Muse Guitars Vol. 2 — Mandolin (note volume and pitch)

[scorster]

The mandolin included in Muse Guitars Vol 2 is quite impressive! Aside from a small array of glitches, the Mandolin exemplifies the sonic quality I've hoped to hear in MuseSounds and MuseScore Studio.

Regarding the various playback glitches, it's unclear if the Mandolin's undesirable artifacts are:

     • due to issues within the MuseSounds Guitars Vol 2 library
     • due to MuseScore Studio's audio engine
     • or due to the way MuseSounds and MuseScore Studio's audio engine interact

So I thought it reasonable to open a discussion here.

I've posted some audio examples, Pros / Cons, and discussion at the following .org links:

     https://musescore.org/en/node/372335#comment-1273411

     https://musescore.org/en/node/372335#comment-1273590

And here's a link to a very simple example score highlighting note playback volume at .com:

     https://musescore.com/user/35880724/scores/22643767

Here's another .org post on the topic of note playback volume:

     https://musescore.org/en/node/372335#comment-1278164

scorster

[scorster]

Bug report sent to MuseHub

Today I sent a bug report to MuseHub. It includes a link to this discussion and my recommendation that MuseHub comment here.

Hopefully someone from MuseHub or MuseSounds will indeed respond here.

Here's the text of the bug report

The only instrument I like in MuseSounds Guitars Vol. 2 is its Mandolin. Unfortunately it's frequently problematic.

My system is:
     • MacOS 13.5.2
     • MacBook Air M2 24GB
     • MuseScore 4.4.4 / 4.4.5
     • MuseSampler 0.100.10
     • MuseHub 2.0.25    (2025-03-21: I upgraded to MuseHub 2.1.3 at the MS4.5.1 release)
     • my MacOS system library shows a number of MuseSounds downloaded, including
      ~/Library/Application Support/Muse Hub/Downloads/Instruments/Muse Guitars Vol 2 << Dated: 2024-12-29

Please see this Github discussion for an overview:

     https://github.com/orgs/musescore/discussions/25963

Here's a report on .org regarding the Vol. 2 Mandolin:

     https://musescore.org/en/node/372335#comment-1273411

This link opens a demonstration score on .com that illustrates various glitches:

     https://musescore.com/user/35880724/scores/22643767

And at this link on Audio.com you can hear pitch issues, like the second accompaniment chord which is an F. Also you'll hear other notes struggling to start. And playback turns into a jagged mess when the tempo is above 130 BPM.

     https://audio.com/audius/audio/beaumont-rag-mandolin-130-bpm

I hope you can update it soon. Or if need be, coordinate so the Guitars Vol 2 mandolin and MuseScore Studio audio engine work properly together.

Looking forward to hearing back soon! And it would be great if an representative would respond at the Github discussion linked above.

[scorster]

UPDATE:  I can't get work done with my purchased MuseHub libraries

1. It's been almost three months and I still haven't heard back from Muse Hub regarding sound quality inconsistencies in the mandolin in Guitars Vol.2. Is this the way it's supposed to work?

2. I also initiated contact with MuseHub via their support mechanism regarding Muse Guitars Vol 2 disappearing from MuseScore's Mixer menu. This was about the same time as my followup "sound quality" inquiry (posted directly above.)

A couple of days later I received a generic message from MuseHub with links to various MuseScore.org and Github forums. It read like a boilerplate response, suggesting only that I seek help by posting here on Github and on .org, which as you can see I had already done.

I wrote back encouraging MuseHub itself to detail a solution for my particular MuseHub/MuseSounds situation. A few days later, after receiving no further reply, I suggested they respond here.

... crickets ...

I guess MuseHub is relying on Github and .org to assist users. But the only forum/community response I received was from a person with similar problems who was also seeking a solution. And as of yet there's no input from the Github development community.

For the record, my MacOS system library shows a number of MuseSounds downloaded, including

~/Library/Application Support/Muse Hub/Downloads/Instruments/Muse Guitars Vol 2   << Dated: 2024-12-29

[scorster]

Tomorrow will be day 10 without any help from MuseHub, so I posted a negative review for Guitar Vol 2.

https://www.musehub.com/muse-sounds/muse-guitars-vol-2/reviews

[Dima-S-Jr]

Tomorrow will be day 10 without any help from MuseHub, so I posted a negative review for Guitar Vol 2.

https://www.musehub.com/muse-sounds/muse-guitars-vol-2/reviews

And you're not the only one facing this kind of problem.
These guys are really annoying to ignore users. At least they would have answered something, but no, it's better to keep silent. They won't tell you why it's taking so long to fix the bugs. After all, they only have 2 people working on it (imagine - 2 people!) and most likely it's a second-rate (if not third-rate) job for them, for which they apparently get paid pennies.

My requests are generally closed with a "Solved" mark. You can get acquainted with some of them (#4518, #4034, #4031, #3923, #4039, #4580, etc.). And if they respond to paid libraries in this way, then imagine their level of indifference towards free libraries.

I think this way: if you get down to business, if people pay money for it, then do it with dignity, and not in such a way that problems appear later that you will cope with, perhaps, only in a few years. After all, there are such simple problems that can be solved pretty quickly. Why are they dragging their feet? Yes, the free HALion SO is much better than Muse, even though there is no mute support for brass and strings.

[scorster]

@Dima-S-Jr

Well said. Thanks for you comments!

I'd like to see your unresolved cases, but maybe they're private? I get "oops The page you were looking for doesn't exist." Then I thought I needed to be logged in. And though musehub.zendesk.com is frequently problematic during attempts to login, one of my identities worked. But still I encounter the same "page doesn't exist" alert.

And apparently the MuseHub forum is just another potentially pointless place to post questions. Here's a post of mine from just over a year ago:

https://support.musehub.com/hc/en-gb/community/posts/16629853036445-Where-is-the-MuseFX-documentation

What a mess

[Dima-S-Jr]

[scorster]

Thanks for posting a short history of your MuseHub support ticket.

Sad story.

[scorster]

In various organisms one organ can compensate for a deficiency in another organ or organelle.

I've been hoping that within MuseGroup the various organs (Github and MuseScore.com) would compensate for MuseHub's lack of support. These Github discussions date back 3 months and 2 weeks, but I'm still hoping for a reply and a solution or some sense of progress.

For some reason, as stated above) MuseHub seems to thinks that's how it should work ...

[scorster]

I'm now wondering if the problem could emanate from an incomplete or inaccurate json file.

Should my user Application Support folder house a json file that contains a reference to my purchase of Muse Guitars Vol 2? As reported above the Guitars Vol 2 library files appear to be where they belong.

[scorster]

It's 12 days since I submitted an issue support request from MuseHub.

I now reply everyday to [email protected] (Aydar Faretdinov) the replyTo address I received in the initial generic "response." This is today's message:

Day 12 since filing an issue report. To date, no sentient reply.

I'm hoping someone will step up to the plate regarding MuseGuitars Vol 2 not showing in MuseScore Studios Mixer sound menu. Also I'm still hopeful for a reply regarding playback issues with onsets, durations, volume and pitch with the Mandolin in that library.

[scorster]

Day 14

Today bare-handedly I fixed my stuck point with MuseScore's Studio Mixer>Sound menu—where purchased MuseHub/MuseSounds libraries were failing to display, which left me unable to use them.

The following steps may help if you're in a similar situation. Essentially they amount to Uninstall/Download (within the MuseHub desktop app):

     1.  close MuseScore Studio
     2. open the MuseHub app (NOTE: Logging into MuseHub.org does not appear to be a viable course.)
     3. if needed, log in through the app, which seems to always require a verification code
     4.  click on the Library "tab" in the bottom left
     5.  locate a problematic/missing library (for me, Muse Guitars Vol 2)
     6.  chose Uninstall from the "down arrow" menu in the right column
     7.  when the uninstall finishes a Download button appears
     8.   click the Download button and wait for the download to complete
     9.   close MuseHub
     10.  open MuseScore Studio
     11. After opening a score that used Muse Guitars Vol. 2, go the Mixer and re-select the instruments you have previously assigned.

Result: Best I can tell ALL my missing libraries now appear in Mixer>Sound>MuseSounds>Muse

Over the last two weeks I've exerted persistence with my support ticket, but MuseHub didn't help in the least.

This image shows my purchased Guitar Vol 2 library (In MuseHub desktop app) The popup menu pertains to Guitar Vol 2 library

Here's an image of the cloud/Download button:

     

[scorster]

This Muse Sounds issue arose again today, out of the blue, after months Guitars Vol. 2 being accessible in the Mixer, today I found it MIA. Just as reported above. Although there were a couple of login issues, and the following alert appeared, even though I was currently logged into .org:

Though it cost me about 20 minutes of my time, fortunately, the steps I listed above again solved the problem I keep encountering with MuseHub and/or MuseSounds, which is of fragile installation integrity.

[scorster]

My installation of Muse Guitar Vol. 2 disappeared again today. And presently the trigger that continually causes this is unknown.

The unfortunate result: All tracks that were assigned to a Muse Guitars Vol. 2 instrument revert to MSBasic.

Today it only took 10 minutes to reinstall Muse Guitars Vol. 2 and Muse Strings. That's because I referred to the steps I outlined above that remedy the situation.