Music Notation Software

Bill Barton · May-7th-2003, 08:51 PM

My girlfriend is a professional pianist, piano teacher, pipe organist and composer. We're looking for software to enable her to print sheet music from a MIDI input to the computer from her Yamaha Clavinova. Please bear in mind that she is not looking for bells and whistles, and doesn't need multi-tracking, etc. etc. and all the geegaws. Being able to orchestrate pieces is about all she needs (or wants.) I've researched a bunch of stuff on the net, and from our neo-Luddite perspective it's information overload! Does anyone have recommendations of software that will fill the bill? Some of the ones I've found info on are quite inexpensive, but we have no idea if they are quality products. Suggestions? Thanks.

graypencil · May-11th-2003, 07:46 PM

Bill:

The only music notation program I can help with is Finale 2003 ( coda technology ) ..(which is one of the two "biggies" these days.. Sibelius being the other )

I've been using Fnale for approximately 9 months , and after a bit of an initial steep learning curve, I've gotten to the point where I've weaned myself from using paper and pencil as an input device.. ( which I did for 40 years, relying on copyists ..) It should be said however, that Finale is a very deep program and I've only begun to scratch the surface of what it does. It is somewhat expensive, but if your friend is a teacher , there is a significant educational discount. Coda also makes an entry level program called Notepad that may be all she needs ..I can't tell you any thing about that one , though.

In all fairness, Sibelius is a great program as well, and basically works like Finale .. both programs have their adherents, and the individual choice is sorta like Beta vs VHS back in the early video days ..

Knike · May-12th-2003, 04:58 AM

I'm using a very simple, but effective, notation-Software called "Notensatz-Genie" . It was a cheap thing (about 15$ here in Switzerland.) You probably won't get that anywhere in your neighborhood, but I have been told, it's exactly the same like "Music-Time". It does a very good joy, at least for my purposes. it's easy to use and cheap. I don't know how deep you want to go into arranging and orchestrating but for me , it's perfect.

Bill Barton · May-12th-2003, 12:38 PM

Thanks for the leads...

gp: As a matter of fact, I just downloaded the free NotePad software from Coda's website, and we'll see if it can do the things she needs before upgrading to Finale 2003, Sibelius or another program.

Does anyone have familiarity with Finale's Print Music software (listed for about $50 at J&R) or Notation Technologies' Play Music software (which lists for about $30)?

She does want to have the capability of transposing, and I wonder if any of these bare-bones programs include that option.

graypencil · May-12th-2003, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bill Barton

She does want to have the capability of transposing, and I wonder if any of these bare-bones programs include that option.

Bill:

I think that's a question you'd need to ask the Coda folks about Notepad:

however, if she's going to be using the transposition tools, Finale is excellent in this area, both for inddividual instruments and score transposition.

( I'm sure Sibelius does this as well )

mke · May-12th-2003, 02:00 PM

Hi gp,

As you mentioned it, I would like to ask: what exactly does a copyist do?

graypencil · May-12th-2003, 03:46 PM

MKE:

Back in the pre computer era, a music copyistwould take the full score
( prepared by the composer /arranger ) and copy each individual part by hand for the players from the score .. this was a chore that had the combined stresses of draftsmanship , accuracy, and primarily SPEED ..and the ability to function under very tight deadlines.

There were many times a copyist (s) were on call during dates IN THE STUDIO just to keep up with changes and late arriving scores during recording sessions ..

The newer music notation programs have basically taken over the "hand copy " business over the past couple years ..

mke · May-12th-2003, 05:27 PM

Thanks for the explanation.

mtaylorjazz · May-20th-2003, 11:03 AM

i've used both finale and sibelius in the past few years (not that i am an expert at either one...) and i find sibelius to be faster to get "up and running" with. when i need to do lead sheets or quick and/or simple arrangements or copy work (yep, there are still copyists out there), sibelius gets the job done. it's a much deeper program than it seems, but i think those features might be a bit harder to get to than in finale. in fairness, i've heard finale has changed quite a bit in the last few years to make it easier to get started, but i don't know about that.

i like them both...a lot.

Bill Barton · May-20th-2003, 02:27 PM

Thanks, Mark.

Fluter · May-27th-2003, 12:40 PM

You can get a demo version of Sibelius for free to try out... I'm not sure of the URL but I'm sure you can find it.

You can use the demo forever but it does not save anything (you have to pay for a regular copy to get that feature). Still I churned out quite a few charts before I broke down and bought the program. I LOVE everything about Sibelius. I run it on Macintosh.

graypencil · May-27th-2003, 01:41 PM

I guess I should have said earlier that I too downloaded the Sibelius demo, and my reasons for choosing Finale were based on the number of people I might need to send files to, and which program they were using ..Finale ( being the older ..the VHS of notation programs ) won out there ..

Both programs now function quite similarly and the learning curve is similar ..and both are excellent, and heads and shoulders above the others ..

Bill Barton · May-28th-2003, 03:05 AM

thanks

mtaylorjazz · May-28th-2003, 03:41 PM

i just got this email and realized i had forgotten completely about Finale NotePad http://www.finalemusic.com/notepad, . it's like a stripped down verision of finale (i guess) but sounds pretty comprehensive, especially for the type of work you're talking about. plus (and this is the best part) it's FREE.

you guys could download it, try it out alongside the Sibelius demo (unless you're running OS X on a mac, codamusic isn't there yet) and see which you like best before dropping some serious bread on a notation program.

good luck

---

"playing jazz horn is like trying to do ballet on ice...with socks on" - Tom Varner

Circle Squared - new music for jazz horn (all notated in Sibelius, by the way)