reflect in the parts, but I don't know how to lump instruments together, such as all brass, etc. What am I missing?
In reply to I think what I've done is… by James Stockwell
Never mind, I just figured it out. So simple!
In reply to Never mind, I just figured… by James Stockwell
Thanks for your input Marc. You were very helpful.
In reply to Thanks for your input Marc… by James Stockwell
Or solo the parts you want to hear in the mixer. Not as fast as selecting them in the score. But seems easier that creating new parts.
In reply to Or solo the parts you want… by bobjp
If you only need to to do this once or twice, the Mixer is indeed relatively quick - faster than creating the parts. But if this is an orchestra score you plan to work on for months and might need to listen to the winds alone hundreds of times during that span, the extra minute to generate a part fo the windows will pay off many times over as you can then easily hear the winds with a single click.
In reply to If you only need to to do… by Marc Sabatella
I guess it just depends on your work-flow. Personally, I can't imagine working on a large score, made even larger by all the added staves for groups of instruments. What if I want to hear just the upper brass? And then the low ww's? Or just the violins? I don't always have entire sections working together.
In reply to I guess it just depends on… by bobjp
I think that you have missed the "parts" aspect. The idea is to generate a part for whatever group you want to examine. This will not add additional stave to the score.
In reply to I think that you have missed… by xavierjazz
You are right. I did miss the parts aspect. I didn't go there because I don't generate parts often. I can see where that could be useful. Even so, I find myself wanting to hear things other than an instrument section. Maybe I just one or two instruments. Maybe the trumpets and the second violins are what I want to hear. Someone suggested what other software can do: Select, range select, or Ctrl select just what you want to hear and hit play. Playback of just those instruments starts at that point. I mostly prefer to stay in score view so I can see how things fit.
In reply to I guess it just depends on… by bobjp
Indeed, no adding of extra staves - just the usual one staff per instrument. I'm talking about generating a part - File / Parts - so you see a tabs next to the score that says "woodwinds", "brass", etc, in addition to all the individual instrument tabs. Actually, you wouldn't normally see the instrument tabs at this stage - normally you don't generate those until you're done with the kinds of things for which have tabs for the sections would be useful.
For the cases where you want to hear some special combination like only low brass or only violins, the Mixer is still your friend, and MuseScore 4 will also allow you to select a range to hear just those instruments. The Parts approach is just something else you can do if you know you will often want to hear an entire section together. And I think for most people who write for large ensembles, that's pretty common, even if there are also times when want to hear other groupings.