Diddles

Diddles can be added by using an eighth-note tremolo:

Pedal lines

To add a vibraphone pedal line, see .

Rolls

To add a drumroll to your score, see .

Sticking

To enter sticking symbols (R, L):

1. Select a start note;

2. 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;

3. Input the letter just as you would normal text. To move forward or backwards to the next note, see

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.

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 Tab and then Enter).

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 ).

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 ).

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.

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 and saving your preferred app layout as .

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 .

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.

Overview

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 ).

Adding a percussion instrument to your score

You can add a percussion instrument just like any other instrument (see and the ).

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 .

Inputting notes and rests on percussion staves

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

Using the percussion input panel

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:

1. Click the Preview button in the percussion panel header

2. Click on a drum pad to hear its sound

3. Click the Write button again to resume notation

See for more.

Input by mouse directly on the stave

To input percussion notation directly on the stave with your mouse:

1. Select the stave where you want to input notation

2. Enter

3. Hover your mouse pointer over the stave to see a preview note for the instrument or variant assigned to that stave position

4. (Optional)

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.

Keyboard shortcuts

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:

1. Click the bottom grey options section of a drum pad (or navigate to it using the Tab key)

2. Select Define keyboard shortcut

Using a MIDI controller

To add notes to an unpitched percussion stave using a :

1. Select a note, rest, or measure

2. Select a

3. Press a key on your MIDI keyboard to input a note

4. (Optional) Press 0

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 .

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.

Using the on-screen piano keyboard

To add notes to an unpitched percussion stave using MuseScore Studio's on-screen piano keyboard:

1. Open the piano keyboard by going to View > Piano keyboard (or use the shortcut P)

2. Select a measure, note, or rest

3. Select a

Applying additional techniques and variants

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 . Note that this feature is currently only available for selected MuseSounds libraries. Options will vary depending on the chosen sound library.

Learn more about

Overview

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.

Customizing percussion notation

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

Rename sub-instruments and variants

To rename a sub-instrument or variant:

1. Select an instrument from the panel on the left

2. Type your desired label in the field next to Name.

The corresponding drum pad label in the will be updated when you click either Apply or OK.

Customize noteheads

To customize the noteheads assigned to a sub-instrument or variant:

1. Select an instrument from the panel on the left

2. Click the dropdown next to Notehead group

3. 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:

1. Click the Edit noteheads checkbox

2. Choose your required notehead for each duration in the corresponding dropdown menus

Assign a default voice

To change the default voice to which a sub-instrument or variant is assigned:

1. Select an instrument from the panel on the left

2. 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.

Change stave positions

To change the stave line or space at which a sub-instrument or variant is positioned:

1. Select an instrument from the panel on the left

2. Move its notehead up or down by clicking the arrows in the spin box next to Stave line

Assign a keyboard shortcut

To assign a keyboard shortcut for a sub-instrument or variant:

1. Select an instrument from the panel on the left

2. Click the button next to Shortcut

3. Type a key to set a shortcut

4. 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.

Choose the default stem direction

To change the default stem direction for a sub-instrument or variant:

1. Select an instrument from the panel on the left

2. 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.

Saving changes and using them in other scores

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:

1. Save your setup as a drumset file (.drm) by clicking Save as... in the bottom left corner of the dialog

2. Choose a file location on your computer. By default, the file will be saved in MuseScore Studio's Styles folder

3. Click Save

To load your percussion kit in another score

1. Create or open another score containing an unpitched percussion instrument

2. Select the instrument's stave

3. Click Edit kit in the percussion panel header

4. In the

Your customizations, including any changes made to the layout of the percussion panel, will now be ready to use in your new score.