Formatting, mixer and playback questions
I have three questions for a piece I have been working on, a transcription for my daughter so she can playback and practice her Alto part. There are two staffs (instruments), nothing hidden. I turned off the display preference for out of range notes to display red, even though the notes should be in the normal Alto range.
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What is the 4th control in the mixer (circled) that seems to have no function? My understanding is the far right one is the master, and the two on the left are for the Soprano and Alto staffs.
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During playback, the Alto staff seems to cut out in sections, even when the notes are not "out of range". Or that part is overly quiet even though the dynamic marks are the same as the Soprano. Example - measure 56 on. Both parts should be piano but I hear nothing on the Alto staff.
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Why did the staff spacing on the last page suddenly get overly wide, and how to fix?
I have attached a photo and the score.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Score and Musesounds.jpg | 299.38 KB |
| Christmas Mix SA.mscz | 37.35 KB |
Comments
"1. What is the 4th control in the mixer?"
Handbook about the Mixer: https://musescore.org/en/handbook/4/mixer
"2. During playback, the Alto staff seems to cut out in sections, even when the notes are not "out of range". Or that part is overly quiet even though the dynamic marks are the same as the Soprano."
MuseScore 4 still has a long way to go in terms of balancing the level of different voices and instruments. You can put louder dynamics in for the Alto part, but hide them (make invisible with keystroke V.) But ensure that you don't have the visible dynamic and the hidden dynamic on the same beat! The effective dynamic (hidden) must come after the visible dynamic,
"3. Why did the staff spacing on the last page suddenly get overly wide, and how to fix?"
You have not used any system breaks or page breaks to enforce a balanced layout (similar number of systems per page). Have a browse through the Layout palette.
Handbook about Page layout concepts: https://musescore.org/en/handbook/4/page-layout-concepts
Handbook about Formatting: https://musescore.org/en/handbook/4/formatting
As a last resort, you can use a Vertical Frame, added after the last note of the piece (Add > Frames > Append vertical frame). Then in its Properties panel, increase its "Gap above" or "Gap below".
For now, turn the faders up for the vocal parts. Then the volume levels will be fine. That's what the mixer is for. Your third channel is the metronome.