Muse Group has recently released a major update to Muse Hub, transforming the application from a delivery method for in-house products and playback libraries to a platform that offers purchasing third-party playback options in MuseScore Studio, audio tools, and even audio samples. This update impacts both MuseScore Studio and Audacity and demonstrates the company’s ambitions to be a major player in every corner of the music creation space in the future.
Included in Muse Hub are four different sections each with their own role in a composer’s music creation journey: Muse Sounds, Apps, Plug-Ins, and Elements. While the updates to Muse Sounds are certainly the most relevant in terms of music notation software specifically, we will discuss the others as well, as the line will continue to blur when it comes to the interaction of notation and audio focused applications across the industry.
Muse Sounds
Previously, Muse Sounds was the label to describe the new in-house created sample libraries that accompanied the release of MuseScore 4 and greatly improved the software’s default playback. Now, the term Muse Sounds has been redefined to describe any playback library that is designed specifically for use with MuseScore Studio or StaffPad.
Muse Sounds aren’t just sample libraries; they are tailor-made to work with MuseScore Studio and StaffPad. To map playback for the libraries sold on Muse Hub in the same way using another notation program or a DAW is quite time consuming and requires you spell out any specific changes to the playback. Muse Sounds react to changes you make using staff text — detailed further here in this MuseScore Studio 4.3 release article — as well as articulations, dynamics, etc as you would normally enter it. The goal is to make the playback seamlessly integrated into the notation and text in your score.
There are many more options for fine-tuning playback in a DAW versus MuseScore Studio, but having access to playback from libraries from top-tier developers like Orchestral Tools, Spitfire Audio and Cinesamples with the same ease of use as the in-house made Muse Sounds within MuseScore Studio makes this a very big upgrade for Muse Hub.
The pricing, though, is what makes this a truly compelling offer from Muse Group. A library like Berlin Strings, the famed series from Orchestral Tools, lists for just under $1,000 USD. To gain access to the same library for use in MuseScore Studio via Muse Hub is currently $9.99.
In MuseScore Studio, Muse Sounds can be accessed in the mixer just as they were previously, but you will now see other developers listed here under Muse Sounds if you purchase any 3rd party playback libraries in Muse Hub.
MuseScore Studio and StaffPad
If you are a StaffPad user, you will recognize the selection of available libraries for purchase as the same you have seen available for purchase in the StaffPad Store section for several years. StaffPad founder David William Hearn has been overseeing the development of Muse Hub and connecting the technology driving playback in StaffPad with MuseScore Studio. With StaffPad and MuseScore Studio sharing similar approaches to playback, both programs can run Muse Sounds created in-house or by a third party developer.
It is important to note that a purchase in MuseHub does not yet translate to access in StaffPad or vice versa. StaffPad’s in-app purchased libraries are tied to the App Store of the respective platform you are using it on — iPad OS or Windows. Purchasing a CineStrings library for example in StaffPad on an iPad will not actually gain you access to even a Windows version of StaffPad you own as a result. However, it is conceivable that the Muse Hub platform may open the door for such cross-product availability in the future.
The current construction of Muse Hub could, in theory, allow for StaffPad to be a free app on the app store, with payment necessary to unlock additional features and libraries on Muse Hub. One issue that keeps some users away from StaffPad is the lack of a free trial before purchasing, and a system like Muse Hub paves the way for this possibility in the future.
The inclusion of Elements in Muse Hub (discussed further below) is the same term first coined by StaffPad for these ready to use samples and sound effects found in the app. Elements in Muse Hub however are targeted at Audacity users or users of another DAW not MuseScore Studio users.
Pricing of third-party libraries in StaffPad have dropped significantly since they were first released. Purchasing a Spitfire library for example in StaffPad previously was generally around $99 USD, and now is closer to $20 USD at the time of this writing. The pricing is set a bit differently than it is seen on Muse Hub, but now very much in the same neighborhood.
Purchase process
Once you have signed up for a Muse Hub account, it is easy to purchase a library, plug-in, app ,or audio sample. As one would expect, you can find all of your paid and free downloads in the library section.
When reviewing a product in Muse Hub, there is usually a sample to hear or video to watch in order to better understand its capabilities. Many users will be delighted by the documentation included upfront in the User Guide to show what options are found for the different instruments being sold.
Muse Sounds vs NotePerformer Performance Engines
Before this latest update to Muse Hub the only option for a one-stop-shop on using a third-party library without having to do any elaborate setups within a notation software application was NotePerformer Performance Engine (NPPE). NPPE gives easy access to using some of the top libraries for integrated playback of scores in Sibelius, Finale and Dorico.
The cost of using Muse Sounds compared to NPPE is quite significant. With NotePerformer, you need to own the full version of the library first as you would use in DAW, which is quite costly, unless you already own it. If you purchase the library, you also need to purchase access to using the library with NPPE from NotePerformer. One notable exception from the additional NPPE charge is the Iconica Sketch library, which, as of Dorico 5.1, is included with Dorico or available for sale from Steinberg for non-Dorico users. If you own one or more of the of the libraries offered already for use in your DAW, and your notation software of choice is not MuseScore Studio, NPPE is still a terrific value proposition, especially because the library can be used in any software that supports VST libraries.
Muse Hub makes access to their menu of libraries significantly cheaper, and in many cases is using the same libraries. Whether it is Muse Group or NotePerformer, the time spent to map these libraries in a certain way to work with the notation software it is playing back is significant. The list of third-party libraries offered in StaffPad, and now, via Muse Sounds, has not changed in a while; it will be interesting to follow the development of both of these platforms to see if one starts offering access to significantly more libraries than the other.
Apps
There are — surprisingly — a great many freestanding music applications generally available doing, well, just about anything you can imagine. Muse Hub offers a unique audience to these developers, and it is an attractive place to market as a result. Muse Group also has the benefit of seeing how interested their audience is in a particular application, which may make acquiring those applications appealing for Muse Group in the future.
Many of the apps being sold here are using cutting-edge AI to manipulate audio in incredible ways. For example, Ace Studio can take a MIDI file, or your forgettable vocal track and apply a virtual singer of your choice and style to sing it with the words and syllables you define for it. The demos are hard to believe, and a subscription sells for $12.99 USD/ month or $99 USD for the year.
The app section is also where MuseScore Studio and Audacity can be found. With all this tech circling Muse Hub, it seems likely that, at some point, Audacity will get a makeover to support VST instruments.
Plug-ins
This section expands the on MuseFX series and opens up several plugins from top developers such as LANDR and Baby Audio. These plug-ins are VST effects designed to be used in Audacity and MuseScore Studio, and both of which will run any plug-in found on Muse Hub. These plug-ins are great for applying additional fine-tuning to your final audio mix before export by controlling things like EQ and reverb.
Elements
Elements are royalty-free beats, loops and sound effects that can be quickly added into your project. This section gives users access to a variety of sounds that can be easily dropped into a DAW, such as a short vocal hook or a cinematic boom sound. While Elements will work in Audacity, these audio files are not designed for use with MuseScore Studio.
Of all the sections, the Elements area has the largest selection in Muse Hub and the concept has buy-in from sound effect producers who are accustomed to selling these on other platforms, like Epidemic Sound.
Availability
Muse Hub is free and available now for Mac and Windows. You can download it directly here.
