# Customizing the percussion panel

You can customize the percussion panel in various ways to best suit your personal preferences and workflow requirements.

## View pad names or notation previews

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:

1. Click **Layout** in the percussion panel header.
2. 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:

1. Click **Layout** in the percussion panel header.
2. 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.

## Move drum pads to different positions

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:

1. Click **Layout** in the percussion panel header.
2. Choose **Edit layout**. An outline appears around each pad position, indicating you can now edit the drum pad layout.
3. Click and drag a drum pad to another position.
4. Release your mouse click to drop the drum pad in its new position.
5. Click **Finish editing** in the percussion panel header to continue writing music.

{% hint style="info" %}
You can also move pads to different positions using only your computer keyboard.

1. Use <kbd>Tab</kbd> to focus on a drum pad
2. Use the arrow keys to shift focus to your desired drum pad
3. Press <kbd>Space</kbd> or <kbd>Enter</kbd> to select the pad you wish to move
4. Use the arrow keys to move the selected drum pad to a different slot position
5. Press <kbd>Space</kbd> or <kbd>Enter</kbd> to drop the drum pad in its new position
   {% endhint %}

## Delete drum pads

You can delete drum pads you don't need in order to save on space.

To delete a drum pad:

1. Click the grey panel at the bottom of a drum pad (or navigate to it by pressing <kbd>Tab</kbd> and then <kbd>Enter</kbd>).
2. Select **Delete**.

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 [Move drum pads to different positions](#move-drum-pads-to-different-positions)).

## Add and remove rows

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:

1. Click **Layout** in the percussion panel header.
2. Choose **Edit layout**.
3. Click **Add row**.

Drum pads can be moved to empty spaces (see [move drum pads to different positions](#move-drum-pads-to-different-positions)).

Rows that are manually added can be deleted by clicking the trash can button to the left of the row.

## Change the number of columns

1. Click **Layout** in the percussion panel header.
2. Hover over **8 columns** (this might say another number if you've already customized this).
3. Choose a new number of columns (4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 20, or 24).

## Save and reuse a custom pad layout

Once you customize the percussion panel for a particular instrument in your score, you can save all layout changes and keyboard shortcuts to use again when using the same instrument and sound in this score or other scores.

#### To save a custom layout:

1. Make any desired customizations to the pad layout.
2. Click **Customize kit** in the percussion panel header.
3. Click **Save as...** in the dialog and save it to your computer. This creates a `.drm` file that you can load in any score.

#### To load the saved layout on a different instrument:

1. Select anything on a staff belonging to the instrument you want to load the saved percussion panel layout onto.
2. Click **Customize kit** in the percussion panel header.
3. Click **Load...** and then select the `.drm` file you created above.
4. Click **Apply** or **OK** to apply the changes.

## Undock and resize the panel

Like all panels, the percussion panel can be undocked and resized to create an optimal workspace for your project and setup.

Learn more about [docking and undocking panels](https://musescore.gitbook.io/musescore-studio-handbook/customization/toolbars-and-windows#docking-and-undocking-panels) and saving your preferred app layout as [workspaces](https://musescore.gitbook.io/musescore-studio-handbook/customization/workspaces).

## Choose when to use the new percussion panel

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:

1. Open [**Preferences**](https://musescore.gitbook.io/musescore-studio-handbook/customization/preferences).
2. Click on **Percussion** in the navigation panel.
3. 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.