percussive sounds on guitar score
there are many times in arranging music for guitar ensemble that percussive effects are played on the body of the guitar. when notating these, i typically replace the standard notehead with an x. my question, however is this: is there anyway to do this on musescore and actually hear the percussive sounds during playback instead of the pitch that corresponds to the placement of the x-notehead?
thank you for any help,
keith
Comments
Regarding percussive effects in MuseScore 1.3, have a listen to this attachment.
(Use menu item: Display / Show Invisible to see the staff text at the 'x' note heads.)
There is a related discussion, with more details, here:
http://musescore.org/en/node/22348
Also see:
http://musescore.org/en/handbook/change-and-adjust-sounds#Mid-staff-cha…
Basically, in MuseScore 1.3, you want to choose an instrument like violin - which can play pizzicato - and therefore can have another sound assigned to a note.
For MuseScore 2.0 (which is still in beta), the procedure is more streamlined as instruments can be switched out.
Regards.
In reply to Regarding percussive effects by Jm6stringer
thank you very much...i will play around with that and see if i can fix that!
keith
In reply to thank you very much...i will by kshaffer
Indeed, you can even 'chop' the chords preceding the percussive taps, by using staccato (from the Articulations & Ornaments palette).
A second example is attached.
Regards.
In reply to Indeed, you can even 'chop' by Jm6stringer
i am sorry to be a bother, but i did (unsuccessfully) attempt a couple of the suggestions that you made. i am apparently missing something. i do see how to change to percussion instruments mid-piece, but i'm not seeing how you created the percussion sounds within the example that you gave...
In reply to i am sorry to be a bother, by kshaffer
OK... First off, if you select guitar as the instrument in a new score, that's all you get - the sound of guitar.
Here's the trick:
Instruments like trumpet and violin allow for more nuanced performance - trumpet can be muted, violin can be plucked (pizzicato). If you create a score using one of those instuments, open the Mixer at menu item: Display / Mixer (the keyboard shortcut is F10). There you will see the sounds that are available.
The prior examples I gave actually started off as violin, then I changed the sounds for playback using the mixer.
Have a look at this attachment and refer again to the links I posted earlier.
Regards and welcome aboard.
In reply to OK... First off, if you by Jm6stringer
Jm6stringer,
I'm a newbee, and I would like you to tell me a bit more about how to change the voices (hopefully, more easily.)
In the file you uploaded, "Trumpet mute.mscz," there is a text typed "mute." And I understand I could change the voices to channels by changing the settings in Staff Text Properties of this text. But this way, everytime you change the voices, you'd need to put the same number of texts to determine the voices, which may make the score messy in some cases.
Meanwhile, I don't see any text that sets the voices to channels in "Guitar Percussion example.mscz" that you previously uploaded. Can you please tell me how you put the percussive notes to the rhythm in this file?
Please take a look at the attachment so you would hopefully understand what I would like to do. It's a zip file of the score and sound font (the percussive sound). I assigned the melody line to Voice1, the bass to Voice 2 , and percussive notes to Voice 3 in the score. In this way, the playback is OK, but the score looks messy and it's a pain in the neck to make the score like this.
Would appreciate any help.
Thank you in advance,
Seishi
In reply to Jm6stringer, I'm a newbee,… by seishiunuma
Welcome aboard!
First off, be advised that those earlier attachments were provided for what would today be considered an ancient version of MuseScore. A lot has changed since 2014, especially with regards to the more recent addition of the "Text" palette, which facilitates instrument sound changes.
You wrote:
I don't see any text that sets the voices to channels in "Guitar Percussion example.mscz" that you previously uploaded. Can you please tell me how you put the percussive notes to the rhythm in this file?
O.K...
Go to menu item: View and then click 'Show Invisible' to see the change to percussion for the 'x' notes. I hid them because seeing the 'x' is enough of a visual cue for humans. The hidden 'p' and 'n' are only needed as playback instructions for the MuseScore synthesizer.
I opened your attached score and loaded your percussive soundfont. I would tweak the notation to make it easier on the eyes for sight reading. Have a look/listen:
Guit_Percussion_study2.mscz
(an excerpt from Nora Jones - Don't Know Why, yes?)
In reply to Welcome aboard! First off,… by Jm6stringer
Thanks a lot for your feedback!
Now I understand the trick of the 'p' and 'n.' I really appreciate your help!
But this time, I got another question for you.
In the file that you sent me this time, "Guit_Percussion_study2.mscz," the rests that overlap with the percussion notes are invisible, which is really great. But, I can't make them visible even I turn on the "Show Invisible" option. How can I switch the visible/invisible options?
Thank you,
Seishi
In reply to Thanks a lot for your… by seishiunuma
BTW, yes. It is "Don't know why."
In reply to Thanks a lot for your… by seishiunuma
You wrote:
...the rests that overlap with the percussion notes are invisible, which is really great. But, I can't make them visible even I turn on the "Show Invisible" option.
That's because I deleted them.
When using voices, voice 1 needs to be always present to enforce each measure's full duration count. The other voices can be deleted depending on their relative importance. Your score is basically a solo arrangement of a pop tune, to which you have added a percussive 'slap' on the guitar body. In this case there is no need to fastidiously account for the exact amount of time between 'slaps' using visual notation of all the intervening rests. Any competent guitarist will "get it" when they see the 'x' notes. (Notating them all as quarter notes would probably further simplify their appearance.)
Also, the guitar is not a sustaining insrument so plucked notes decay unlike, for instance, an organ where passages containing voices may need to be played as simultaneous "independent melodies" (i.e., counterpoint) and so the player must hold fingers down on the organ keys using very precise timings of rests and notes in every voice.
Guitar does not always require this notation precision of "rests in all voices at all times", especially in pop music solo arrangements.
P.S. I could have made those overlapping rests "invisible' via the Inspector and then completely hidden using the "Show Invisible" checkbox in the 'View' menu. Then clicking the "Show Invisible" option would have revealed them.
In reply to You wrote: ...the rests that… by Jm6stringer
All right! I think I fully understand it!
Thank you so much for your help. :)
Seishi