Muse Group has released MuseScore Studio 4.5, featuring improvements in the areas of percussion, engraving, text handling, and input. Several features are designed specifically to appeal to Finale users switching to MuseScore Studio, and to revamp the entire experience around percussion.
This is the third consecutive major release involving percussion, following the playback variations offered via staff text in 4.3 and the launch of the Muse Drumline library in 4.4.
Updates in the areas of ties, slurs and time signature options headline the new engraving updates found in MuseScore Studio 4.5 as well.
Input updates
Dynamics
A new option for dynamics input allows you to add dynamics easily without requiring you go to the Palette to do so. When a note is selected, type Ctrl/⌘D and you will get an option to type or select from several common dynamic choices.
After entering a dynamic, a handle now appears allowing the quick creation of hairpins. If connecting from one dynamic to another, MuseScore Studio will automatically set the direction of the hairpin according to the starting and destination dynamic marking. You can manually reverse the direction of the hairpin at any time using the shortcut Alt/⌥X.
Percussion
The most significant update around input in MuseScore 4.5 belongs to percussion. This update includes playback as an upfront consideration in the process of entering percussion notation. The non-standardized world of percussion notation present unique challenges for assigning playback to a given note or notehead, and this update gives a visual, drumpad-like experience.
The “Customize Kit” option replaces the name for “Edit Drumset…” but is the same tool. Customize Kit is where you still make changes on where on the staff and with what notehead a particular percussion instrument should be shown. The new interface is meant to interact with other input modes and make the process easier to follow.
Playback and the options presented here change when you select a new percussion instrument or switch the playback library from Muse Sounds Percussion to another option like Muse Sounds Drumline, or a third-party library purchased from Muse Hub.
MuseScore Studio 4.5 also updates the options around using mixed percussion instruments in a single part. Previously, the “Percussion” instrument option was the only way to include certain options together at the same time on the same part, but it used the MS Basic playback library. The new instrument options “Mixed Percussion” and “General MIDI Percussion” (despite its name) use the Muse Sounds Percussion library for higher quality playback than was available previously. Now you can freely mix and match many of the sounds found in the Muse Sounds Percussion library.
Input by duration
In an effort to make MuseScore Studio more friendly to users transitioning from Finale, a new input method has been added that is reminiscent of Finale’s Speedy Entry mode. This pitch before duration approach uses the same number shortcuts users are familiar with (5 for quarter note, 4 for eighth note, etc.), and can optionally be combined with a MIDI keyboard.
Other nods to Finale
Beyond evoking the Speedy Entry functionality, MuseScore 4.5 has several other features that are reminiscent of editing and formatting in Finale.
- Dragging a measure or range selection will move it to a new location as a cut/paste. Alt/Option + Click/Drag will copy/paste the measure or range selection.
- You can lock a system to prevent reflows in the properties or typing Alt/⌥L
- You can create a system from selection in the properties or by typing Alt/⌥S
- You can move measures to the previous or next system in the properties or by using Alt/⌥↑ or Alt/⌥↓
Engraving updates
Partial ties and slurs
Perhaps the most noticeable update to engraving in the update is the handling of partial ties and slurs. With ties involving repeats, when the first and last pitch(es) of a repeated section are the same, this implementation will automatically add a backwards-facing tie at the start of a repeated section by default, while also making it easy to customize this if desired.
Slurs now can be associated with repeat barlines allowing for an easy way to create slurs to and from different endings or DS/DC forms. To better support these efforts these updates to ties and slurs across repeats and jumps, lyric extension lines are now available to be entered directly without requiring the extension line to be attached to an immediately adjacent lyric.
Laissez vibrer (l.v.) ties
You can now access this option via the toolbar. You will need to first customize the toolbar to add it as an option. The l.v. ties themselves now include logic to align the hanging endpoints on chords.
Layout options
MuseScore Studio has been chipping away at needs that professionals require in their work. In many cases, these requests are now coming directly from engravers at their Muse Group colleagues at Hal Leonard. The new system markings functionality in the Layout panel (formerly the Instruments panel) allows you to specify the staves where you would like to re-state elements like tempo, system text, rehearsal marks, time signatures or gradual tempo markings text like rit. and accel.
You can drag elements here around in the layout panel to reorder instruments on the score, and now you can drag system markings information to a new location as well. Copying and pasting a tempo text displayed on the top staff to a staff below, will create a system marker in the layout panel in that process as well.
Time signature options
In earlier versions of MuseScore 4, a large time signature plug-in was offered that offered some options to users, but it had some limits and required some workarounds to achieve certain results. MuseScore Studio 4.5 now brings this functionality in the software where it can be used more easily and with far greater flexibility than before.
You can access options via Format > Style > Clefs, key and time signatures and customize the position and style and size of your time signatures. If you’re not using a time signature on all staves, you can set the position and which staves to display it from using the Layout panel, in the same fashion you can update the positions of elements like tempo markings and rehearsal marks.
Cautionary clefs, key signatures, and time signatures
In situations involving repeats or jumps, there can be times where a courtesy reminder of the destination clef or key signature is helpful. Elaine Gould, on page 235 of her music notation reference Behind Bars, says, “After a change in the first-time bar, a reminder in brackets of a continuing clef, key signature or time signature is helpful at the beginning of the second-time bar.”
This is now possible in MuseScore Studio 4.5:
Or for a more real-world example, with actual notes:
A number of options can be set as the default behavior for a variety of situations involving courtesies for clefs and key signatures in Format > Style > Clefs, key and time signatures.
Masking of text
Creating a white background behind text when crossing a barline in MuseScore Studio was possible previously with enough time and patience, but not ideal. In MuseScore Studio 4.5, text now defaults to this kind of presentation, which is helpful for lyrics, expression, and any other kind of text that may collide with a barline.
For lyrics specifically, you will need to unselect Auto-place in the properties for text to show up across a barline as the default placement will not cross a barline.
You turn off this default in Format > Style > Barlines by unchecking the “Mask barlines when intersecting text” option.
Other engraving updates
There are many small fixes and updates around engraving as well as several MusicXML import and export updates that can be found here. Here are some highlights of those updates.
- Several new options for multi-measure rests in Format > Style > Rests
- Improved defaults for lyric spacing
- All text items now use the anchors system
- Improvements to note-anchored lines
- Options to fine-tune the position of the inner notes of tied chords relative to augmentation dots
- Auxiliary notes now available for trills of a second (was previously only available on other intervals) in Format > Style > Articulations & ornaments.
- Several updates around local time signatures on parts versus the score have been addressed
- Cue notes have new spacing options Format > Style > Sizes
- Updates to default note spacing when including cross-staff beaming
- Updates to MuseScore’s default Leland music font to include the narrow and narrow sans-serif time signature numerals
For a complete list of new features in MuseScore Studio 4.5, consult the official post about this release on the MuseScore site. There is also a separate post with more detail about the engraving improvements, as well as this video that walks through the new features.
New handbook
Along with this release of MuseScore Studio 4.5, there is a new GitBook-based MuseScore Studio handbook. The new handbook is currently only available in English, but Muse Group says that they will make it available in other languages soon, and that links to old handbook pages will be gradually updated to point to the new handbook.
Availability
MuseScore Studio 4.5 is free and available now for Mac, Windows, and Linux. You can download it directly from MuseScore.org or through Muse Hub. Existing MuseScore Studio users will see a prompt when launching the software to update.
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 of MuseScore 4, MuseScore 4.1, MuseScore 4.2, MuseScore Studio 4.3, and MuseScore Studio 4.4.
For the latest information about compatibility for Sibelius, Dorico, and MuseScore, as well as links to the latest news and reviews about product releases, please see the Scoring Notes Product Guide.
