MuseScore with registers

[debra]

Many thanks for the clear instructions.
It makes it relatively easy to get a better accordion sound, but of course to create one's own accordion sound the creation of the soundfont is the real hard work...

 

[Glug]

That does give me a few ideas ...

Maybe I'll add a section to the documentation on how I created the samples and the soundfont so people can do it for themselves.  Also I'm fairly sure I could do it better and I'm sure somebody on here knows how.

The main issue I haven't solved is how to balance the volume of different voices:  The reeds were recorded seperately and the volume normalised.  So on playback all voices have the equal volume.

But I'm certain master bass for example isn't just 4/5 voices at equal volume, the position in the accordion, size of the reeds, etc must mean some (probably higher pitched) make less contribution to the complete sound.  That could be easily adjusted in the soundfont, I just don't see how to do it, other than by ear.

 

[debra]

That does give me a few ideas ...

Maybe Ill add a section to the documentation on how I created the samples and the soundfont so people can do it for themselves.  Also Im fairly sure I could do it better and Im sure somebody on here knows how.

The main issue I havent solved is how to balance the volume of different voices:  The reeds were recorded seperately and the volume normalised.  So on playback all voices have the equal volume.

But Im certain master bass for example isnt just 4/5 voices at equal volume, the position in the accordion, size of the reeds, etc must mean some (probably higher pitched) make less contribution to the complete sound.  That could be easily adjusted in the soundfont, I just dont see how to do it, other than by ear.

Well... equal volume of different voices or even notes is not a natural property of accordions. And with a cassotto instrument the contribution of reeds in cassotto versus the ones outside of the cassotto also differs quite a bit.
The idea of the voices in the master bass not all sounding at equal volume can be deliberate. The basic idea behind using a 4 or 5 voice bass is to have the octave jump in different places in order to hide the jump and give the illusion that as you play a scale multiple times you keep going up without actually going up. If this were done perfectly it would result in what is called the Shepard tone (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepard_tone) but the accordion has only a rough approximation of that.

 

[Glug]

Yep, I did realise equal volume wasn't right, but it's tricky to measure the relative volume of voices playing at the same time.
I should be able to it with spectral analysis, it's on the list of things to do ....

It should even be possible to measure the relative volume of notes from one voice the same way.
But that does depend how accurate my microphone response and positioning is.

The samples in the soundfont are from my 1959 Lucia IV P, and apparently Hohner didn't know about the Shepard Tone at that time.
The bass reed blocks are G1-F#2, G2-F#3, G3-F#4, G4-F#5 (I measured the tuning soon after buying it).
So the soundfont does have that issue and you can hear it in places.

 

[debra]

...

The samples in the soundfont are from my 1959 Lucia IV P, and apparently Hohner didn't know about the Shepard Tone at that time.
The bass reed blocks are G1-F#2, G2-F#3, G3-F#4, G4-F#5 (I measured the tuning soon after buying it).
So the soundfont does have that issue and you can hear it in places.

Your instructions suggest that you have a 5 reed bass. 4 dots are in the center and 1 dot is offset to the right. The reed set corresponding to that dot should have a different jump.
It will also start with G and go to F# but it has a jump somewhere around C. So it may be G2-C3 followed by C2-F#2 or it may be G3-C4 followed by C4 to F#4. Don't know exactly which but probably one of these two. It is normal for the bass to have 4 reed sets with the jump in the same place and only 1 reed set with the jump in a different place and that's why the Shepard Tone illusion doesn't really work very well on an accordion.

 

[Glug]

Sorry, I've obviously made things more confusing than they had to be.

In the soundfont I tried to implement all possible standard bass registers and used the symbols I thought were standard (it turns out for a 5 voice bass).
My Lucia definitely only has 4 bass voices, and only has 3 register switches.  I simulated the soprano voice with an octave shifted copy of the alto voice.
I will add this to the documentation.

Thanks for the explanation though, I did wonder why the middle dot was offset.

 

[Glug]

A new update, sounds the same but has some bugs fixed and more documentation:

    12dB attenuation on all soundfont presets to match MuseScore soundfont volume.
    Bass C#3 / Db3 (midi 49) is now a bass note.
    Added bass D#4 as a chord note – I prefer D chords as D4 instead of D3 on the stave.
    Bass and treble tests now check the full note range and that out of range notes are red.
    Documentation and instrument.xml now share version numbers with the soundfont.
    Added documentation for sample and soundfont creation.

Files are at https://drive.google.com/open?id=1dHtRfo38Pgvx7ABXq7BcPYmr5sO8UkrB
Documentation (pdf) is at https://drive.google.com/open?id=1JGAItNkzFwo0k0Y7olVhqOn8kXxAEZw8

NB. instruments.xml has been renamed.

 

[Glug]

A revelation: Ive finally understood what Paul was saying about 4 vs 5 reed banks

Basically when I was slightly younger I measured the tuning on my 4 bass voice Lucia and assumed the voices
were bass, tenor, contralto, alto (since I didnt know any better).  So it had to be Soprano that was missing.

Big mistake: from considering Pauls comments and seeing https://www.accordionists.info/showthread.php?tid=6195
Ive now realised its contralto that I dont have.  Which changes what I thought my 3 bass register switches are.

Wikipedia doesnt show register switches for 4 bass accordions, but I found the Lilypond documentation does:
http://lilypond.org/doc/v2.19/Documentation/notation/accordion-registers.  Which makes my switches Master (4),
Soft Bass (4), and Tenor (4).

Now Im feeling a bit stupid for not seeing this earlier, but at least Im learning
And it should make the soundfont bass better when Ive fixed it.

 

[jozz]

keep up the good work!

 

[John M]

I am curious about a 6 reed bass accordion. In my previous thread "Chart Of Accordion Frequencies", I made a frequency chart of a 5 bass reed accordion. Some accordions have an additional 6th bass reed block. Where is it added to the usual Bass, Tenor, Contralto, Alto, and Soprano tones?

John M.

 

[Glug]

Last update I think, unless Ive made a booboo, or somebody has a good idea

   Rejigged Presets/Instruments so the only Lucia specific bits are in samples and instruments.  
   Fixed bass 4/5 voice confusion (I think).
   Renumbered some presets – may need to reselect instruments in scores.
   Relative loudness of reed banks now set approximately by spectrum analysis.
   Added documentation about relative loudness.
   Added H samples.

Files are at https://drive.google.com/open?id=1id4KJ5V_Yge07sxX8r9NhryxHgv_SBse
Documentation (pdf) is at https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Ldcy0bixHac_MIYCAFe_qi2MHcFj7nc2
Fermeture Definitive (mp3): https://drive.google.com/open?id=1O3IDEasvpLNkwn9pdp_94wD3RQmG3O5B

Its good enough for my purposes, so Ill be spending more time with the other keyboard.

Have fun,
Gareth.

 

[Glug]

Another last update

Ive been using it for all my playback on scores Im trying to learn and found a few issues.
Changes:

•    Added 3 free-bass presets.  Warning: this is an experiment.
•    Extended bass chords on stave to D3-F4 because Easy Accordion Solos uses old french notation (ie. E3 chords).
•    Fixed a couple of transcription errors on Fermeture Definitive.
•    Moved all instruments to sound bank 69: now it will coexist with original Musescore sounds.
•    Now using preset numbers 80 to 127.

If you have an old score using this soundfont you will need to reselect the instruments.

Files are at https://drive.google.com/open?id=1cA5EC67oWtYpw0K4crBwt9-R4953z4hK

Documentation (pdf) is at https://drive.google.com/open?id=1EJQzs2tXIQ4reTdTrjrdTJBMg-3nh69F

Fermeture Definitive (mp3): https://drive.google.com/open?id=13w_zt-HBhXxhvdVIw89YCZ8N7GyBdx8Y

 

[Alan Sharkis]

Another last update

Ive been using it for all my playback on scores Im trying to learn and found a few issues.
Changes:

•    Added 3 free-bass presets.  Warning: this is an experiment.
•    Extended bass chords on stave to D3-F4 because Easy Accordion Solos uses old french notation (ie. E3 chords).
•    Fixed a couple of transcription errors on Fermeture Definitive.
•    Moved all instruments to sound bank 69: now it will coexist with original Musescore sounds.
•    Now using preset numbers 80 to 127.

If you have an old score using this soundfont you will need to reselect the instruments.

Files are at https://drive.google.com/open?id=1cA5EC67oWtYpw0K4crBwt9-R4953z4hK

Documentation (pdf) is at https://drive.google.com/open?id=1EJQzs2tXIQ4reTdTrjrdTJBMg-3nh69F

Fermeture Definitive (mp3): https://drive.google.com/open?id=13w_zt-HBhXxhvdVIw89YCZ8N7GyBdx8Y

This is the most fascinating thread I’ve read in a long time! Unfortunately, my computer is on the second story of my house and I’m stuck on the first floor since my knee replacement surgery. I know I can read the discussion any time in the future, but is there a time limit on how long the files will be up?

Thanks.  My iPhone is still not up to computer tasks.

Alan Sharkis




 

 

[Glug]

Hiya,
Nope no time limit.

If it dissapears for some reason outside my control just message me and I'll put it up again somewhere.

 

[Alan Sharkis]

Hiya,
Nope no time limit.

If it dissapears for some reason outside my control just message me and I'll put it up again somewhere.

Thanks!  That’s reassuring.

 

[lunarluxau]

@Glug I've just found this. What an amazing piece of work. Thanks so much for sharing it.

 

[Glug]

Cheers,
It was for my own interest but obviously somebody else might find it useful.

If you find anything wong or have suggestions for improvements let me know: I use it all the time for playback.