On September 5, 2024, Muse Group released MuseScore Studio 4.4.1. MuseScore Studio 4.4, released on August 27, featured improvements to percussion playback and engraving. There were also some big updates to the underlying technologies, most notably the switch to Qt 6, the cross-platform application development framework used by MuseScore, which caused some bugs to creep into the 4.4 release.
The MuseScore Studio 4.4.1 update addresses these problems, featuring more than 50 bug fixes and stability improvements in total, according to Muse.
Here are the fixes in MuseScore Studio 4.4.1, as provided in an announcement on the MuseScore news site.
Stability fixes
This update contains fixes for:
- A Qt problem that caused some Windows users to see only an empty screen, depending on their graphics setup
- A crash that occurred when opening the color picker on Linux
- A crash when Ctrl/Cmd+Shift + dragging sticking and lyrics elements
- A crash that occurred with the Kontakt 7 VST3 plugin
- A crash when reordering and then deleting staves under specific circumstances
- A crash that occurred when opening certain legacy scores
- A crash when deleting glissandos in Continuous View
- A crash when opening certain tablature scores
- A crash when adding a new part in scores with pick-up or other non-counted measures
Additionally:
- Legacy scores are no longer erroneously reported as corrupted
- Scores with multi-byte (i.e. “non-English”) characters in the filename can be opened again on Windows
Engraving and score interaction fixes
- This update brings small enhancements to the layout of and interaction with dynamics and hairpins
- Sometimes dragging key signatures onto the first measure didn’t seem to work; this has been fixed
- Pedal markings would unexpectedly not connect to each other under specific circumstances; this was resolved
- A problem that occurred when dragging guitar bends in Continuous View was resolved
- Voltas are again restricted to apply to entire measures only
- Voltas no longer disappear in parts under certain circumstances
- The minimum padding between note flags and noteheads was reduced (particularly useful when there are many grace notes, as in marching percussion scores)
- Staccato markings at the stem side are now correctly placed when “French style” beams are used
- Measure numbers appear closer to the staff again (outside of staff notation, but inside voltas and other system markings)
- Cross-staff slurs won’t unexpectedly disappear anymore
- Roman Numeral Analysis appears in the correct font again
- Alternative tablature fonts are rendered correctly again
- An issue was fixed where Ctrl/Cmd+clicking elements would not work as expected
- Accidentals no longer disappear entirely when all accidentals on a chord have ‘Visible’ or ‘Autoplace’ unchecked
Playback fix
- For some people, lyrics playback with Muse Sounds was not working; this has been resolved.
Miscellaneous improvements
- Small MusicXML import issues were resolved
- A MIDI export issue with pedal markings was fixed
- A UI issue was fixed in the “Create key signature” and “Create time signature” dialogs
- Translation issues with certain palette cells were fixed
- The ‘A’ and ‘F’ keys are no longer mapped to the wrong action with certain keyboard layouts on macOS
- The amount of disk space occupied by the app on macOS has been reduced
More details are provided on the MuseScore 4.4.1 Github page.
MuseScore instruction now available from Notation Central
There are many MuseScore resources out there, but the best way to really learn the software is through customized instruction. Personal instruction sessions in MuseScore are now available from Notation Central.
Whether you’re just getting started with the software and need a general overview, a more experienced user looking to take your skills to the next level, or an advanced user in need of customized advice, look no further.
You’ll schedule an appointment with Steve Morell, an expert MuseScore instructor.
Steve is an expert MuseScore user, saxophonist, pianist, engraver and contributor to Scoring Notes, the authoritative web site about music notation software and related technology. Steve is a graduate of the famous Berklee College of Music and founded a sheet music startup called NiceChart that allowed music directors to customize arrangements automatically to any instrumentation and individual player proficiency.
Appropriate for beginner to advanced MuseScore users. Book 1 or 2 hours at a time now.
Learn more
For full coverage of MuseScore Studio 4, please read our comprehensive reviews MuseScore 4, MuseScore 4.1, MuseScore 4.2., MuseScore Studio 4.3, and MuseScore Studio 4.4.
For the latest information about compatibility for Finale, Sibelius, Dorico, and MuseScore, as well as links to the latest news and reviews about product releases, please see the Scoring Notes Product Guide.
I still use MS 3.62 because MS 4 does not yet seem to have restored the ability of the program to adjust/fine tune the volume of notes in Dynamics or Hairpins. Many scores out there subtly change note volumes mid-measure to levels not equal to the next dynamic mark. For example, an up hairpin may edit volume by only a few points, instead of the 15 points the next dynamics mark might be. As another example, an orchestra musician may insert an up hairpin for 1/2 the measure of perhaps +8 velocity to tell the musician to boost volume slightly in his/her instrument, then insert a down hairpin of say -8 velocity, to return the instrument to its background volume, by end of the measure. MS 3.6 did this fine, and I use it a lot. I could set volume any way I liked and the player would do what I wanted.
MS 4 has not yet fixed the dynamics and hairpins issue, even though they said they would months ago. I simply cannot use it until it does. Does anyone know when/if this will be done?
Updating the Qt framework version seems like the sort of thing one might do if one were planning to launch a touch-optimized version of one’s software for iPadOS or Android…
The MS 4.4.1 update playback sound quality is crackly and distorted. Anyone else experiencing this?