Tantacrul
Martin Keary makes video essays about music, culture and software design, drawing on a career as a composer and a designer of tools including MuseScore and Audacity.
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Latest
Martin’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus their backstory and Starbook, where fans write.
Known for
- Music Software & Bad Interface Design: Avid’s Sibelius2018 · Creator and presenter
YouTube - How We Made MuseScore 42022 · Creator and design lead
YouTube - Notation Must Die: The Battle For How We Read Music2023 · Creator and presenter
YouTube - How I Designed a Free Music Font for 5 Million Musicians2021 · Leland font co-designer
YouTube - Finale - How Music Software Dies2025 · Creator and presenter
YouTube - How We Designed Audacity 42025 · Creator and project leader
YouTube
Overview
- Name
- Martin Keary
- Work
- Composer, software designer and video essayist
- Training
- Design at LSAD in Ireland; music composition at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
- Early videos
- Composition lessons, including The Art of the Musical Transition in 2017
- Breakout
- The 2018 Sibelius interface critique, followed by a MuseScore critique in 2019
Mini bio
Music meets design.
Martin Keary studied design at LSAD in Ireland and music composition at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Before their work at Muse, they led design for Microsoft Paint 3D and applications for the HoloLens headset. Their concert music also brings sound and pictures together: NEW, commissioned for the Red Note Ensemble, pairs an amplified chamber orchestra with synchronised animation.
From lessons to critiques.
Early Tantacrul videos explored composition, including The Art of the Musical Transition in 2017. The 2018 critique of Sibelius and the subsequent MuseScore review brought the channel to the attention of the notation community. MuseScore’s developers responded by working with Martin, whose redesigned palettes appeared in version 3.3 in 2019.
Helping build the tools.
The critiques became a route from Microsoft into leading design at MuseScore. Martin later oversaw Muse’s software teams, including Audacity and MuseScore Studio. With engraver Simon Smith, they designed Leland, the free notation font named after SCORE creator Leland Smith. Their MuseScore 4 video lets fans see the team building, design choices and playback improvements behind a major release.
A new chapter.
In September 2026, Martin described Audacity 4 as their last release for Muse and said they had left the company a few months earlier. They made its launch video as a farewell to the team. Alongside that software work, Tantacrul remains a home for essays connecting music, technology, philosophy and design.
Creditschronological, newest first
Software and design
- 2026Audacity 4Development leadership before leaving Muse; release video creator
- 2022MuseScore 4Product owner and design leadership
- 2021LelandNotation font co-designer with Simon Smith
Music
- 2025Ooh, Finale (feat. JankMan)Artist
- 2016NEWComposer and visual artist; commissioned for the Red Note Ensemble
Awards
- West Cork Chamber Music Festival composition competition2017 winner for the string quartet Bangalorian Civic Duty.
- Craig Armstrong Prize and Patrons Fund PrizeAwarded for NEW, the orchestra-and-screen work performed at the 2016 PLUG festival.
- Claxica International Prize2015 prize for Herostratic, written for guitar and string trio.
Quotes
It took about nine months to complete and is probably the hardest thing I've ever worked on.Martin Keary, NEW (2016), official portfolio
On creating the music and synchronised animation for NEW.
Trivia
- Leland takes its name from Leland Smith, creator of the SCORE music publishing application.
- NEW combines an amplified chamber orchestra with animations projected in sync with the music.
- Martin’s earlier design work includes Microsoft Paint 3D and HoloLens applications.
Find Martin
Follow Martin for new essays, music and a closer look at software design.
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