When I import a MIDI file, MuseScore imports as a piano instrument with split staves by default.
How do I import a MIDI file so that MuseScore sees the notes as all belonging to the same staff? It's a violin piece, not for a piano. Therefore single staff is fine. The doubled notes are not separate parts. They all belong to the same part.
If I go to the Instruments setting, and remove the second staff, I still get the parts split up - It shows rests hovering over notes in the same bar, and it looks really ugly.
I need all the notes to be one part. Even when the instrument is playing more than one note.
How do I do this? I'm sure there's a simple answer.
Comments
I am not a technician, just an end user, and usually I proceed by trial and error, so could you attach the midi file here?
Or try: Select the two staves then Edit / Tools ...> Implode
Perhaps adjustments will be necessary...
For me, this is a deal-breaker. When I import a MIDI piano score into Version 1.3 it formats properly as treble and bass staff. When I import the same MIDI in Version 2.0.2 the bass comes in as a split staff. This should not be!!
Imploding the two staves puts the notes all on one staff but retains the rests necessary in one of the split staves. That looks even uglier than the split staves. Imploding should not be necessary, anyway.
Is this a bug? Or is it a hidden setting somewhere? I'm stuck on Version 1.3 until it's fixed!!
In reply to For me, this is a by therapon
Someone more knowledgeable about the differences in handling MIDI import between 1.3 and 2.0.2 can likely help you better. In order for them to do so even more efficiently, would it be possible for you to attach the MIDI-file?
In reply to For me, this is a by therapon
The settings are not hidden—they should appear at the bottom of the window when you open a MIDI file. The documentation is at https://musescore.org/en/handbook/midi-import.
See also discussion of a similar problem at https://musescore.org/en/node/98286.
In reply to The settings are not by Isaac Weiss
My question about settings referred to changing the default import parameters. The settings window does appear as expected. The changes suggested in node/98286 didn't help. I've attached a sample midi file - in version 1.3 it imports correctly as a piano score with treble and bass staff; in version 2.0 it imports as treble and split bass staff.
My preference is that the default import in version 2.0 work the same as it did in version 1.3
In reply to My question about settings by therapon
Indeed, all you have to do is uncheck the "Split Staff" option for the left hand in that MIDI import panel and click "Apply."
![Screen Shot 1.png]( "Screen Shot 1.png")
In reply to Indeed, all you have to do is by Isaac Weiss
Yes, I know that is one option. However, splitting the staff is a "feature" I shouldn't have to undo on a typical import. And... that doesn't fix the ugly and unnecessary rests that are present after - e.g. in measures 10, 11 and 13 in the bass staff in your screenshot.
In reply to Yes, I know that is one by therapon
There is no such thing as "typical" import. Evey MIDI file is structured differently. As for rests, again, each MIDI file is different in terms of how it is structured, and different people have different needs. That's why we provide so many options - to give you the tools you need to get the results you want in a wide variety of situations. Here, you may wish to olay with the maximum number of voices. Or record your file more carefully in terms of avoiding overlapping notes etc.
In reply to There is no such thing as by Marc Sabatella
For whatever reason all the MIDI files I have tried importing split the bass staff. Maybe because there are notes that go above Middle C.
Here's what worked: uncheck Split Staff, Clef Changes, and set Max Voices to 1.
Now, how do I make those the default settings for MIDI import?
In reply to For whatever reason all the by therapon
I don't know that there is a way to set those as the default. but I suspect you wouldn't like the results in msot cases weith max voices set to 1. It might happen to be the best for this particular file, but it would only handle the most simplistic of cases. Most piano music requires at least two voices. But as I indicated, if you are not careful about how you record the MIDI file, you'll get overlaps that require two voices to notate properly even in simple music that *should* require only a single vocie. it is best to quantize your MIDI file in the software you sued to create i.
As for why the bottomn staff is being split, I am not sure, but maybe it has to do with the fact that the top staff has lyrics attached for some reason. I think the software that created this file probably was trying to do somethng else, but did it incorrectly, and the result was they got turned into lyrics. Not sure. What sodftware are you using to create these MIDI files?
In reply to I don't know that there is a by Marc Sabatella
The software I've used is Noteworthy Composer (https://noteworthycomposer.com/). I believe that is the same way Cyber Hymnal creates theirs since they have nwc/midi/pdf files for all their hymns. They all have the same basic structure - SATB written on two staves in Noteworthy then exported to midi. The notation was entered directly (not from a MIDI device) so it was originally correct before export to midi. For my purposes, a default setting would work for 99.9% of what I do with MuseScore - grab the MIDI file from Cyber Hymnal, import it into MuseScore where I can then use what I like for lyrics and format the output for a particular page size.
In reply to The software I've used is by therapon
That's a shame - if they had used notation software that supported MusicXML then the importing programs wouldn't have to do so much guesswork, but I guess Noteworthy Composer is too old for that.
In reply to That's a shame - if they had by Marc Sabatella
There is a "plugin" for Noteworthy that is in early stages of development. Claims to convert nwc to musicXML format. Guess I'll have to try that. Thanks.
In reply to The software I've used is by therapon
BTW, most hymns do require multiple voices at least somewhere - a place where the soprano has quarter notes but the alto eighths, of bass has half notes but tenor quarters, etc. That's why I'm saying limiting it to one voice in general is not going yield very good results most of the time. In fact, measure 10 of your example is an excellent case in point. It really is two voices here - the alto has four quarters but the soprano has a quarter, two eighths, two quarters (similar for tenor and bass in bottom staff). So reducing it to one voice produces incorrect notation - it requires unnecessary ties in the alto and bass parts. The default was actually correct; you just might want to hide the rests since this is one of the special situations where it is considered permissible to do so. I don't think 1.3 would have had any way of creating the correct notation here; you'd have been stuck with the incorrect ties. and had to re-enter those measures using multiple voices manually.