Part names keep changing to a default name.

• Feb 5, 2024 - 18:16

I don't know if this is a bug or a problem created by me using an incorrect workflow - but it is driving me nuts!

I have written a score with parts for four trumpets, which not surprisingly I would like to call Trumpet 1 to Trumpet 4. I can rename the part on the staff using the 'Instrument tab' and edit both the long name and the abbreviated name by clicking on the 'gear wheel' icon. I am aware that the part name used for the generated part is different. This can be edited by selecting the 'Parts' tab at the top of the screen and clicking on the three dots and selecting 'Rename'. My score was grown over a longish period of time so the trumpets started as one single part, then I added others later on and the most complex and highest part was added later - I would prefer this to be Trumpet 1. The lower parts I (added first) I would prefer to be Trumpets 3 and 4. Consequently I wanted, not unreasonable, to rename the parts. I did this in both the Instrument Tab, for the score names, and in the Parts tab for the part names. Unfortunately, whilst it appears all ok at the point of saving - the part names keep reverting to what they were originally - such as Trumpet, Trumpet (1) and so on. Trumpet (1) may well be a part I have previously named "Trumpet in Bb 4" - which is far from helpful. This means I am unable to determine - when I try to open a part, which trumpet it is, making life very difficult. It is worse than this - because when I open one of these parts, they are often blank, even though I can see lines of music in the main score. Closing down, rebooting, re-opening makes no difference. I concluded that maybe something was corrupt - but I have found I can recreate this issue very easily and repeatedly.

This is how I recreate the problem:
1. Start a new score.
2. Add four trumpets. The software will very helpfully call them Trumpet in Bb 1 to Trumpet in Bb 4. It will use the same name for both the Parts and the score. All perfectly consistent. I added some notes, too, just so the parts were not empty.
3. Now rename the trumpets in the instrument tab to, say Trumpet 5 to Trumpet 8 and Trp 1 to 8 in abbreviated.
4. Rename the trumpets in the 'Parts' tab to Trumpet 5 to Trumpet 8. So far so good. This will probably go ok.
5. Now open one of the parts by clicking on, say, Trumpet 5, and display it on the screen. Now open of of the closed eye symbols on the Instrument tab so that a second trumpet appears on the same part. Very useful if you are trying to construct a harmony line and want to compare two parts.
6. Close the 'eye' again to return to a single part - close the part completely with the 'x' on the tab.
7. Click on the main score, put the cursor on any staff, right click to open the 'Stave/part' properties.
8. No need to do actually anything in this tab. The long name and the abbreviated name on the staff will be correct. [Note: they are described as "PART" properties, even though they refer to the staff?]. Close the tab with OK, without changing anything.
9. Now open the Part tab - The part name will now have been replaced with a default name - In my example it was Trumpet (2). This is very odd, remember the original name would have been 'Trumpet in Bb 1' or something similar. My new name would have been 'Trumpet 5'. The name 'Trumpet (2)' appears to be a default instrument name with a number in brackets because it is a duplicate - this default doesn't appear anywhere I can see in either the Instrument tab or the Parts tab at any stage.

I can rename everything again in the Parts tab, but every time I enter either the Instrument tab or the stave/parts properties - it will pull these default names from somewhere and stick an arbitrary number in brackets after it (which, very unhelpfully, probably doesn't match the number you wish the instrument to have). Plus - it often cannot now find the music you've entered, you just get a blank part (but not always!)

Steps 5 and 6, peeking at the other instruments whilst you have the part open, seem necessary to create the problem. Once the problem has occurred, once, it seems to be a permanent feature of the score and affects every instrument - and I haven't managed to find a way out of it.

If anyone can explain what I am doing wrong - and especially if anyone can give me a workaround as I now have a score with many hours of work in it which is now almost impossible work on as I can't identify the parts - I would be very grateful.

Thanks

I am using Musescore 4.2.1.240230937 - although I noticed it on earlier versions of 4.x
Windows 10 Pro 22H2
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4570 CPU @ 3.20GHz 3.20 GHz
16 Gig RAM

Attachment Size
Test score to show problem.mscz 97.44 KB

Comments

• Feb 5, 2024 - 21:09

I believe there currently is an issue with the part names and how they should sync/when they should update.
What works, at this moment, is to rename the part name (in the Parts dialog) and then click Open All.
The Open All causes the names to update and saved into the file.
After this, save the score.
You can now close the parts if you don't want to see the extra tabs.

After reading your post more carefully, I can also confirm that the behaviour of the "part renaming" is happening on my system as well when you open the Stave/part properties dialog and then click OK to close it.

If you wonder where the "default" name is derived from, open the mixer and you can see that all your trumpet instrument channels are named Trumpet. Instead of Trumpet 1, Trumpet 2, Trumpet 3, etc.
This is causing MS to be confused and is generating the names with the brackets.

See also this reported issue: https://github.com/musescore/MuseScore/issues/16962

I am sure that once that has been resolved/implemented, your issue will also be resolved.

in the meanwhile my advise is to create the mainscore first, without checking any of the parts.
And once completed, generate the desired parts.

Reply

• Feb 6, 2024 - 12:56

Thanks very much for the reply.

I did see the other reported issue - although the original poster of that thread appeared not to have yet discovered the ability to 'rename' by clicking the three dots in the 'Parts' tab. I have been re-naming furiously but the names kept reverting, so whilst the two issues are almost certainly related, my specific issue showed up a little differently. Particularly confusing, until I eventually realised what was happening, was that opening the stave/part properties with a right click caused the name to change. I would set all the names correctly - then some time later, for a reason unrelated to the names issue, I would open the stave properties. I might do this to transpose a part up by an octave, for example. I know this isn't the only place you can do this, but it is an easy way to do the whole part. Since this had nothing to do with names - I might not noticed that the name has now reverted to the default in 'Parts' until some time later, making me think it was random, but it certainly appears to be the opening and closing of the Staff/part dialogue that does that causes this - whether you change anything in there or not. Possibly it may not be the only operation that causes the part name to revert to a default.

I used to play in a small jazz band and have some arrangements written out for a few horns. I now play in a big band and I have been trying to expand these arrangements for more instruments. This is perhaps why I have run into this issue like a brick wall, whereas many other users may not of noticed it. I am not creating new scores, I am trying to expand existing ones. By duplicating parts and adding 3rd and 4th instruments - it necessitates renaming, with the consequent problems outlined above. I used trumpets as an example but duplicating the alto and tenor sax parts would cause the same problem, as would changing the baritone sax to trombone (not unusual) and trying to create other parts from this. In this latter example, you could change a baritone sax to trombone - and it would rename the part back to 'trombone' in 'Parts' whilst retaining 'Baritone Sax' in the staff name, which might ultimately leave you with four trombone parts and one baritone sax - all called 'trombone' with a random number in brackets - which as you can imagine would be really confusing!

The only workaround I can think of is to open a 'new' empty score with all the instruments in it - then open the old score in a different instance of MuseScore (on the same computer) - and copy and paste all the parts from the old score to the new, thus sidestepping the need to rename anything - but that is mightily cumbersome and awkward with a score with maybe 20 parts.

Reply

• Feb 6, 2024 - 18:24

Good you discovered the logic as to what is happening here. I would say this needs to be logged as in an issue on github, so it can be fixed.
BTW, if you only open the stave/properties dialog and close it using the X or press Cancel, then no update.
But obvious most of the time you open that dialog for a reason and want to change something. Maybe it also depends on how "existing" score are managed/opened vs new created score. Perhaps the instrument/part name showing in the mixer is different in these cases.

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