suddenly quiet channels?

[supineny]

Hi

I"m having this problem where suddenly one of my channels will go quiet.

Say i'm writing a choir piece and all the voices are set to Garritan 'Choral ahs', and all voices are marked mf. And the mixer window shows all instruments at the same level. What's going on when suddenly the tenor voice becomes very soft? It seems like the only way I can re-set it is by picking another instrument or channel for the tenor. But what's doing that, and how can i prevent it, or clear it more easily? I would have thought that simply playing it again and letting HP see the mf marking would reset it. But no, it seems unresponsive to dynamics. Any ideas what could be happening?

On a Mac, running Finale 27.4.1.146

Thanks,
Kurt

[Djard]

If the the playback volume for a note or group of notes is lost, check the advanced "Edit Frame" dialog from Speedy Entry as Finale can furtively uncheck the boxes for playback. But if the playback volume is only lowered, the document is likely corrupted. If the latter is the case, the only solution I know is exporting the score as an XML file then converting it back to *musx; but this fix is a labor as much of the layout and articulations get scattered, requiring extensive correction.

I'm currently contending with a similar issue, where some--not all--dynamic markings cease to function, and the playback of some instruments varies. For instance, pp works but mp fails, even when its key velocity is changed from default 62 to a lower figure. Hopefully, one of the wizards at this site can offer a solution. Does the problem occur only when you edit the document more than a few times?

[supineny]

well, I guess I always edit docs quite a bit, so it's hard to say. it seems like the problem goes away when I turn off Human Playback, so it must have something to do with that. My hunch is that the volume is brought down because of dynamics in my piece (like at the end of some decrescendo). Only it never comes back up again, even if i change the dynamics or start playing the piece from a point at which the dynamics are ff. But that's just a hunch. It seems like some midi setting has been changed and not getting changed back.

[Djard]

After using the Utility tool to "Fit Measures," like three or four per stave, I make sure all staff systems are unlocked. Since adhering to the latter, the number of problems I routinely encounter has noticeably decreased.

Another thing I have found helpful--though not always--is to highlight the entire problematic track or score -> right-click in any part of the highlighted area -> Clear Selected Items -> None -> check "MIDI Data" box -> OK.

As for failing dynamic marks and hairpins, creating custom dynamic markings with the Expression tool is an option. Sometimes I add hidden dynamics, such as pp - p - mp - mf - f for a crescendo. I spend more time laboring with workarounds than composing, hence my love-hate relationship with Finale.