Change instrument sound in Musescore 4
The new mixer allows you to change the soundfont for the instrument, but unlike in Musescore 3, you can't change the specific sound for the instrument. In Musescore 3, you would choose all the soundfonts you want to be used in the score, then you'd select the specific sound for the instrument, but now in v4, you can only assign an entire soundfont to an instrument if that makes sense. For example, the piano tracks I used to have assigned to various synthesizers and saw waves is now locked to just piano. If there's a way to change this, I still can't find it.
Comments
I second that, ran into the same problem today and this post was the top answer to my search.
It looks like they now have distortion, overdrive, and all that built in now, it would still be nice to have access to individual tones though. Also kinda related, palm mutes lines are glitchy, they like to continue to mute the next note when it shouldn't be, and no matter how you mute, you can no longer achieve a distorted mute tone like with Musescore 3.
The ability to select other patches from Soundfonts directly from the mixer will be restored in a future update.
In the meantime you could resort to a free VST such as Sforzando or Sfizz to load your preferred soundfont patch that way.
In reply to The ability to select other… by jeetee
Yeah, I've been downloading a lot of VSTs, never used them before, though. They can be finicky, too, they like to crash my scores or just not show up at all. When they do work they're nice, though.
In reply to The ability to select other… by jeetee
How long should we expect to wait for this future update?
In reply to How long should we expect to… by Dylan Chope
You should expect to wait for it until it's ready ;-)
I'm not certain it'll be in the very first bugfix releases already, given that there are a few more critical things to address first (crashes etc..). And I would not expect such a first 4.0.1 before the end of January as many of the team will be on holidays over the coming weeks.
In reply to The ability to select other… by jeetee
Oof... well in case number of comments has any weight on priority for things, I'll chime in that this is super important to me as well! Back to version 3 I go!
In reply to The ability to select other… by jeetee
Thank you for letting us know! Selecting different sound banks is essential for organ composition. Without it, organ playback is essentially useless.
In reply to Thank you for letting us… by Tate Shannon
I second that!
What I did was, I used the instrument sound I wanted instead, and then I replaced the names and abbreviations, and adjusted the usable pitch range to match the instruments I was using.
Is there a way to tweak the timbre on an instrument? I’d just like the piano and voice to have a cleaner sound. The piano almost sounds like it has pedal. I’m not doing complicated scores, just one voice and piano at this point. In general, I’m finding 4 easy to learn, but some things seem to be missing or confusing.
In reply to Is there a way to tweak the… by jbkerman
It sounds to me like the samples themselves might be fine, but everything has a fairly strong reverb effect on it that doesn't seem to be able to be turned off?
In reply to It sounds to me like the… by Daniel Gealow
Could be. I’m only using piano and mezzo-soprano (which doesn’t sound great either.)
In reply to Is there a way to tweak the… by jbkerman
I'm assuming this is the same thing I've been having. From V3 I've already had over a dozen soundfonts installed, so if I want a different sound or timbre for an instrument I just select a different soundfont or VST. For now, unless you revert back to V3 it looks like you'll have to download another soundfont if you don't like the way any of the ones you already have sound.
This issue is all over the Musescore Forum and Issue Tracker, for example:
Can't change instrument through mixer/panel? (M4)
https://musescore.org/en/node/337875
MuseScore 4 Soundfonts
https://musescore.org/en/node/338222
How do I change a specific MIDI sound?
https://musescore.org/en/node/338234
Change instrument sound in Musescore 4
https://musescore.org/en/node/338603
Cannot specify a custom Program/Bank in the Mixer
https://musescore.org/en/node/339998
Inability to chose specific sounds from Musescore Basic & SOundfonts
https://musescore.org/en/node/341096
Commenting to add my vote, hopefully it gets fixed soon
bababababa babqbababa
For the time being, you can use a soundfount player vst like this
https://github.com/Birch-san/juicysfplugin
and select the exact instrument from within the vst window
I would like to be able to modify the decay time on the piano. In the attached file the slurred eighths do not have the desired legato sound. I was tempted to try an organ sound, but the few choices in Muse 4 were unsatisfactory.
Problem for me too, so I'm adding in my vote to fix this as soon as possible. I constantly work with soundfonts and changing instrument sounds for my videogame composing and transcribing, so the lack of support for it in MS4 is a deal-breaker for me. I can't even consider using MS4 until this is fixed, so I'm sticking to MS3 for the forseeable.
In reply to Problem for me too, so I'm… by FinnStrike
This is expected to be addressed in 4.1, due out in a couple of months. Note that meanwhile you can simply split the soundfont into separate sounds, and/or use VST and Msue Sounds. Really, the capabilities go far beyond what was in MU3 already, but with 4.1, it will be that much more so.
In reply to This is expected to be… by Marc Sabatella
The Muse Sounds from Muse Hub do the trick for me.
![2023_05_15_18_09_42_.png]( "2023_05_15_18_09_42_.png")
you see the tenor having the oboe sound, but you can't hear it.
The only thing is that not all instruments give sound on all notes. Is there a reason you might know? In this picture
In reply to The Muse Sounds from Muse… by wieke.vangerwen
It's usually impossible to say from just a picture, but if you attach the score itself, someone can take a look and advise better.
In this case, though, it certainly seems like those notes are outside the range of the oboe, so no surprise there are no samples for them.
In reply to Impossible to say from just… by Marc Sabatella
Here is an example. I set the tenor to sound like an oboe. Not all notes are heard. The tenor sax sounds all of them.
In reply to Here is an example. I set… by wieke.vangerwen
Yes, this is exactly as I said - those notes are too low for an oboe to play. That is why there are no recordings for them in Muse Sounds - the player they hired to record the sounds would have been physically unable to play those notes. Oboe is just not a good choice for tenor parts - try bassoon or some other instrument capable of playing notes further below middle C.
In reply to Yes, this is exactly as I… by Marc Sabatella
O wow, thank you for this insight! Never thought i tried to let the player reach the impossible. Sorry for that.
I had no idea this is life music. The sound is beautifull. I'll try to keep this in mind. And just look for the instrument that reaches what a human voice can.
Thanks!
In reply to Yes, this is exactly as I… by Marc Sabatella
They do make extended range oboes that can play lower but yeah we need a new update for the MuseHub sounds
Just another user who relied on this heavily in MS3 and bummed it's not present (at present) in MS4.
I write simple 3- and 4-part vocal arrangements for my band.
The sounds associated with the Voice Instruments (Tenor, Baritone, Bass, etc.) are too choir-like for my taste, and have way too much reverb. I need timbrally distinct, clean single lines, so I used to substitute a variety of woodwind or brass sounds. In MS 4, if I select a transposing instrument (say, a Bb Clarinet), MS applies the appropriate key signature to make things harmonize with the Concert instruments -- but that confuses my singers.
I just want to be able to use the SOUND of an Instrument, without necessarily using the Instrument itself.
In reply to Just another user who relied… by Mark Madonna
This is my need exactly.
Other posts in this thread suggest the ability to choose a sound from the mixer would be restored in 4.1.
But I'm on Musescore 4.1.1.232071204, and I can't see how to do it.
Did this request drop out of 4.1?
In reply to This is my need exactly… by DamnMachine
It was being considered for 4.1, but didn’t happen. It is however already implemented for 4.2. Meanwhile the workaround remains simple as explained previously - use Muse Sounds for the alternate sounds, or a “split” version of a soundfont like the MS Basic version I have provided at https://community.masteringmusescore.com/c/resources/ms-basic-individua…
In reply to It was being considered for… by Marc Sabatella
Thanks Marc.
Your workaround has helped me out.
Hoping that more comments might put this higher on the staff priority list :') but yes I miss being able to change the specific instrument sound (Not talking about soundfont but like let's say putting a cello sound in a track that says vocal etc.) I will probably be staying in Musescore 3 for the meantime just because I need this feature.
In reply to Hoping that more comments… by llyonafang
You can do that already - just select the Muse Sounds cello. Or use a version of the soundfont that has been split into separate files, I provide in https://community.masteringmusescore.com/c/resources/ms-basic-individua…
But the ability to select individual sounds within soundfonts should be returning shortly.
In reply to Hoping that more comments… by llyonafang
The Muse Sounds in the Hub work pretty good for me.
I'm very much missing this function as well!
The choir voices are not very articulated and makes it quite hard to compose for a capella!
Was looking forward to the summer update and disappointed when I found this had not been included :(
In reply to I'm very much missing this… by u2kheim1
You can already select any of the Msue Soudns or any of your VST instruments. but if you have a special reason to need to use an old-school soundfont instead, see my "split" version of MS Basic available at https://community.masteringmusescore.com/c/resources/ms-basic-individua…
In reply to You can already select any… by Marc Sabatella
This looks useful, thanks for posting this here. My system is currently too old for Muse Sounds, so this seems to be a decent option. But I am curious if there is a way of making specific sounds always be chosen by default? Aka, everytime I want a choir part, I always want choir oohs rather than choir ahhs. I'm having issues finding if this is a thing (best I can tell it isn't unless you use a new soundfont you're happy with or perhaps make a custom soundfont), and I really want it to be a thing considering how often I make scores with choir parts - I'd like to put an end to needing to change every part on every new score I make.
Thanks for all your hard work on the program!
In reply to This looks useful, thanks… by ceegers
Just set up a score as you like then save it to your Templates folder. Then select that in the wizard when creating a new score.
So I just tested the latest development build of MuseScore 4.2 and I am thrilled!
Finally I can use my soundfonts with many different instruments and sounds (in this case Stefans Cathedral Pipe Organ.sf2).
Bold thanks to the programmers, you are my heros!
it seems like the only way around this is choosing the instrument you want the voice to sound like (i.e. I want my Alto voice to sound like the piano just so it doesn't sound so scary), and then renaming the voice part in the instrument section. so I would choose to re-name the piano Alto, so the score still looks like SATB, but doesn't have the scary voice
In reply to it seems like the only way… by inceangela200
"The only workaround" not by a long shot.
You could use the pre-split version of MS Basic created by Marc Sabatella and found at https://community.masteringmusescore.com/c/resources/ms-basic-individua… while awaiting the 4.2 release (aimed for mid/end November from what I hear).
In reply to it seems like the only way… by inceangela200
Or simply choose the piano from Muse Sounds. Or any piano soundfont, including any of the ones from my "individual sounds" version of MS Basic. Or a VST piano. Or use the free VST "sforzando" to select the sound. Many ways to get a piano sound for your choral staves without resorting to what you describe.
This one missing capability outweighs all of the improvements in MuseScore 4. It's the reason I'm still using Version 3.
In reply to This one missing capability… by Nancy Bachmann…
If you for some reason do not wish to use the split soundfont (as found on https://community.masteringmusescore.com/c/resources/ms-basic-individua…) we look forward to welcoming you back with the upcoming release of 4.2 which'll restore this functionality.
Hooray for MuseScore 4.2 which addressed this issue nicely. Well done. Now, of course, I desire another change.
choralia.net offers the following option for voice sounds:
"The main technology is named Virtual Singer (VS), as lyrics are also "sung" by electronically-synthesized human voices. " See https://www.myriad-online.com/en/products/virtualsinger.htm
Although it doesn't sound much like singing, the words are there and it's quite useful when learning a vocal part.
Unfortunately, Virtual Singer is not GPL licensed and so can't be shipped with MuseScore. Does anyone know of a similar GPL code that could be used to allow MuseScore to "sing" lyrics?
i found the answer-
just find the 3 dots in mixer tab, then go to VIEW>SOUND
yeyyyyyy
(the attachment is a photo)