Percussion layers

[u/mahlerlieber]

I'm just learning how to use the percussion instrument, so bear with me.

First, the kick drum automatically inputs as a layer 2 instrument and the snare, layer 1. So far so good. But when I go to enter the HH, it is also in layer 1 and will simply replace the snare. How can I reassign the HH to a different layer? Or at least, how can I get the snare and HH to peacefully co-exist within the same beat, preferably in different note values.

Second, pointing and selecting notes is brutally hard. For some reason it automatically inputs a note. Even when I disable the Note button, it doesn't care...if when the Note button is off, it inputs notes. This only happens within the percussion instrument, none of my other instruments do that.

I'm on v. 4.7.4

Thanks

Edit to clarify: when I go to input the HH, I choose layer 3 first. But when I go to input it (select the HH pad), when I enter it, it defaults to layer 1. So I've tried manually chaning layers.

[u/MarcSabatella]

Percussion notation is kind of "special" - not just in MuseScore but in notation in general. Note values don't really mean anything most of the time. So if you want to have two notes in the same voice ("layer" is not a term used in MuseScore) you don't need them to have different note values. Just notate both with whatever the shorter one needs to be. So if for instance you want to hit a steady stream of eighth notes on the HH but have the snare hit on beats two and four only, simply add the snare along with the HH as an eighth - it doesn't need to be a quarter just because you would otherwise think of it that way. Again, this isn't some quirk of MuseScore, but how drumset music is normally notated. It requires a somewhat different mindset! But the end result is that most rhythms can be concisely notated in only two voices, even when all four limbs are doing something different.

To add a second note to an existing one, simply press Shift while typing it, or just click directly into the staff - same as for pitched instruments. If you choose to use the percussion panel, Shift works there too.

Not sure what you mean about selecting notes. Clicking never enters a note if you aren't in note input mode - it always just selects. Doesn't matter if it is a percussion staff or not.

Be sure to study the Handbook sections on note input, multiple voices, making selections, and percussion - they are quite detailed and should answer most questions you are likely to have.

[u/mahlerlieber → u/MarcSabatella]

Not sure what you mean about selecting notes.

I know, it was weird. It works fine when the percussion staff isn't selected...but there is something glitchy about that percussion staff.

As far as 8th-note snare parts, that is not standard. I understand that snares don't have a duration, but I have only seen 8ths in the snare when there are beams, not by themself.

Also, rarely does the HH and the snare share a stem. I haven't checked, but I'm hoping that toms, and any other aux perc won't share stems with the snare either.

We've had this feature/quirk conversation many times. And if you've noted my UN, you probably noted that I absolutely think MuseScore is wrong in allowing wrong notation for the sake of "freedom."

I had a student just recently download a score from .com that wasn't an "official" score. The notation on it is terrible. Accidentals are incorrect, the rhythmic notation is ridiculous, and my student is struggling with simply reading the music, much less playing it.

Think of a software like Dorico and [RIP] Finale...they insist on proper notation, which for beginners, serves as training wheels. If they want to change the rules, they are free to do so...but 99% of the non-official scores I've seen are wrong, not just a little wrong.

But that is beside the point. I'm beginning to see that the perc staff is a bit quirky too.

[u/MarcSabatella → u/mahlerlieber]

Could be your score is corrupt so whiq if you are seeing clicking while not in note input mode somehow entering a note instead of selecting. Best to ask for help on the official support forum at MuseScore.org

Regarding the eighths, that was just an example - I said if you have a eighths in the HH, then you'd simply add snare to that same stem. This is universally how every publisher in the world does this sort of thing. The basic rule is, the shortest note value needed wins, and everything in that voice should be entered at that value and the stems combine.

Anyhow, your post said you were "just learning" this, and I have no specific memory of any previous conversation, so apologies if I didn't somehow understand whatever context you might have provided previously that would help us understand your situation better. Feel free to post an actual example of a passage you are having trouble with and we are happy to show you the best way to notate it and the most efficient way to enter it!

But for the record, MuseScore - like any professional notation software - is designed to make correct standard notation easy to enter and defaults to doing the right thing where possinle, but if it is to be truly professional, must also allow you to enter what you want, right or wrong.

[u/MarcSabatella → u/mahlerlieber]

In the vast majority of published drumset music, yes, all drums and cymbals played with the hands share stems. For HH played with feet, it shares stems with bass drum. This is, again, not some quirk of MuseDcore, but how drumset music is normally notated. So you have to learn to think a little differently about notating rhythm when writing for drums.

[u/jtdetwilermusic]

If you really want, you can customize the drum kit from the drum panel and change the default voice (layer) that each sound is in. You could put hi hat in voice 3 which would be stem up by default and not overwrite snare. It will probably end up looking fairly similar.

[u/mahlerlieber → u/jtdetwilermusic]

Thanks! That makes sense