A toboggan is much faster than a handbasket.
With MuseScore, you can use VSTs, but the default interface is to use SoundFonts. I find that the majority of SoundFonts are pretty cheesy sounding, so I tried doing VST.
If you want to use MuseScore with a VST, you need to use Jack. How does one use Jack? I haven't a clue. Setup info isn't in the FAQ. I took a look at a few video tutorials. You know it's gonna be a bumpy ride when the tutorial starts with, "If you have a 64-bit version of Windows, you're going to have to manually register the following DLLs ...."
I really don't want to have to worry about all of that. It's taking me away from making music into fiddling with software.
Another alternative is to skip worrying about using MuseScore playback. Just export the file as MIDI and import the file into a DAW (digital audio workstation), where you can define the VST setup. MuseScore actually suggests using (the free) LMMS, which was originally a Linux-only DAW, but it's been ported to Windows. So, I downloaded and installed LMMS and tried playing just a sound. It sounded like Satan was trying to escape from my speakers. A post I saw in another thread was that you essentially try all the combinations of sound card and driver that LMMS lists to find one that works. I couldn't. The best was no sound at all, rather than the shrieks from Hades.
Grrr.
Now, there are an awful lot of DAWs out there. I'm sure I could eventually find one that likes my audio card setup enough, but ... I don't know if I really want to. It might be a lot easier and effective to go and buy an external sound card and play with the included software. I also know this particular sound card works properly with LMMS. It's only another $25, but I'd also need to get "real" studio monitor speakers, which are $80 to $100. However, I might even think farther back and get a keyboard with a "lite" version of DAW software included, like the Novation, which comes with Ableton Lite.
With MuseScore, you can use VSTs, but the default interface is to use SoundFonts. I find that the majority of SoundFonts are pretty cheesy sounding, so I tried doing VST.
If you want to use MuseScore with a VST, you need to use Jack. How does one use Jack? I haven't a clue. Setup info isn't in the FAQ. I took a look at a few video tutorials. You know it's gonna be a bumpy ride when the tutorial starts with, "If you have a 64-bit version of Windows, you're going to have to manually register the following DLLs ...."
I really don't want to have to worry about all of that. It's taking me away from making music into fiddling with software.
Another alternative is to skip worrying about using MuseScore playback. Just export the file as MIDI and import the file into a DAW (digital audio workstation), where you can define the VST setup. MuseScore actually suggests using (the free) LMMS, which was originally a Linux-only DAW, but it's been ported to Windows. So, I downloaded and installed LMMS and tried playing just a sound. It sounded like Satan was trying to escape from my speakers. A post I saw in another thread was that you essentially try all the combinations of sound card and driver that LMMS lists to find one that works. I couldn't. The best was no sound at all, rather than the shrieks from Hades.
Grrr.
Now, there are an awful lot of DAWs out there. I'm sure I could eventually find one that likes my audio card setup enough, but ... I don't know if I really want to. It might be a lot easier and effective to go and buy an external sound card and play with the included software. I also know this particular sound card works properly with LMMS. It's only another $25, but I'd also need to get "real" studio monitor speakers, which are $80 to $100. However, I might even think farther back and get a keyboard with a "lite" version of DAW software included, like the Novation, which comes with Ableton Lite.