Organ sound using MuseScore

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pateceramics
Posts: 54
Joined: 06 Feb 2013 14:52

Organ sound using MuseScore

Post by pateceramics »

I'm writing a choral piece with organ accompaniment for the first time using MuseScore and am having issues with the playback. I'm not sure if there is a bug, or if there is some feature or setting that I can adjust that I have yet to discover. MuseScore automatically generates a treble and bass clef, and a second bass clef for the pedal when you select organ as an instrument. That's fine. But notes on the pedal staff play back an octave above where they should. And notes entered in the manuals are also sometimes sounding in the wrong octave. I can't figure out what the pattern is and I'm not sure if this is a glitch in the software, (free software: there are definitely a few bugs), or if there is actually some shortcut key command for a feature allowing you to adjust stops or something that I'm accidentally triggering that is mucking with the octaves.

A quick search of the MuseScore forums didn't mention anything on this topic specifically, just a lot of discussion about the computer code for the organ settings. I'm hoping someone here on CPDL can explain to me what's going on in plain English. Anyone else use this software and encounter this issue?

(I can resort to writing using the piano function to be sure I've got all the chords voiced the way I want them, but it's a rather bombastic organ fanfare, so dinky midi piano puts a bit of a damper on the mood. The piece is definitely intended for organ in performance. Composing with a nice full, sustained sound is helpful to my creative process, and it feels nice to have that third stave there for the pedal for the sake of easy reading when it's all done.)

Thanks for any assistance!
M. Furtak
carlos
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Posts: 1870
Joined: 19 Aug 2008 15:26
Location: São Paulo, Brasil

Re: Organ sound using MuseScore

Post by carlos »

Hi Maggie, the forum thread below seems to address the same issues that you are having:

http://musescore.org/en/node/1719
pateceramics
Posts: 54
Joined: 06 Feb 2013 14:52

Re: Organ sound using MuseScore

Post by pateceramics »

Thanks Carlos,

Although, in that particular case, it seems to have been an issue of hearing overtones properly (possibly poor quality speakers), or at least they convinced the poster that was what was going on after some argument.

Someone on another forum suggested to me that I try notating a chromatic scale through the full organ range to see if the problem appears. In that case it doesn't and everything is clearly in the correct octave. So that means it's a hearing/speakers issue for me. I'm guessing it's a bug that appears after some combination of deleting, copy & paste, etc, since it seems to be sporadic. I think I'll just go ahead and write it all out, and generate a sound file with flutes or something. As long as I know for sure it's the software and not me going crazy, I can live with it, and work around the problem.

Thanks for the help!
-M. Furtak
carlos
Site Admin
Posts: 1870
Joined: 19 Aug 2008 15:26
Location: São Paulo, Brasil

Re: Organ sound using MuseScore

Post by carlos »

In that thread they also cited the "Harmony Rules" plugin as a possible source of problem. I don't know if you're using plugins; if so, maybe it's worth checking them also.
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