Paul Del-Nevo

Sooner or later, you will hit one of these two situations:

• The notation is right, but you want a different playback sound
• The actual instrument in the score is wrong and needs replacing

Those are not the same job, and it helps a lot to keep them separate in your head.

In MuseScore Studio, the Mixer lets you change instrument sounds without affecting the staff notation, and it also lets you adjust volume, pan, mute, solo, and related playback settings. 

If the notation itself needs to represent a different instrument, that is usually a replace instrument job instead.

What this does

Changing sounds or instruments helps you control what the score sounds like and what it is actually written for.

• In MuseScore Studio, that usually means:
• Changing the playback sound for an instrument
• Choosing a different sound library or sound source
• Adjusting how loud or wide an instrument feels in playback
• Replacing the written instrument if the score setup itself is wrong

The important thing to understand is this:

• Changing the sound changes playback
• Changing the instrument changes the actual score setup

That distinction makes everything much clearer.

The simplest way to change a playback sound

If you are brand new to this, this is the easiest place to start.

1. Open the Mixer

Click the Mixer button near the top of the window, or press F10

The Mixer will open, where you can control the sound and volume of each instrument individually.

2. Find the instrument channel

In the Mixer, find the channel strip for the instrument you want to change.

Each staff or instrument has its own channel strip in the Mixer.

3. Open the sound selector

Go to the sound selector for that instrument.

You can change instrument sounds without affecting the staff notation, and also switch between supported sound sources.

4. Choose the sound you want

Pick the playback sound or sound library you want for that channel.

That is the core idea:
Open the Mixer, find the instrument, then change its playback sound there.

What changing the sound does and does not do

This is the most useful thing to get straight early on.

If you change the sound in the Mixer:

• The notation stays the same
• The instrument name stays the same
• The staff setup stays the same
• Only the playback sound changes

So if you like the written instrument but want a different playback colour, the Mixer is usually the right tool.

When you should replace the actual instrument instead

Sometimes the sound is not the real problem.

Sometimes the actual written instrument is wrong.

For example:

• You chose the wrong instrument at the start
• The score should now be for Clarinet instead of Flute
• The instrument name, clef, transposition, or staff behaviour needs to change

In that kind of case, you usually want to replace the instrument, not just swap the sound.

That is done through the instrument controls and Stave/Part properties, not the Mixer. 

The simplest way to replace an instrument

If the written instrument itself is wrong, this is the cleaner route.

1. Open Stave/Part properties

Right-click an empty area in the staff or the instrument label, then choose Stave/Part properties.

2. Replace the instrument

Use the Replace instrument option there.

Choose the new instrument, then click 'Apply'

That changes the actual instrument setup rather than just the playback sound. This is the safer choice when the score itself needs to reflect a different instrument.

A very simple first exercise

If you want to get comfortable with this without overthinking it, try this:

• Open a score with two instruments
• Open the Mixer
• Change the playback sound for one instrument
• Play the score and hear the difference
• Then ask yourself whether the notation still makes sense
• If the notation would need to change too, test the Replace instrument route instead

That is a very good little test because it helps you feel the difference between a playback choice and a score setup choice.

Where these tools are found

If you lose track of where things are, this is where you'll find them.

• The Mixer button near the top of the app window
• F10 keyboard shortcut to open the mixer
• The Mixer panel, where each instrument has its own channel strip
• The sound selector inside each channel strip
• Stave/Part properties, if the actual instrument needs replacing instead of just the sound
• The playback toolbar, if you want to hear the result straight away after making the change

These are the main places to look when the score sounds wrong, or when you are deciding whether the problem is really the sound or the written instrument.

A useful thing to know about sound libraries

MuseScore Studio supports more than one kind of sound source.

The Mixer can switch between things like Muse Sounds, SoundFonts, and VSTi plugins, and MuseSounds itself is a separate library for more realistic playback.

That means if one sound is not giving you what you want, the answer may be a different library rather than a different instrument.

A useful thing to know about voices

If you are hoping to give different voices inside one instrument different sounds, MuseScore does not currently do that within a single instrument.

It is not currently possible to assign different sounds or VSTs to different voices within the same instrument. If you need that, they must be separate instruments.

That is worth knowing before you spend ages trying to force a playback trick MuseScore is not built to do.

One common beginner mistake

A very common mistake is changing the Mixer sound and then expecting the score labels or instrument setup to change too.

They will not.

The Mixer is for playback, not for rewriting the score. If the notation itself needs to change, use the instrument controls instead.

Another common beginner mistake

Another common beginner mistake is replacing the instrument when the notation was already correct and only the playback sound needed changing.

That can create more work than necessary.

So before you do anything, ask yourself:
Do I want a different sound, or do I want a different instrument?

That one question usually leads you to the right tool much faster.

Final tip

For your first few minutes changing sounds or instruments, keep it simple.

Try this:

• Change one playback sound in the Mixer
• Listen to the result
• Then decide whether the written score still makes sense
• If it does, you probably only needed a sound change
• If it does not, you probably need to replace the instrument instead

Once that distinction clicks, this whole area becomes much easier and much less confusing.

Next steps

When you’re ready, head back to the How-To hub to jump to the next lesson.

If anything in this lesson trips you up, pop a comment in the forum thread and I’ll help you sort it.