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Contrabass piano pizzicato is virtually inaudible (Muse Sounds) #22921

Open wizofaus opened 3 months ago

wizofaus commented 3 months ago

Issue type

Muse Sounds bug

Bug description

Any pizzicato notes in the contrabass section are virtually impossible to hear at dynamics below mp. (In fact in general pizzicato sounds across Muse Sounds are rather quiet, but this is extreme).

Steps to reproduce

  1. Create a new string orchestra score, using Muse Sounds
  2. Place a medium-register sustained note in the violins, lasting at least 16 beats and add a pp dynamic
  3. In the contrabass add about 8 1/4 notes (e.g. as a scale, in the middle of the range), and then repeat them. Add p dynamic at the start. Add a "pizz" playing technique instruction after the first 8 notes.
  4. Play it back. You can clearly/easily hear the first 8 contrabass notes played arco, but the 2nd 8 are essentially inaudible, despite being a dynamic marking above the violins.

(Even if you mute the violins, it's very hard to hear, and that's p ! At ppp I'd challenge anyone to determine what notes are actually being played...)

Screenshots/Screen recordings

No response

MuseScore Version

4.3

Regression

I don't know

Operating system

Windows 11

Additional context

No response

DaddyLudwig commented 3 months ago

I have experienced the same thing you're talking about, pizzicato being virtually inaudible below mp or even mf or f for all string instruments, not just contrabasses, but Violin 1 Solo, Violas, Cello Solo, every string instrument sound with pizzicato. The exact dynamic that I need to set it to to hear the pizzicato varies depending on factors like overall dynamic(if it's quieter, I don't need it as loud), instrumentation(if it's just strings and woodwinds, mp is fine, if there's a piano instrument present however, I need mf or f to hear pizzicato over the piano), and just sometimes the samples it gives me are quieter than other times and so I need to set it to a higher dynamic like mf because of that.

So I always end up having to put the composer's notated dynamic as dynamic style staff text and an invisible playback dynamic of mp, mf, or f depending on those relevant factors, but it affects every bowed string instrument for me in the same way that you're talking it happening with contrabasses, that if it's at p or quieter it's virtually inaudible.

wizofaus commented 3 months ago

You don't need to use staff text, you can just turn off the "play" flag for dynamics that are just for show. Though obviously it should be unnecessary anyway (really I would think for any dynamic marking or ideally any note there should be a way of specifying just how much dynamic-adjustment you want, just like there is for MS Basic). But it's really only CB pizz. at p or lower that I observed as being basically unusable, and it's a very common thing to want in a score!

wizofaus commented 2 months ago

Finding this even more of an issue now because accents don't work. Basically the lowest usable dynamic for Contrabasses pizz. is mp, and to get an accent you have to use mf (which is way way louder). It's fine in the other string sections, at least when using decent headphones.