Musescore 4 is out

[satya]

https://musescore.org/en/4.0

What's new in MuseScore 4?

Our new orchestral plugin, Muse Sounds

Saving to cloud on MuseScore.com is now working

An improved system for publishing to MuseScore.com

An entirely new interface

A new mixer

VST instruments and effects support

For Win , Mac and Linux 

FREE

[locrian]

FYI it installs:  Muse Hub Background Service  (c:\program files\windowsapps\muse.musehub_1.0.0.624_x64__rb9pth70m6nz6\muse.service.exe)

[satya]

What's that

[abacab]

2 minutes ago, locrian said:

FYI it installs:  Muse Hub Background Service  (c:\program files\windowsapps\muse.musehub_1.0.0.624_x64__rb9pth70m6nz6\muse.service.exe)

https://musescore.org/en/4.0

For those wanting to download a Windows or Mac version of MS4 without the Muse Hub, please use the appropriate text links at (oops, link fixed):

https://musescore.org/en/download

Edited December 14, 2022 by abacab

[locrian]

N.M.

Edited December 14, 2022 by locrian

[abacab]

Link above fixed. Did not paste here correctly the first attempt. Or use the link from the Musescore page, it works. https://musescore.org/en/4.0

Edited December 14, 2022 by abacab

[abacab]

Apparently installing the free Muse Sounds for playback requires the Muse Hub.

 

[TheMaartian]

I don't use or have MuseScore installed, but a post I saw this morning on the Band-in-a-Box forum mentioned that MuseScore does not send time info to VSTs, so any VST needing time info to sync to a host won't work properly. The examples cited were EZBass, EZKeys, EZDrummer and a couple of others.

So, just be aware.

[locrian]

22 hours ago, abacab said:

Apparently installing the free Muse Sounds for playback requires the Muse Hub.

Well, that's disappointing.

[abacab]

47 minutes ago, locrian said:

Well, that's disappointing.

True, but that falls in line with many publishers now requiring installers for their sound sets. However, MuseScore 4 still includes a usable default soundfont for playback though.

And you can use your own VST instruments with it, just be aware of the VST host sync issue mentioned by John above. The instruments cited all use internal transports so that may just be an issue for that use case, but otherwise standard instruments shouldn't have an issue with host sync.

I would expect that since this major 4.0 product release is just out of beta, it will be improved in upcoming point releases.

Review: https://www.scoringnotes.com/reviews/musescore-4-0/

Edited December 15, 2022 by abacab

[locrian]

9 minutes ago, abacab said:

True, but that falls in line with many publishers now requiring installers for their sound sets. However, MuseScore 4 still includes a usable default soundfont for playback though.

And you can use your own VST with it, just be aware of the VST host sync issue mentioned by John above. I would expect that this 4.0 product that is just out of beta will be improved in upcoming point releases.

Review: https://www.scoringnotes.com/reviews/musescore-4-0/

It's not the installer that's the problem for me.  As you can see from the screenshot of my Start menu below, I already have many of those!

What I don't like is when these programs boot with Windows and continue to run in the background.  And this one in particular is a Windows App, so I wasn't able to disable it with Autoruns (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns).  Cheers...

[abacab]

3 minutes ago, locrian said:

It's not the installer that's the problem for me.  As you can see from the screenshot of my Start menu below, I already have many of those!

What I don't like is when these programs boot with Windows and continue to run in the background.  And this one in particular is a Windows App, so I wasn't able to disable it with Autoruns (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns).  Cheers...

I gotcha! But like I said MuseScore 4 still includes a usable default soundfont for playback, even without the Hub.

I also use Autoruns (and a few other Sysinternals programs), but I think Windows app startup can be controlled by other means. I'll have to look into it to be certain.

Edited December 15, 2022 by abacab

[abacab]

20 minutes ago, locrian said:

What I don't like is when these programs boot with Windows and continue to run in the background.  And this one in particular is a Windows App, so I wasn't able to disable it with Autoruns

Try this:

Click Start > Settings > Privacy > Background apps > [toggle off the apps that you don't want running in the background].

[locrian]

10 minutes ago, abacab said:

Try this:

Click Start > Settings > Privacy > Background apps > [toggle off the apps that you don't want running in the background].

Thanks.

But the list of programs you can control via Settings is tiny compared to that which can be controlled with Autoruns (the exception being Windows Apps which I just delete via WPD).

[abacab]

2 minutes ago, locrian said:

Thanks.

But the list of programs you can control via Settings is tiny compared to that which can be controlled with Autoruns (the exception being Windows Apps which I just delete via WPD).

Correct, the Background apps control is just for the modern Windows apps. I have a couple that I leave running such as my Nvidia control panel and my HP printer app. The rest get shut down or uninstalled if possible (if MS allows).

[locrian]

5 minutes ago, abacab said:

Correct, the Background apps control is just for the modern Windows apps. I have a couple that I leave running such as my Nvidia control panel and my HP printer app. The rest get shut down or uninstalled if possible (if MS allows).

If you have time, try Autoruns (it's free).  You may be surprised at how much stuff is running on your system without your knowledge.  The reason is that despite unclicking the option to run at startup, some companies ignore your preference and install their software anayway.  Worse still, others don't even ask leaving you to discover it on your own.  I regularly run Autoruns everytime after installing a program or performing a Windows update.

I've been using it for more than a decade and would say that it's the most useful tool in setting up and maintaining a lean music studio computer.  It's always the first program I install when setting up a new system.

[abacab]

6 minutes ago, locrian said:

If you have time, try Autoruns (it's free).

As I mentioned earlier, I use Autoruns...

[abacab]

1 hour ago, locrian said:

What I don't like is when these programs boot with Windows and continue to run in the background.  And this one in particular is a Windows App, so I wasn't able to disable it with Autoruns

OK, after my testing with Muse Hub, I was able to get everything except the Muse Hub Background Service under control.

• In the Windows Taskbar Notification Area, open the Muse Hub applet and in the settings area (gear icon), you can control several items, including Muse Hub startup when you sign in. Toggled that off, as well as auto updating and "community acceleration" (that sounds like a torrent-style bandwidth sharing scheme).
• Windows > Start > Settings > Privacy > Background apps > [toggle off Muse Hub from running in the background].
• You can "quit" the Muse Hub task and GUI, but the Muse Hub Background Service continues running, and Windows services will let you stop it, but not disable it or set it to "manual".

So the Muse Hub task no longer starts up at boot, but the service does.

The service path is "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Muse.MuseHub_1.0.0.624_x64__ ...".

But as far as the Muse Hub task and GUI are concerned, I can manually start and stop it as needed.

Edited December 15, 2022 by abacab

[locrian]

2 minutes ago, abacab said:

OK, after my testing with Muse Hub, I was able to get everything except the Muse Hub Background Service under control.

• In the Windows Taskbar Notification Area, open the Muse Hub applet and in the settings area (gear icon), you can control several items, including Muse Hub startup when you sign in. Toggled that off, as well as auto updating and "community acceleration" (that sounds like a torrent-style bandwidth sharing scheme).
• Start > Settings > Privacy > Background apps > [toggle off Muse Hub from running in the background].
• You can "quit" Muse Hub task and GUI, but the Muse Hub Background Service continues running, and Windows services will let you stop it, but not disable it or set it to "manual".

So the Muse Hub task no longer starts up at boot, but the service does.

The service path is "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Muse.MuseHub_1.0.0.624_x64__ ...".

But as far as the Muse Hub task and GUI are concerned, I can manually start and stop it as needed.

 

Thanks for the info!