How-To: Sheet Music Software in Linux

This guide is written to make it easy to install and set up score-editing software in Linux. It is written by default for users of the K Desktop Environment (KDE), used in Linux systems such as Suse or Kubuntu, with instructions for users of the Gnome Desktop Environment, used in Linux systems such as Ubuntu or Fedora, in brackets. The most highly recommended program is Muse Score, although Rosegarden is also a powerful and tested program, and can export files to Lilypond format.

Installing the Necessary Programs

Follow these steps to install Muse Score:

1. Open Add/Remove Software (in Gnome: Add/Remove Programs)
2. Under the category Multimedia (in Gnome: Sound & Video), select MuseScore
3. Click on Preview (only KDE)
4. Click on Apply Changes

To install Rosegarden, follow the above steps, substituting Rosegarden for MuseScore.

In order to use Rosegarden, however, one will need to install Qsynth as well:

1. Open Add/Remove Software (in Gnome: Add/Remove Programs)
2. Under the category Multimedia (in Gnome: Sound & Video), select Qsynth
3. Click on Preview (only KDE)
4. Click on Apply Changes

One last thing:

 1. Open up a Konsole (in Gnome: Terminal)
 2. Type in the following two commands:
     (a) sudo apt-get install fluid-soundfont-gm
     (b) sudo apt-get install fluid-soundfont-gs
 3. These packages can also be installed using your package manager, such as Synaptic or Adept

Setting up Muse Score

Follow these steps to set up Muse Score:

1. Open Muse Score, which is under Multimedia in the main menu (in Gnome: Sound & Video)
2. Open the Edit menu and select Preferences
3. Under the I/O tab:
     (a) Ensure that Use internal synthesizer is checked
     (b) Ensure that your Sound Font is “/usr/share/sounds/sf2/FluidR3_GM.sf2”
     (c) Ensure that ALSA Audio is checked, and at Device, enter “hw:0” (hw:Zero)
4. Click Apply, and then click OK
5. Close Muse Score, and then open it again to start writing your music.

Setting up Qsynth

These steps are only necessary if you have chosen to use Rosegarden:

1. Open Qsynth, under Multimedia (in Gnome: Sound & Video)
2. Click on Setup, and under the Audio tab, select “alsa” as your Audio Driver
3. Ensure that Auto Connect JACK Outputs is unchecked
4. Under the Soundfonts tab, select the following soundfonts:
     /usr/share/sounds/sf2/FluidR3_GM.sf2 and
     /usr/share/sounds/sf2/FluidR3_GM.sf2
5. Click OK and then click Restart

Setting up Rosegarden

To set Rosegarden up to work with Qsynth instead of JACK, follow these steps:

1. Open Rosegarden, also under Multimedia (in Gnome: Sound & Video)
2. Open the Settings menu and select Configure Rosegarden
3. Under the General category, ensure that the box is unchecked next to Use JACK transport
4. Under the Audio category, select the JACK Startup tab and ensure the box next to Start JACK when Rosegarden starts is unchecked
5. Close Rosegarden, and then open it up again

It is possible that Rosegarden does not play sound after another Rosegarden File was created. Thus, if the above settings are correct, perhaps the two programs are not connected. Thus, follow these steps:

1. Open up QSynth, then Rosegarden
2. In Rosegarden, go to Studio > Manage Midi Devices
3. Under Play Devices, find General MIDI Device
4. Select an entry that looks something like "129:0 Synth Input Port", not a Timidity port
5. If you want, you can Export your settings and save them just in case the sound does not work again

Often, a Rosegarden file (*.rg) will save its own set of Midi device settings, so it might be necessary to repeat these past steps after opening a file you did not create.

Comments

1. If you encounter problems with MIDI, it may be that your system is not set up to play MIDI. In a Konsole or Terminal, run the following commands:
     sudo modprobe snd-seq
     sudo su -c 'echo snd-seq >> /etc/modules'
2. If you encounter any problems that this tutorial was unable to solve, please consult any, or all, of the following web pages:
     https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuStudioPreparation
     https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowToQjackCtlConnections
     https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowToJACKConfiguration

For any other queries, or if the above pages did not help, feel free to leave a comment or question.