A new drum instrument - how to define and import into MuseScore?

• Sep 20, 2010 - 09:49

Hi,
our group is playing West African percussion music with drum instruments like djembe, base drums, bells...etc
I'd like to write arrangements (and listen how they sound) in MuseScore but none of such instruments is available in MuseScore now. Could somebody recommend how to
1) convert a recorded sound of single tones (wav format) into format (which one?) acceptable in MuseScore
2) import this instrument definition into MuseScore

I expect it is not easy way, I need just recommendation where to find links with some standard format description, possible freeware tools for conversion...
I have been using SW PercussionStudio, but very unhappy with that, seems to me as just basic tool with many limitations.

Thanks in advance
Ruda

Comments

• Sep 20, 2010 - 10:37

First, you should focus on notation and see fif MuseScore suits your needs for noteheads, number of lines etc... using the already existing instruments.
Regarding the sound, MuseScore uses Soundfont . You can find djembe soundfont on the internet but I have no idea how they are structured and how well they play with MuseScore.

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• Sep 20, 2010 - 15:55

Thanks for the hint. I have downloaded a sf2 file with African percussion from net.
I placed it in "sound" directory where already TimGM6mb.sf2 exists.

Further I found instructions what to do with a new sf2:
"In MuseScore go to Preferences then click the I/O tab, make sure "Use internal synthesizer" is checked and change the SoundFont: location to wherever you extracted" .

I use MuseScore version 0.9.6.2 revision 3400 on Windows XP, but I have no possibility to view/change sound font there.
Could anybody advise how to import a new sf2 in this version?
Furthermore, what relation exists between instruments.xml file(s) in "templates" directory and current sf2 file being used?

Ruda

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• Sep 20, 2010 - 18:16

See Soundfont to see how to setup MuseScore to use a soundfont. In short, you have to select the SF2 file in Display -> Synthesizer.

MuseScore uses GM soundfont, containing the 128 instruments defined by General Midi. Each instrument in instruments.xml is associated with one of the 128 MIDI instruments and so the default sound for this instrument is picked according to this settings. You can change the association for a score in Display -> Mixer.
Instruments.xml is used to list the instrument in the Create new score

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