How do I change the instrument used to play back a staff?

Discussion of playback and midi issues go here.
rowan_bradley
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Sep 07, 2008 11:15 pm

Post by rowan_bradley » Sun Jun 13, 2010 1:56 pm

I'm using Sib 4 to create midi files for learning choral music. I have 4 staves labelled SOPRANO, ALTO, TENOR and BASS. When I play the music back using Sibelius or via an exported midi file, it uses a very imprecise mushy sound which is I suppose supposed to sound like a choir. This is far to indistinct for practice. It needs to be played by a piano, oboe or other (a different instrument for each voice). How do I change a staff to be played by a different instrument, without changing the names of the staves (i.e. they still need to be labelled Sop Alt Ten and Bas)?

Thanks - Rowan


Sebasian
Posts: 1476
Joined: Mon Feb 13, 2006 5:46 pm

Post by Sebasian » Mon Jun 14, 2010 11:33 am

rowan_bradley wrote:How do I change a staff to be played by a different instrument, without changing the names of the staves
The simplest way is to change the sounds in the mixer, then save your score again (maybe with a different name).

Choose the Mixer Window (from the Windows menu) then expand (large arrow at top right) if necessary.

Choose a staff, then select the sound you want.
Attachments
ChangeSound4.jpg
Change the sound of a staff in Sibelius 4
ChangeSound4.jpg (75.76 KiB) Viewed 17075 times

rowan_bradley
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Sep 07, 2008 11:15 pm

Post by rowan_bradley » Mon Jun 14, 2010 2:57 pm

That's exactly what I needed to know. Somehow using the mixer to control this seems counter-intuitive (to me). I would have expected the mixer to be something that happened at the tail end of the playback process. I certainly would not have expected mixer settings to be saved in a score file. But there you go - I will try to remember this for next time!

Thanks again for your help - Rowan

Melebius
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Aug 26, 2011 7:30 am

Post by Melebius » Fri Aug 26, 2011 7:33 am

Hi, I had used this way in Sibelius 4 but in Sibelius 5 the mixer window was rearranged and I cannot find this option again. It seems like Sibelius 5 only allows to change sound bank but not the particular instruments. Is there any way to do it? Thanks in advance.

rowan_bradley
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Sep 07, 2008 11:15 pm

Post by rowan_bradley » Sun Oct 09, 2011 11:29 pm

Sorry - I don't have Sib 5 so I can't tell you. Why do software companies so often break features that users like and need when they upgrade? Microsoft is always doing it. It's like they don't actually know how people use their software...

Rowan

Post Reply