This section describes unpitched percussion instruments. Pitched percussion instruments are not included here as they work similarly to other pitched instruments (outlined elsewhere in this handbook).
In MuseScore Studio, each unpitched percussion instrument, including combination instruments like drum kits and mixed percussion, comes preconfigured for seamless notation and playback.
This means that when you add an instrument – whether it be a single cow bell, or a complete drum kit – the notation for each sub-instrument in the kit (bass drum, snare drum, cymbals, etc.), as well as any techniques and variants (hits, rim shots, rim knocks, etc.) is configured automatically. MuseScore Studio takes care of the number of stave lines for the kit, as well as the shape and placement of all noteheads on the stave. What's more, the correct sound is automatically assigned in playback for MS Basic and MuseSounds libraries.
If you have unique notation requirements, there are of course options to customize the mapping for each instrument (See Percussion kit customization).
You can add a percussion instrument just like any other instrument (See our articles on Setting up your score and the Instruments panel).
Each unpitched percussion instrument comes with a pre-configured set of sub-instruments, as well as variants and techniques that are determined by the sound library chosen in the mixer.
In addition to individual orchestral percussion instruments and marching drumlines, MuseScore Studio comes with several combo kits that combine many common sub-instruments onto one stave. These include:
Drum kits (common, minimal, large)
Mixed percussion
General MIDI percussion
It is possible to customize the stave of any existing unpitched instrument with a unique combination of sub-instruments, although playback support may not always be available. To learn more, see Percussion kit customization.
There are several ways to enter notation on a percussion stave. We'll cover each one in turn. These are:
Using the percussion input panel
Input by mouse directly on the stave
Keyboard shortcuts
Input via MIDI keyboard
Input using the virtual piano
To open the percussion input panel:
Select the stave of an unpitched percussion instrument, or
Select a note or rest on an unpitched percussion stave
The percussion panel appears at the bottom of the app window. It shows all sub-instruments and variants available on the selected stave, as determined by the sound library assigned in the mixer for that instrument:
To input notation using the percussion input panel, click on any of the drum pads. Notation will be entered at the note input cursor position, regardless of the voice to which the selected sub-instrument or variant is assigned.
Write mode will be enabled by default. This means that any click on a drum pad will input notation directly on the stave.
To hear the sound of instruments assigned to a drum pad without inputting notation:
Click the Preview button in the percussion panel header
Click on a drum pad to hear its sound
Click the Write button again to resume notation
Learn more about customizing the percussion panel.
To input percussion notation directly on the stave with your mouse:
Select the stave where you want to input notation
Enter note input mode
Hover your mouse pointer over the stave to see a preview note for the instrument or variant assigned to that stave position
(Optional) Hold Shift while hovering to see a popup that labels the instrument at each stave position. Where left/right arrows appear in the popup, click on them to scroll through the available variants at the same stave space or line.
Left-click the notehead to input the note
The preview note shows whatever instrument or variant is available at the stave position where your mouse pointer is hovering. When you move your mouse, the preview note will change to show whatever is available at each new position.
You can assign a keyboard shortcut to each pad in the percussion panel.
By default, the first row of pads will take the keys A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H . Any key can be assigned to a pad, although you'll be prompted if your chosen key conflicts with another shortcut command.
To assign a keyboard shortcut to a drum pad:
Click the bottom grey options section of a drum pad (or navigate to it using the TAB key)
Select Define keyboard shortcut
To add notes to an unpitched percussion stave using a MIDI keyboard:
Select a note, rest, or measure
Select a note duration
Press a key on your MIDI keyboard to input a note
(Optional) Press 0 to enter a rest of the selected duration
Notation will be entered on the stave in whatever note input mode has been set as the default in Preferences. For more information on using different note input modes, see Entering notes and rests.
Each drum pad on the percussion panel displays the MIDI key assigned to each available sub-instrument or variant. Note that these will change depending on the sound library assigned to that instrument in the mixer.
To add notes to an unpitched percussion stave using MuseScore Studio's on-screen piano keyboard:
Open the piano keyboard by going to View > Piano keyboard (or use the shortcut P)
Select a measure, note, or rest
Select a note duration
Click a key on the on-screen piano keyboard with your mouse
(Optional) To add another note to an existing one, press and hold Shift clicking a different key
(Optional) Press 0 to enter a rest of the selected duration
Many sound libraries come with additional techniques and variants that can extend the performance of your instruments. For example, snares can be set to on or off, or different implements can be used, including sticks, brushes, and hot rods.
These are added using sound flags. Note that this feature is currently only available for selected MuseSounds libraries. Options will vary depending on the chosen sound library.
Learn more about sound flags.
You can customize the name, notehead style, stave position, stem direction, keyboard shortcut, and default voice assignment for each sub-instrument and variant in an unpitched percussion instrument.
To access these options, click Customize kit from the percussion panel header.
Using the options in the Customize kit dialog, you can:
In the panel on the left, you can sort the list of sub-instruments and variants in the following ways:
Click the No. column header to sort by MIDI number
Click the Note column header to sort by pitch
Click the Shortcut column header to sort by keyboard shortcut
Click the Name column header to sort by name
Sorting by MIDI number allows you to see the names of sub-instruments and variants in same order as they appear in the percussion panel as drum pads.
Any customizations made in this dialog will be immediately shown in the preview panel. Changes will also be automatically shown in the score, however these will only be committed when you click OK. These changes are undoable.
To rename a sub-instrument or variant:
Select an instrument from the panel on the left
Type your desired label in the field next to Name.
To customize the noteheads assigned to a sub-instrument or variant:
Select an instrument from the panel on the left
Click the dropdown next to Notehead group
Choose from the large range of noteheads in the dropdown menu
Each notehead group comes with up to four possible style variants for different durations (quarter note, half note, whole note, double whole note). These come pre-defined, but can be edited if you have specific requirements.
To edit noteheads for individual durations within a notehead group:
Click the Edit noteheads checkbox
Choose your required notehead for each duration in the corresponding dropdown menus
To change the default voice to which a sub-instrument or variant is assigned:
Select an instrument from the panel on the left
Choose from either voice 1, 2, 3, or 4 in the dropdown next to Default voice
Changing a voice assignment affects all future notation for the selected sub-instrument or variant but does not alter existing notation.
To change the stave line or space at which a sub-instrument or variant is positioned:
Select an instrument from the panel on the left
Move its notehead up or down by clicking the arrows in the spin box next to Stave line
To assign a keyboard shortcut for a sub-instrument or variant:
Select an instrument from the panel on the left
Click the button next to Shortcut
Type a key to set a shortcut
Click Save to confirm your selection
A message will appear if your chosen shortcut conflicts with another assignment. Clicking Save at this point will trigger a prompt asking you to confirm your choice.
In some cases, it may be okay to assign a shortcut already in use. MuseScore Studio can recognize when a shortcut is being used for percussion notation input and when it applies to something else outside the percussion system.
Should a change in shortcut render an existing function no longer possible, either choose a different shortcut, or remove the shortcut by clicking Clear in the Define percussion keyboard shortcut dialog.
To change the default stem direction for a sub-instrument or variant:
Select an instrument from the panel on the left
Choose from either Up, Down, or Auto in the dropdown next to Stem direction
Changing the stem direction affects all future notation for the selected sub-instrument or variant but does not alter existing notation.
When you've finished making customizations, press OK to commit your changes. These are saved to your score file.
It's also possible to save all your customizations, as well as the drum pad layout in the percussion panel, for use in other scores.
To save your percussion kit for use in other scores:
Save your setup as a drumset file (.drm) by clicking Save as... in the bottom left corner of the dialog
Choose a file location on your computer. By default, the file will be saved in MuseScore Studio's Styles folder
Click Save
When loading your drumset file into another score, bear in mind that, while a drumset file can technically be loaded onto any unpitched percussion instrument, playback will only work correctly if the right sound library is chosen in the mixer.
When setting up your score, it's safest to add an instrument that matches the one you've previously customized.
To load your percussion kit in another score
Create or open another score containing an unpitched percussion instrument
Select the instrument's stave
Click Edit kit in the percussion panel header
In the Customize kit dialog that appears, click the Load... button in the bottom left corner
Locate your saved drumset (.drm) file
Click Open
Your customizations, including any changes made to the layout of the percussion panel, will now be ready to use in your new score.
You can customize the percussion panel in various ways to best suit your personal preferences and workflow requirements.
Things you can do:
By default, the percussion panel shows the names of each sub-instrument and variant in your chosen instrument.
To instead view a notation preview for each pad:
Click Layout in the percussion panel header
Choose Notation preview
Hover over a pad with your mouse pointer to see a tooltip displaying the name of the instrument or variant assigned to that drum pad.
To switch back to viewing pad names:
Click Layout in the percussion panel header
Choose Pad names
Your choice of pad names or notation previews is saved to the score, so it won't affect the panel layout in other scores. Moreover, it applies to all unpitched percussion instruments in your score – not just the one you're working on.
You can change the position of each drum pad to best suit your instrument setup or preferred layout.
To change the position of a drum pad:
Click Layout in the percussion panel header
Choose Edit layout. An outline appears around each pad position, indicating you can now edit the drum pad layout.
Click and drag a drum pad to another position
Release your mouse click to drop the drum pad in its new position
Click Finish editing in the percussion panel header to continue writing music
You can also move pads to different positions using only your computer keyboard.
Use Tab to focus on a drum pad
Use the arrow keys to shift focus to your desired drum pad
Press Enter or the Spacebar to select the pad you wish to move
Use the arrow keys to move the selected drum pad to a different slot position
Press Enter or the Spacebar to drop the drum pad in its new position
You can delete drum pads you don't need in order to save on space.
To delete a drum pad:
Click the grey panel at the bottom of a drum pad (or navigate to it by pressing Tab and then Enter)
Select Delete
Changing the number of percussion panel rows gives you more flexibility to arrange the drum pads in a way that best suits your project and workflow requirements.
To add rows in the percussion panel:
Click Layout in the percussion panel header
Choose Edit layout
Click Add row
Rows that are manually added can be deleted by clicking the trash can button to the left of the row.
Like all panels, the percussion panel can be undocked and resized to create an optimal workspace for your project and setup.
Depending on your screen size and the number of drum pads in the instruments you are using, you can choose to use the legacy percussion panel instead of the new one. The legacy panel will continue to be available until further features are added that will better optimize the new panel for large instruments.
To use the legacy percussion panel:
Click on Percussion in the navigation panel
Toggle on Use legacy percussion panel
Note that any custom keyboard shortcuts assigned to percussion instruments will apply to both the new and legacy panels.
The corresponding drum pad label in the will be updated when you click either Apply or OK.
To add a vibraphone pedal line, see .
To add a drumroll to your score, see .\
From the menu, select Add→Text→Sticking (alternatively, set up a keyboard to do the same
thing). The cursor positions itself ready to accept your keyboard input;
Input the letter just as you would normal text. To move forward or backwards to the next note, see .
When a drum pad is deleted, an empty space remains in its place. This can be used either as a spacer, or as the position for a different drum pad (see ).
Drum pads can be moved to empty spaces (See ).
Learn more about and saving your preferred app layout as .
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