How to make MuseScore playback sound realistic
MuseScore Studio plays every score with MS Basic, a small built-in soundfont, until you give it something else. Install the free MuseSounds with MuseHub and switch each instrument to them in the Mixer, and the dynamics, slurs and articulations you have already written start to change the sound.
This guide explains why the default playback sounds flat and what a soundfont is, plays one short piano piece three ways, then walks through the switch and the markings that shape the new sound.
Free playback essentials
Why your score sounds flat
Your score sounds flat because MuseScore Studio plays it with MS Basic, a soundfont with only a few recordings per instrument. Whatever dynamic you write, it mostly plays the same recording louder or quieter, so a pp and an ff differ in volume and in nothing else.
The fix is free and leaves your notes as they are. Install the free MuseSounds libraries with MuseHub, then select them in the Mixer of MuseScore Studio. MuseSounds are recorded note by note, at several dynamic levels and in many playing techniques. MuseScore Studio picks the recordings that match your markings, so each instrument changes its tone as the music changes.
What is a soundfont?
A soundfont is a single file that holds short recordings of instruments, called samples, and the instructions for playing them. The format comes from computer sound cards of the 1990s, and soundfont files usually end in .sf2, or .sf3 when compressed.
To keep the file small, a soundfont records each instrument sparingly. One recording often covers several neighboring notes and is shifted up or down in pitch to fill the gaps. A long note is often made by repeating a short slice of the recording in a loop. The dynamic you write mostly sets the playback volume.
That design is what makes MS Basic useful. It covers every instrument, it’s a small file, and it loads instantly, so any score can play the moment you open it. The same small size is why it can’t follow much of what you write.
Why one recording can’t play pp and ff
A real instrument changes its tone as it gets louder. A piano key struck hard sounds brighter and more percussive than a key pressed gently, because the hammer hits the string faster and brings out more high overtones. A violin played softly sounds lighter and thinner than the same note played loudly.
A soundfont with one recording per note can only turn that recording up or down. When you write pp, you hear a loud note played at low volume. The soft note has a different tone, and the soundfont doesn’t contain it. The same goes for playing techniques. If there is no separate recording for a staccato, a slur or a pizzicato, the soundfont can only shorten, lengthen or reshape the one it has.
Soundfont vs sample library
A sample library records each instrument in depth, note by note, at several dynamic levels and in several playing techniques. Libraries for strings and woodwinds usually also record the transitions between notes, so a legato line connects the way a player connects it. Muse Strings and Muse Woodwinds both include these recorded legato transitions.
MuseSounds are sample libraries built for MuseScore Studio. The app reads your score and chooses the recordings for you, so there are no key switches to set up and no MIDI to edit. What are MuseSounds? covers the free, paid and Pro libraries in more detail.
| Soundfont (MS Basic) | Sample library (MuseSounds) | |
|---|---|---|
| Recordings | A few per instrument | Many, note by note |
| Dynamics | Mostly changes in volume | Played from recordings made at different dynamics |
| Playing techniques | Limited | Read from the markings in the score |
| Download size | Small, included with MuseScore Studio | From a few megabytes to several gigabytes per library |
| Cost | Free, included | 12 free libraries; the rest paid or in MuseSounds Pro |
Hear the difference
The quickest way to understand all this is to hear one short piece played three ways. We took the opening of Erik Satie’s Gymnopédie No. 1 (1888), kept the first twelve bars, and played them in MuseScore Studio three times, changing only the piano’s sound in the Mixer:
- MS Basic, the soundfont that comes with MuseScore Studio.
- Muse Keys, the free MuseSounds keyboard library.
- Vienna Piano, a Steinway D-274 concert grand from Vienna Symphonic Library, one of the libraries included in MuseSounds Pro.
The tempo, the export settings and the rest of the Mixer stayed at their defaults each time. One setting moved on its own. When the piano was switched to Muse Keys, MuseScore Studio lowered its reverb send from 0.30 to 0.15, and it was left as the app set it. MS Basic and Vienna Piano both played with the send at 0.30. The three renders were not adjusted to the same volume afterwards.
Look at the score before you listen. The piece is in 3/4 and marked Lent et douloureux, slow and sorrowful. For the first four bars the left hand rocks between two chords, with a low bass note on the first beat and a chord on the second that rings through the bar. In bar 5 a soft melody enters above them, in long notes, with nothing to cover it. There is no loud moment to hide behind here. Everything depends on quiet notes and on how each one fades. Try to imagine how that should sound, then press play.
1. MS Basic
First, the piano sound MuseScore Studio uses until you install anything else. Listen to the start of each note, and notice whether a soft note sounds like a gentle touch or like a loud note turned down. Pay attention to the long melody notes from bar 5 and whether they fade the way a piano note fades. Notice, too, whether the melody stands out from the chords or sits at the same level.
What you hear is better than a built-in soundfont might lead you to expect. On this slow, quiet piece, nothing stands out as wrong.
MS Basic
2. Muse Keys
Now the same twelve bars with Muse Keys, the free keyboard library. Its grand piano is a Steinway, recorded with a wide dynamic range on a scoring stage. Listen to the bass note at the start of each bar and how long it rings under the chord. Compare the attack of the melody notes with the MS Basic version, and notice whether the quiet notes sound softer in tone as well as in volume.
The playing sounds slightly more human than MS Basic, but the difference is not large. Keep in mind that this render has half the reverb send of the other two, as MuseScore Studio set it.
Muse Keys
3. Vienna Piano
Finally, Vienna Piano. Vienna Symphonic Library recorded this Steinway D-274 on a scoring stage with several microphone positions. Muse Keys and Vienna Piano are both Steinway grands, so listen for the recording more than the instrument. Pay attention to the room around the notes, to the low bass notes, and to how the end of each melody note dies away.
This is the most realistic of the three. The step up from Muse Keys is clear, though it is not night and day.
Vienna Piano
On solo piano, the gap between the three is small. A piano note can only fade once it is struck. Much of what a sample library adds, such as a swell within a held note or a recorded legato between notes, has no place in this piece. The difference grows with the score. The orchestral excerpt in What are MuseSounds? plays seven bars of Dvořák three ways, and there the contrast is bigger.
Only the piano library changed between the three versions. A pianist recording this piece would adjust the pedaling and the balance to the instrument in front of them, and a finished mock-up works the same way. Each library responds a little differently to the same notes, so once you choose one, adjust your dynamics to suit it.
What you’ll need
- MuseScore Studio 4 or later. It’s free. MuseScore 3 can’t use MuseSounds.
- A free MuseHub account and the MuseHub app, which runs on Windows and macOS. MuseHub installs and updates the libraries.
- Some disk space. Muse Keys is under 0.4 GB, and Muse Strings is about 5.5 GB. Each library’s page in MuseHub shows its download size.
How to switch to MuseSounds
- Create a free MuseHub account, then download and install MuseHub on Windows or macOS.
- Install MuseScore Studio from MuseHub if you don’t have it yet. If you do, check that it’s version 4 or later.
- Open the MuseSounds section in MuseHub and install Muse Keys and Muse Strings. Muse Keys is the most downloaded MuseSounds library, and piano is what MuseScore Studio is used for most, so it’s where you’ll hear the difference first. Add the other free libraries when your scores need them.
- Quit and reopen MuseScore Studio if it was open during the install. It looks for installed libraries when it starts.
- Open your score, then open the Mixer with View ▸ Mixer or F10. In each instrument’s Sound row, choose its MuseSounds library. New scores use MuseSounds automatically once they’re installed.
- Press play.
On Linux, download MuseScore Studio and MuseSounds Manager instead of MuseHub. MuseSounds Manager installs the free MuseSounds, while the paid libraries need MuseHub on Windows or macOS. Then follow steps 4 to 6.
How to use MuseSounds in MuseScore Studio walks through each step with screenshots. For what each of the twelve free libraries covers, see the complete guide to the free MuseSounds.
Muse Keys includes a Steinway grand, a celesta, a harpsichord, electric pianos and digital keys, so one install covers most keyboard parts.
Markings that change the sound
Once an instrument uses MuseSounds, your notation controls much more of the performance. The table compares what each marking does on MS Basic and on MuseSounds. The exact result depends on the library and the instrument.
| Marking | What MS Basic does | What MuseSounds do |
|---|---|---|
| Dynamics, pp to ff | Plays the same recording louder or quieter | Play recordings made at different dynamics, so the tone changes as well as the volume |
| Hairpins | Changes the volume across the hairpin | Move through those dynamic recordings; on strings, winds and voices the change happens within a held note |
| Slurs | Has no recorded legato to switch to | Strings and woodwinds play recorded legato transitions between the notes |
| Staccato | Shortens the note | Play recorded short notes; Muse Woodwinds sets the length from the note value and the tempo |
| Accents and marcato | Has no recorded accented notes to switch to | Play recorded accented notes in libraries that include them, such as Muse Strings, Muse Woodwinds and Muse Choir |
| Technique text such as pizz., arco or con sord. | Can switch only between the few sounds it contains | Switch the playing technique, where the library has it |
Two limits apply whatever you install. A marking you haven’t written can’t change anything, so a score with no dynamics plays at one level in every library. And a piano can’t swell on a held note, because a struck string only fades. On piano, a hairpin shapes the notes that follow it.
Common mistakes
- Installing while MuseScore Studio is open. It checks for libraries when it starts, so quit and reopen it.
- Expecting an old score to switch by itself. A score keeps the sound it was saved with. Open the Mixer and change each instrument’s Sound to its MuseSounds library.
- A score with no dynamics. There is nothing for the library to interpret, so every note plays at the same level. Add a dynamic where each part enters and wherever the music changes level.
- A crescendo on one long piano note. The note can only fade after it’s struck. Spread the hairpin over the notes that should grow.
- Raising the dynamics because the playback got quieter. MuseSounds play quiet music quietly, so a soft score sounds softer than it did on MS Basic. Turn up your speakers or the master volume and leave the markings as written.
A starting setup
Most scores need only a few libraries. Start with the free one for each instrument, and move to a paid library when you want a different character or more playing techniques. You can mix free and paid libraries in one score, because the Mixer sets the sound per instrument.
| Instrument | Free library | A paid step up | In MuseSounds Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piano | Muse Keys | Vienna Piano | Yes |
| Piano, for film and orchestral writing | Muse Keys | Berlin Pianos | No |
| Strings | Muse Strings | Vienna Strings | Yes |
| Woodwinds | Muse Woodwinds | Vienna Woodwinds | Yes |
| Choir | Muse Choir | Cantai, which sings the lyrics in your score | Yes |
MuseSounds Pro is a subscription to 34 of the paid libraries. The others are sold individually, and you buy each one once. For more pianos side by side, including libraries that run in a DAW (digital audio workstation), see the best piano VSTs.
Vienna Piano is the Steinway D-274 you heard in the third version above.
FAQ
Next steps
Install Muse Keys and play one of your own scores with it. For the Mixer settings and screenshots, follow how to use MuseSounds in MuseScore Studio. To hear an orchestral score played three ways and see what the paid libraries and Pro add, read what MuseSounds are. When you are ready for the rest of the free set, the complete guide to the free MuseSounds covers every library. You can browse all of them in MuseSounds on MuseHub, or download MuseHub free.
