MuseScore Studio 4.4 adds new percussion playback library; engraving improvements

Muse Group has released MuseScore Studio 4.4, improving both playback and engraving. Like some of the other recent releases from MuseScore Studio, it comes with another significant update to playback. This time, Muse Group has focused on the playback of percussion specific to the US marching bands known as the drumline or battery.

This addition of the Muse Drumline percussion library to Muse Sounds via Muse Hub, and integrated support for it in MuseScore Studio, headlines this update. In addition, MuseScore 4.4’s substantial engraving improvements include better support for hairpin placement, centering of grand staff dynamics, more refined accidental positioning, and more.

Marching percussion playback

MuseScore 3 offered a free extension called MuseScore Drumline for composers and arrangers working on pieces for marching band. Many schools in the US are known for flashy performances at half-time during football games, performing at parades, and other large public events, so the unique genre represents a sizeable market. With the acquisition of Hal Leonard last year, and increased presence in US education, MuseScore 4 was ripe for an update that includes high quality playback of drumline focused percussion.

With MuseScore Studio 4.4, composers and arrangers in the marching band space have two new options that are either free or very affordable and easy to use to achieve professional sounding mockups.

Muse Drumline

Percussion notation is sometimes specific to drumline and requires specialized playback libraries to be captured correctly. As part of the MuseScore Studio 4.4 release, the user can now download the Muse Sounds library “Muse Drumline” from Muse Hub — Muse Group’s source for apps, plugins and Muse Sounds.

The Muse Drumline library is impressive. The samples were recorded by the renowned Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps, who compete in the world class division at DCI events.

Once Muse Drumline is installed, you can select percussion instruments from the Percussion – Marching family in MuseScore Studio, and they will automatically sync playback to Muse Drumline. Here, the noteheads are mapped to specific sounds. Like other playback in MuseScore Studio, staff text is used to change a variety of presets for different implements and techniques. The documentation available on Muse Hub shows how to best capture the playback you are looking for .

Adding percussion notation has always been difficult in MuseScore and still is in this latest release. However, Muse is planning an overhaul in this area to be released in MuseScore 4.5. Muse Drumline and the forthcoming update to entering percussion notation have been overseen by Muse Group’s resident percussion expert Zac Jansheski (and QA Engineer), who is well-versed in both the orchestral and marching worlds.

Here is a clip from a demo piece Zac created as part of this launch that can be previewed in Muse Hub.

 

Virtual Drumline

Virtual Drumline (VDL) is an industry standard VST sound library that uses the Kontakt Player to play samples. When installed correctly, it can be integrated into Sibelius, Finale and Dorico for playback as well as in a DAW. With the release of MuseScore Studio 4.4, this library is now available for purchase on Muse Hub as a Muse Sounds library.

The software’s creator, Tapspace, has split Virtual Drumline into two offerings on Muse Hub: Virtual Drumline (just the drums) for $9.99 and Virtual Percussion (everything else) for $19.99. Considering the full version of this product lists for $199, this is a great value for users in the Muse ecosystem.

Like any other Muse Sounds offering, these libraries are ready to use “out of the box” and require no mapping to start using. However, one tradeoff for this ease of use is that you are not able to do some of the very fine tuning that can be done with the full version.

Engraving

Given the notorious difficulty of setting up percussion for playback in notation software, it’s tempting to bang the drum for this new feature alone. But as Scoring Notes readers know, engraving updates are essential, and MuseScore Studio 4.4 is the largest upgrade to the overall engraving options in the software since the launch of version 4. This update tackles a series of different issues and offers easier options to set your engraving defaults to match your preferences.

Anchors

The most noticeable update to 4.4 involves the use of “anchors”.  These visual subdivisions of the measure coincide with the time signature and allow for precise placement of dynamics, rit./accel. lines, and hairpins, to name a few.

The concept of anchors is not new to MuseScore, but previously the end of a hairpin had to be a note or rest. For example, it was difficult to easily create a crescendo and decrescendo on the same held note. Now, in MuseScore 4.4, the anchor can be partway through a note.

(Finale has been in the news recently; users of that software may recall when a similar feature — anchored measure-attached Smart Shapes — was added in 2013!)

Dynamics

Beyond improved placement options from the new anchors functionality, dynamics can now be tied to a specific voice. They can also be centered on a grand staff by default, i.e., for piano music. The properties tab now shows easy-to-follow options to customize your selected dynamic.

A simple but impactful update now finally defaults dynamics to be above the staff on vocal music.

Thoughtful application of the connections between hairpins and dynamics have even been applied to rit./accel. lines when connecting with a tempo marking, as seen below.

Accidentals

MuseScore Studio 4.4 brings an overhaul to accidental placement, allowing for better general defaults, and options to control placements in accidental-heavy chord situations to suit your preference.

Elaine Gould, in Behind Bars, advises that “An accidental should be as close as possible to the note it precedes.” Here, you can see how the accidentals have been allowed to tighten up a bit more and placements when possible are closer to the note to which they are applied.More options are now found under Format > Style > Accidentals to set the behaviors for chords with multiple accidentals:

Although these rules can govern many situations, there are times where discretion is exercised. Even Gould allows for several acceptable scenarios:

To accommodate this, MuseScore 4.4 gives the user control over the order of accidentals horizontally when the situation arises, by selecting an accidental and adjusting the Horizontal order using the properties tab.

Other engraving updates

There are so many other upgrades here that also deserve our attention as well.

• Several new settings around lyric lines under Format > Style > Lyrics to control the display for dashes and underscores
• Several new settings for chord diagrams under Format > Style > Fretboard diagrams to set fingerings, the thickness of lines, formatting fret numbers, a ‘slur’ style for barrés, and allowing ‘dangling’ strings at the bottom of the frame to be turned off
• Smoother application of multi-line copyright text
• Support for French-styled beams
• Instrument name display options can be found under Format > Style > Score which allows you to easily hide/show an instrument name without the trouble the workarounds would cause previously
• Proper SMuFL font integration when using Ghost and Dead notes in tablature
• Double barline default settings around changing key and time signatures in Format > Style > Barlines
• Updates to spacing and accidental behaviors when using cross-staff beaming
• Improvements to ties and slurs around articulations
• Better integration of SMuFl fonts when used in text
• Frames can now adjust to changing staff sizes
• Sticking text alignment updates.
• Easy ways to separate notes in different voices often using the same stem (like voice 1 and 3) in Format > Notes > Alignment in chords
• Formatting options for the thickness and placement of slurs versus ties in Format > Notes > Slurs & ties
• Control over multiple grace note slashes on a beam

There are many more small updates to engraving and MusicXML import that are detailed here.

Technical updates

Beyond the playback and engraving updates, there are several technical and user experience related updates in MuseScore Studio 4.4.

• Latency when entering notes with a MIDI device has been fixed.
• Apple Silicon chips now work directly with the software using the Qt 6 framework. You’ll notice a dramatic improvement just launching 4.4 for the first time as compared to previous versions if you are on a Mac with an Apple Silicon chip.
• When using Muse Choir or the Voxos library sold on Muse Hub, lyrics will trigger the correct phonemes in playback if available. In the case of Muse Choir this is “Ahh”, “Mmm” and “Ooh”, but Voxos has about 30 more.
• The speed of exporting audio from a score has been improved significantly.
• Hidden instruments can now be chosen to be heard in playback.
• Dragging in objects from the palette is much easier than it was before. Now it looks to snap to the closest object it is near.
• When selecting multiple notes and changing their duration, the notes remain selected after the edit allowing you to make further changes if you’d like.

Availability

MuseScore Studio 4.4 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.

Learn more

For full coverage of MuseScore Studio 4, please read our comprehensive reviews MuseScore 4, MuseScore 4.1, MuseScore 4.2., and MuseScore Studio 4.3.

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.