Since it became interoperable with Dorico, I have been working extensively with the Score Editor, which has become an indispensable feature in my workflow (and many thanks to Steinberg for that). However, I have a recurring issue that really bothers me on a daily basis and whose origin I cannot figure out. I have not been able to find any topic discussing it.
Regularly, instruments change on their own in the Score Editor for no reason. This does not happen once in a while but constantly, even when I am not touching the part in question.
For instance, I assign a Tuba to a part. When I open the score after a while, I notice something is wrong (incorrect clef, a bracket that has become disconnected). I open the instrument tab in the settings, and the tuba is indeed selected. But when I go into the menu, I realize that in fact a different instrument is checked, which explains the issue. I have to search for the instrument and select it again.
What is particularly frustrating is that not only do I have to reload the instruments in the settings multiple times, but I also sometimes lose the quantization and filtering settings in the process, which can cause me to lose information without realizing it, since I have to perform this operation constantly.
This problem often appears when I select multiple tracks in the Score Editor, and fixing one instrument often forces me to fix the others, which is driving me a little crazy after a while
Is this a bug, or is there a setting I am unaware of that is throwing everything off each time?
Yes, I have seen this, so I’m glad someone posted about it.
I have experienced the same thing, albeit the instruments involved are fiddle, viola, cello.
I have yet to report it since I can’t find a specific reproduction sequence to include in a bug report.
Do you use the Key Editor? I lean toward thinking it might have to do with opening the Key Editor after assigning instruments to staves. When Global Tracks are showing midi parts, I think I noticed the assigned instrument change after having selected different parts (sync editors with selection should be active (not in front of Cubase at the moment)).
At some point afterwards I observed that the clefs changed, and upon investigating in Instrument Settings these were set to “Fiddle” instead of Cello, Viola.
edit… you mentioned selections too, but in the score editor
Thank you Steve! I am already reassured to know I am not the only one experiencing this issue
Do you use the Key Editor? I lean toward thinking it might have to do with opening the Key Editor after assigning instruments to staves.
Indeed, I didn’t mention it because I was not sure, but I do suspect a connection!
In my workflow, I often use my triple monitor setup with the Project Window on window 1, the Key Editor on window 2, and the Score Editor on window 3. When I work, I first select in the Timeline the containers I want to work on at a given moment, then I edit notes/controllers/articulations in the Key Editor while adding musical information in the Score Editor in anticipation of when I will move to Dorico. But I have the impression that it also happens even when the Key Editor is not being used simultaneously.
I have noticed that often (I cannot say whether it is systematic or not) the instrument that substitutes itself for the one I want is an instrument I have recently used or selected, but never one that has never been used in the project (nor even one that would correspond to a misinterpretation of the track name because I use French - “Cordes” is interpreted by default as a Horn by Cubase instead of Strings).
By the way, I have just discovered today (and you will tell me it was about time!!!) that by default the Score Editor layout was synchronized with the Key Editor, but that you could have fixed custom layouts for the Score Editor, which I imagine should allow me to limit this issue somewhat (while also gaining the comfort of working with the full score without having all the tracks showing through in the Key Editor).
In fact, the problem does not disappear completely when using fixed Score Editor layouts (I have had tracks changing instruments again in the last hour) but it does limit it somewhat in practice, since given my workflow I have less need to “fiddle with” the Key Editor. Let’s just say I will still lose time, but a little less. The issue is still there, unfortunately.
create Five midi tracks, name them Violin, Violin 2, Viola, Cello, Bass (Note that Cubase will automaitaclly select Bass Singer, not double bass, but this is fine for our purpose.
create midi parts on each track (let’s say 32 bars)
open the Score Editor on a second Screen
open the Key Editor in a window on different screen
in the key editor activate Global Tracks to see the midi parts
Close the Score Editor
repeatedly select and deselect the parts in the global view of the Key Editor
now, add a note or two to each part
Open the Score Editor
Have any of the instruments changed?
Here, Cello got switched to Bass Singer @mducharme
