Custom instruments configurations

The custom instruments allow you to create your own instruments configurations and save them in your Flat accounts. These instruments can be then be used when creating a new score or when changing instruments in your existing documents. Create and manage them in your account settings.

Below, you can learn how to create the configurations for:

• Pitched instruments
• Unpitched instruments

Pitched instruments

Custom pitched instruments allows you to create a complete configuration of your instruments:

1. Base instrument

You can choose first an base instrument to build your custom instrument. Choose a base instrument to quickly re-use all the settings from an instrument and only change the settings you want. For example, if you only want to only have a custom name, always use a specific tuning on your TAB, or create an instrument with a different transposition mode.

2. Staves and Clefs

Choose the staves and clefs of your instrument.

3. Transposition mode

Choose then the transposition mode: the note and octave. If your instrument is non-transposing (plays in concert pitch), choose C and 0.

4. Tablature configuration

You can then completely configure the tablature of the instrument. Choose first how many strings your plucked string instrument has (at this time we allow from 4 to 14 strings), its complete tuning and capo.

5. Sound

Choose finally the sound of the instrument for our playback.

6. Part name and abbreviation

Set the default part name and abbreviation that will be printed on your scores.

Unpitched instruments

Custom unpitched instruments (in beta) include the staves settings, different percussion elements, their mapping and keyboard shortcuts to use them.

1. Base instrument

You can choose first an base instrument to build your custom instrument. Choose a base instrument to quickly re-use all the settings from an instrument and only change the settings you want. For example, if you want to make small changes to our preset drumset, you can start your custom drumset from our configuration.

2. Number of lines for your staves

Choose if your unpitched part will have staves with 1 or 5 lines.

3. Percussions instruments for your kit

You can then choose all the percussions instruments you want to include in the part:

• Pick up a percussion instruments in the list
• Set the staff line from 0.5 to 5.5 for 5 lines (0 is at the bottom, 5 at the top), or 0.5 to 1.5 for single-line staves.
• Choose the note head you want to assign to the instrument.
• Optionally, you can set a custom keyboard shortcut for the instrument. For example, if you choose "X" for a closed hi-hat, when you will press "X" whiled editing the notation of the part, it will insert a note for the closed hi-hat with the chosen line and note head.

If you play an instrument different ways (e.g. Open and Closed Hi-hat), add all the playing ways to the configuration with different lines and/or different heads.

Here are the different heads you can use for your kit:

Preview	Name
	Normal
	X
	Circle X
	Diamond
	Slash
	Triangle
	Back Slashed
	Slashed
	Square
	Cross
	Inverted Triangle
	Arrow up
	Arrow down
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