Overview

Basic playback functions are accessed from the Play toolbar at the top right of the program window:

From left to right, the icons are:

• Rewind to start position: Playback returns to the beginning of the score, or to the start of the loop (if one is set).
• Start or stop playback: See Start/stop playback.
• Toggle loop playback: See Loop playback.
• Play metronome: Toggles metronome ON and OFF.
• Playback settings: Opens the playback settings dialog (see below).

To the right of the playback controls are counters showing

• Time elapsed from the start of score to the cursor position.
• Bar number and beat at the cursor position.
• Tempo in 1/4 notes (crotchets) per min.

This panel can also be undocked giving you access to additional controls—see play position and tempo, (below). To redock the Playback Panel: click and hold down the "6 dots", then drag the Playback Panel to the top right of the MuseScore screen and release.

Playback commands

Start/stop

To play back all the instrument parts

1. Click on a note or rest to establish the starting point.
2. Press the Play button, or press Space.

To play back selected instrument parts only

1. Select a measure that you want to start from (by clicking on a blank space within that measure);
2. To play back more than one instrument part, extend the selection up or down as required.
3. Press the Play button, or press Space.

Notes: (1) If no selection is made before activating Play, playback returns to the place it stopped at previously; or, if no previous playback, to the start of the score. (2) The Play button changes to a "stop" icon while music is playing.

To stop playback

• Press the Play button; or press Space.

Rewind

To rewind playback click on the Rewind icon on the Play toolbar. Rewind returns the playback to the beginning of the score or, if a loop is set, to the beginning of the loop.

Loop

To loop playback over a section of music:

1. Stop playback (if it is on);
2. Ensure that the loop playback button is "off" (i.e. not colored blue);
3. Select a range in the score, encompassing the instrument staves you want to play back;
4. Click on the loop playback button in the Play toolbar. Flags will appear around the selection and the button change color.
5. Click on the Play button.

In the example below, playback will cycle over the selected two bars of Violin 2 and Viola, the region marked by the blue flags. Use the "Loop playback" button to toggle the loop on or off.

Metronome

Musescore can automatically add metronome ticks sound to playback if desired, use the metronome button.

How many ticks are added onto each measure is determined by the time signature and tempo. It does not depend on the note value (duration) used on metronome markings (both crotchet ♩ = 60 and quaver ♪ = 120 markings create identical result).

There are two tick sound clips, strong ticks and weak ticks. Which one is added is determined by the beat and written tempo (not affected by the tempo slider). Beat is dictated by the time signature only, but not affected by the beaming style, or the note value (duration) used on metronome markings.

• For simple meters, the top number of the time signature is the number of beats in each measure. 2 = duple, 3 = triple, 4 = quadruple. Strong ticks are created on each beat. No weak ticks are created.
• For compound meters (6/8, 9/8, etc), the top number of the time signature divided by three, is the number of beats in each measure. 6 = duple, 9 = triple, 12 = quadruple. Strong ticks are created on each beat. Weak ticks (two weaks following one strong) are created only if it is below 60 beats per minute. For example, onto measure using 6/8, both dotted crotchet ♩ . = 59 and quaver ♪ = 179 markings create the result of two strong ticks and four weak ticks in each measure.

These ticks are not added to any exported audio files. If you want to include these ticks to exported audio, try these:

• Add a percussion staff, fill the first measure with the desired rhythm and the rest with measure repeats, then hide that staff, source,
• Metronome SoundFont (CC0) provided by mirabilos,
• Add metronome part plugin by sal.vador.

Play position and tempo

The current playback position is shown by counters to the right of the playback controls. One shows the position in terms of time elapsed, the other in measures and beats (see image in overview).

The numbers in the time and measure counters can be edited after clicking on them; playback will be resumed from the edited position.

When the Play toolbar is undocked from the toolbar area, it automatically expands to include two slider controls. By dragging the sliders you can adjust the playback position and tempo of playback. Note that tempo overrides are only temporary, and do not affect the actual written tempo(s); returning the slider to "100%" restores normal playback.

In the following example the position of playback is about one third of the way through the score, and the playback tempo slider is set to 78 quarter note beats per minute (bpm); or 130% of the nominal metronome mark, 60 bpm, displayed in the score.

Other commands

Click the settings button (cogged gear) on the Play toolbar to show the following controls:

You can uncheck or check these options as desired.

Enable MIDI input

Enable MIDI input to write music to your score with a linked MIDI device (such as a keyboard or drum machine) during playback. See Working with Midi for details.

Play repeats

Uncheck this option if you want playback to ignore any repeat indications in the score.

Play chord symbols

Uncheck this option if you want playback to ignore chord symbols in the score.

Pan score automatically

When checked, this option pans the score during playback; uncheck if you want the view to remain stationary.

Overview

The mixer allows you to

• change instrument sounds (without affecting the staff notation).
• load virtual instruments and effects.

• adjust volume and panning, and make other adjustments to the playback for each stave.

  

The mixer is divided into a number of color-coded channel strips:

• Instrument: Each staff instrument in the score has its own channel, with the name of the instrument, labelled blue, at the bottom. An instrument channel is also created for each mid-score instrument change applied to a staff.
• Metronome: This channel, also labelled blue, allows control of metronome volume and panning.
• Aux 1/Aux 2: These are the auxiliary channels, labelled green, and may be used to house VST effects units. Aux 1 by default contains Muse Reverb (see below).
• Master: The master fader, labelled red.

Opening the mixer

You can display/hide the mixer by:

• Clicking on the Mixer button in the Note input toolbar.
• Clicking View→Mixer.
• Using the shortcut F10.

Note: If the instrument channel strips are not in the same order as the instruments in the score, try closing and reopening the Mixer again.

Mixer controls

A channel strip contains the following controls (from top to bottom):

• Sound: See below.
• Audio FX: See below.
• Aux sends: See below.
• Pan: Click and drag on the Pan knob to move the audio track to the left or right in the stereo sound field. Double click on the knob to return Pan to the center position.
• Volume: Click and drag the fader to increase or decrease playback volume. Double click on the fader to return it to the default level, 0 dB.
• Mute and Solo: Click on the Mute button to silence the track; click again to unmute it—and so on. The Solo button silences all other tracks allowing you to hear only the soloed track. Multiple selection of Solo and Mute buttons is possible, allowing you to conveniently isolate any combination of instruments.
• Name: Note that this name is not affected by any changes made to the instrument name in the score.

Click the three dot icon in the upper right corner of the Mixer panel to show / hide a control. For example, you can hide the Volume faders to save up vertical screen space for score viewing.

Sound

The row labelled Sound shows the virtual instrument set used in each track. This can be either a SoundFont (.sf2,.sf3), VST instruments (VSTi) or MuseSounds.

To change the instrument of a channel:

1. Mouse over the name of the virtual instrument set (in the row marked “Sound”)
2. Click the dropdown button that appears
3. Locate and click on an item from the dropdown menu.

Note: This changes the staff instrument, but has no effect on staff notation. If you want the staff to be updated as well, say, with correct transposition and clef changes, see Choose instruments.

MS4 does not yet support bank selection of sounds from a single SoundFont file (as MS3 did). This is planned for a future version, but for now, use the workaround detailed in SoundFonts.

SFZ files are supported but only by using a VST sampler; see SoundFonts.

Audio FX

Each row (slot) under the Audio FX allows you to add an extra VST effect or Muse Reverb (a native effect). Audio is processed through the Audio FX from top to bottom.

• Find VSTi inside Sound drop-downs, and find VST effects inside Audio FX drop-downs.
• To apply Audio FX(s) to one instrument, add Audio FX to the corresponding instrument strip.
• To easily apply the same Audio FX(s) to multiple instruments, use Aux sends.

To add an Audio FX plugin

1. Hover over an empty Audio FX slot
2. Click the dropdown button that appears
3. Locate and click on a plugin from the dropdown menu .
4. The plugin will load as a separate window on top of the Musescore window.
5. When you add one effect, a new empty row (slot) is created automatically to allow adding further effect. Repeat these steps to add more effect.

To disable an Audio FX plugin

1. Hover over an Audio FX slot
2. Click on the power icon that appears.

This deactivates the plugin without removing it from the mixer.

To remove an Audio FX plugin

1. Hover over an Audio FX slot
2. Click the dropdown button that appears
3. Click No effect.

Muse Reverb

Muse Reverb is MuseScore’s native reverb unit. A fixed amount of reverb is added by default to each instrument—you can adjust the amount for each channel using the Aux send knobs next to the blue buttons labelled "Reverb". The effect can be toggled on/off for each channel by clicking on the same buttons. You can also adjust the Muse Reverb output volume using the Aux 1 fader.

Aux sends

Each row (slot) under the Aux sends adjusts how much of a corresponding Aux channel effect(s) is added to the audio created for an instrument.

There are two Aux sends, corresponding to the two aux channels:

• The first row adjusts how much of Aux channel 1 Aux 1 is added onto the current instrument, it is shown as Reverb by default, because Aux 1 contains Muse Reverb by default.
• The second row adjusts how much of Aux channel 2 Aux 2 is added onto the current instrument, Aux 2 does not contain any Audio FX by default.
• Both of the two aux sends are enabled by default for each instrument, and can be disabled individually. Audio is processed with Aux 1 then Aux 2.
• You can also apply audio effect(s) to one instrument only by adding Audio FX.

To show/hide an Aux send row (slot)

1. Click the three dot icon in the upper right corner of the Mixer panel
2. Hover over View
3. Click Aux send 1 and/or Aux send 2.

To disable an Aux send row (slot)

1. Make sure the Aux send is visible
2. Click Reverb to turn off Aux send 1 OR Click Aux 2 to turn off Aux send 2.

Aux channels

Aux channels are special channels to simplify audio FX application. You can set up audio FX(s) in one Aux channel and then apply them to multiple instruments.

There are up to two Aux channels in each score:

• Aux 1: contains the Muse Reverb by default, but you can remove this and replace it with any Audio FX(s) you like.
• Aux 2: is empty by default.

To show/hide Aux channels

By default, aux channels are hidden. To show/hide a aux channel:

1. Click the three dot icon in the upper right corner of the Mixer panel
2. Hover over View
3. Click Aux channel 1 and/or Aux channel 2.

To add Audio FX to an Aux channel

The process is the same as adding Audio FX(s) to an instrument channel, see To add an Audio FX.

If there is only one Audio FXin an Aux Channel, the channel strip and its corresponding aux send are labelled by the name of the Audio FX. If there is more than one, they are labelled Aux 1 and Aux 2. You may need to save and reopen the score to see the labels update.

To adjust an Aux channel's level

Aux channel strips have volume faders. This changes the volume of the effect across all channel strips with the corresponding aux send turned on. Think of this as setting the maximum volume of the effect(s) that an instrument channel can receive.

To apply the effect(s) of an Aux channel to an instrument

To adjust how much effect of an Aux channel come through on each instrument, use the knob in the corresponding Aux sends row (slot) on that instrument channel strip, see Aux Sends.

See also

• Installing Muse Sounds

MuseScore uses virtual instruments to create audio for playback. SoundFont files (.sf2, .sf3) are one of the supported formats . An sf2 or sf3 file contains all the audio data for one or more virtual instruments.

MuseScore comes packaged with its own native SoundFont, MS Basic, which contains most of the instrument sounds you need for score playback.

You can also add and use custom SoundFonts—many are available free online. See also the list in SoundFonts and SFZ files (MS3 handbook).

Install a SoundFont

Once you’ve downloaded a SoundFont to your computer, there are two ways to install a SoundFont in MuseScore 4:

• Drag and drop the SoundFont file into MuseScore 4.
• Place the SoundFont file in the MS4 user directory named "SoundFonts".

Drag and drop installation

[Content on its way]

File directory installation

By default, MuseScore looks for SoundFonts at the location [MuseScore4 Installation Folder]\SoundFonts. So, by OS, the default locations are as follows:

• Windows: C:\Users*username*\Documents\MuseScore4\SoundFonts.
• macOS:
• Linux: ~/Documents/MuseScore4/SoundFonts.

You can also specify in which folder(s) on your computer MuseScore looks to find SoundFonts. If a SoundFont is installed in a recognized folder/directory, it will automatically be available in MuseScore.

First, specify the SoundFont directory in MuseScore 4:

1. Open Preferences (Mac: MuseScore > Preferences or shortcut Cmd+;. Windows: Edit > Preferences)
2. Select Folders (under General)
3. Click the SoundFonts folder icon
4. Click Add directory in the dialog that appears
5. Choose and Open the folder location where you want MuseScore to look for SoundFont files
6. Repeat steps 1-5 to add further directories (optional)
7. Click OK to finish. The specified directory (or directories) will appear in the SoundFonts text field.
8. Click OK in the Preferences dialog to confirm your selection.

Once a SoundFont is installed, all you’ll need to do is choose the SoundFont you want for each instrument in your score. To do this:

1. Open the Mixer
2. Hover over the plugin slot next to Sound
3. Click the dropdown arrow that appears
4. Hover over SoundFonts
5. Select the SoundFont you wish to assign to that particular instrument

Repeat this process for each instrument. In most cases, MuseScore will automatically map instruments to their correct sounds in the specified SoundFont, as long as that SoundFont is using the correct MIDI instrument definitions.

Uninstall a SoundFont

To uninstall a SoundFont, simply open the folder where its file is installed and delete it.

Selecting sounds with a SoundFont

When you select a SoundFont for a given instrument, MuseScore uses the General MIDI standard to automatically select the corresponding sound from within the SoundFont. However, this may not always be sufficient. The SoundFont in question might not be GM-compatible, or there might be multiple variants of a sound you wish to choose between, like fingered versus picked for electric bass.

When you select a SoundFont with only a single sound or only a single drum kit, MuseScore will use that. But for SoundFonts that represent collections of sounds, manual selection of individual sounds within a given SoundFont is currently not supported (as of Musescore 4.0). Therefore, if you need to select a sound for an instrument other than the one specified by General MIDI, you will need to employ a workaround:

• You can use this special version of MS Basic that provides all of the individual sounds and drum kits as separate soundfont files.

• For other soundfonts, you can split them into individual sound files using a free tool such as sf2-split or SF2 Splitter. You can edit the individual files as needed—see Editing, below.

• You can use a a VST sampler such as Sforzando, FluidSynthVST, or juicysfplugin

Editing Soundfonts

This is possible using 3rd party software such as Polyphone. For more information, see also Soundfont, MIDI velocity and instruments.xml (Developer’s Handbook).

A note on the Zerberus player and SFZs

Users of MuseScore 3.6 and earlier may be accustomed to using the Zerberus player, which supports the .sfz file format. In building a new system that now supports VST instruments, changes were required that necessitated the removal of the Zerberus player, as well as the Synthesizer found in previous versions of MuseScore. Consequently, some functionality has been lost in this process, including the ability to map specific instrument sounds like pizzicato and tremolo to specific MIDI channels. Our highest priority in future releases of MuseScore 4 is to again support this functionality for VST, SoundFont and the Muse Sounds libraries. Users who rely extensively on mapping .sfz sounds to specific performance directions are advised to continue using earlier versions of MuseScore until we re-enable this capability in MuseScore 4. It is worth mentioning that the new systems we are planning will be much more flexible, easy to use and powerful than those found in MuseScore 3.

For those who wish to still use SFZ sounds in MuseScore 4, good alternatives for Windows and macOs would be the open source VST samplers Sfizz or Sforzando, both of which support SFZ playback. Currently, the use of SFZ is not possible in MuseScore4 for Linux.

See also

• SoundFonts and SFZ files (MS3 handbook)

Alternatives to soundfonts:

• Muse Sounds
• VSTi

Installation via Muse Hub

Muse Sounds is a library of sophisticated plugins that provide realistic playback for MuseScore.

Muse Sounds are installed using the Muse Hub application, which can be downloaded here on musescore.org.

Once installed, Muse Hub can be opened by clicking the application icon in the menu bar (macOS) or system tray (Windows). Click Get under any sound you’d like to have in your library, and it will begin downloading and installing right away.

Muse Hub also contains a range of effects plugins. Download and install these from the Effects tab.

Once a plugin is fully downloaded, it will appear in the Mixer the next time you launch MuseScore.

Using Muse Sounds in MuseScore

Any Muse Sounds plugins you’ve downloaded will be automatically assigned to the appropriate instruments in your score.

You can tell MuseScore to always use available Muse Sounds plugins via the Playback Setup dialog.

1. Go to view → Playback setup
2. Select Muse Sounds in the Profiles section
3. Leave Set as default for new scores checked if you want all future scores to also use Muse Sounds
4. Click OK

The Muse Sounds playback profile will ensure that all Muse Sounds plugins will be assigned to every available instrument in your score. You can also manually assign a Muse Sounds plugin to a single instrument via the Mixer. This can be helpful for scores with more than one instrument, where you may wish to combine Muse Sounds plugins with other VSTs or Soundfonts.

1. Go to View → Mixer to show the Mixer (Shortcut: F10)
2. Hover over a plugin slot next to Sound
3. Click the dropdown button that appears
4. Navigate to Muse Sounds and select a sound from the desired library

Available sounds in Muse Sounds

Muse Sounds currently supports the following instruments:

Choir

• Sopranos
• Altos
• Tenors
• Basses

Strings

• Violins 1
• Violin 1 (Solo)
• Violins 2
• Violin 2 (Solo)
• Violas
• Viola (Solo)
• Violoncellos
• Violoncello (Solo)
• Contrabasses

Woodwinds

• Alto Flute
• Alto Sax
• Baritone Sax
• Bass Clarinet
• Bass Flute
• Bassoon
• Clarinet in Bb
• Clarinet in Eb
• Contrabass Flute
• Contrabassoon
• English Horn
• Flute 1
• Flute 2
• Oboe
• Piccolo
• Soprano Sax
• Tenor Sax

Brass

• French Horns a6
• French Horn
• Trumpets a4
• Trumpet
• Trombones a3
• Trombone
• Bass Trombone
• Cimbasso
• Tuba

Percussion

• Bass Drum
• Bell Tree
• Bongos
• Cabasa
• Castanets
• Claves
• Cowbell
• Crotales
• Field Drum
• Glockenspiel
• Gong
• Marimba
• Mark Tree
• Piatti
• Shaker
• Sleigh Bells
• Snare Drum
• Suspended Cymbal
• Taikos
• Tam-Tam
• Tambourine
• Timbales
• Timpani
• Toms
• Triangle
• Tubular Bells
• Vibraphone
• Wood Blocks
• Xylophone
• Metronome

Keys

• Celesta
• Grand Piano
• Harpsichord
• Soft Piano
• Upright Piano
• Hammond Organ
• Suitcase Piano
• Wurly 200A
• Dream Piano

Harp

• Harp

Any instruments not supported by Muse Sounds will remain assigned to MS Basic by default.

This page shows you how to apply Capo markings in MuseScore versions prior to MuseScore 4.1. See Applying capos for the new method of applying capos in MuseScore 4.1 and above.

Adding a capo marking to your score (before MuseScore 4.1)

MuseScore allows you to transpose the playback of a staff without changing the music notation (written pitch). This simulates the effect of a capo on a guitar (or other stringed instrument).

Adding a capo to a single staff

1. Add staff text to the note/rest from which you want capo playback to start;
2. Open the Staff text properties dialog.
3. Click on the Capo Settings tab;
4. Check the “Capo Settings” checkbox, and set "Capo fret" to the fret number you wish to apply the capo at (each fret increases the pitch by a semitone);
5. Click OK to apply your changes;
6. Edit the wording of the text as desired.

Adding a capo to a staff / tablature pair

Use one of the following:

• If linked, add the capo to the standard staff—not the tablature.
• If unlinked, add the capo to both staves.

Note: Any capo playback settings apply until overridden by a subsequent Staff text with “Capo Settings” enabled.

See also

• Chord symbols: Capo fret position

Overview

Music in “straight” time is performed strictly as written in the score. By contrast, music in swing time interpets straight eigth and sixteenth notes as triplet pairs, with the first of the pair being roughly twice as long as the second. This gives the rhythm a characteristic bouncy feel—often asssociated with Jazz music. e.g.

Swung eighths:

Swung sixteenths:

Rather than notate swung music exactly as performed, it is accepted convention to write it in straight time and simply provide the written indications “Swing and “Straight” at appropriate points in the score.

Swing markings have a playback effect on the score. The default swing ratio is 60% (3:2) but you can vary this to suit the feel of the piece if required.

Adding a swing or straight marking to your score

To add a swing marking

1. Click on the destination note or rest
2. Click on the Swing text in the Tempo palette.

Alternatively, you can drag and drop the Swing text from the palette onto the note or rest in question.

You can, if desired, add a visual swing marking as well.

To add a straight marking

1. Click on the destination note or rest
2. Click on the Straight text in the Tempo palette.

Note that the above markings are a form of System text and therefore the playback effect is applied to all staves in the system. If you want swing to apply to only one staff you can use Staff text instead: see below.

Changing swing playback

Adjust the type and degree of swing

1. Right-click on the Swing text in the score and select System text properties.

2. In the Swing settings tab edit the “Swing” and “Swing ratio” as required.

   

Note: Swing settings are found in both system and staff text.

Apply swing to one staff only

If you want swing to apply to only one staff in the system, use staff text instead:

1. Select the destination note or rest.
2. Click on the Staff text indication in the Text palette.
3. Edit the text to create the desired performance indication
4. Right-click on the text and select Staff text properties. Alternatively select the text object and in the Properties panel, click on the Staff text properties button.
5. In the Swing settings tab edit the “Swing” and “Swing ratio” as required.

This section needs to be organized / written by someone with an understanding of how to use MIDI input/output in MuseScore 4. If JACK is still supported, it could be discussed here too, or in a new page.

Introduction to VST

Virtual Studio Technology (VST) is an audio plug-in software interface licensed under Steinberg that integrates software synthesizers and effects units into digital audio workstations. Most VST plugins are either instruments (VSTi) or effects (VSTfx); VSTi includes software simulation emulations of well-known hardware synthesizers and samplers.

Installing VSTs

In MuseScore 4, any compatible VST plugins installed on a Windows or MacOS computer will automatically be made available in the Mixer, where you can easily configure playback settings for all instruments in a score. Note that Linux is not yet supported (but see Linux VST3).

After installing new VSTs on your computer, you may have to restart Musescore 4 to make them visible in the mixer. If this doesn't work, you can force a re-scan of VSTs by deleting previous cache settings before restarting. On Windows 10 the relevant file can be found at

C:\Users\ [your user] \AppData\Local\MuseScore\MuseScore4\known_audio_plugins.json

MuseScore 4 directly supports VST3 plugins only (not VST1 or VST2) because of licensing restrictions. If you are using VST1 or VST2, see How to use older, non-VST3 plugins in MuseScore 4.

Note: Sound settings in the Mixer are saved with the score, but not to the program.

Enabling, disabling, removing and replacing VST plugins

See Mixer: Audio FX and Sounds.

See also

Alternatives to VST instruments:

• Muse Sounds
• SoundFonts