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What is the best music notation software?


JamesGV

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From my relatively limited usage, Finale seems to be the 'best' in terms of its depth and features. I actually use MuseScore now because it does 'enough' and, of course, is free (and seems the easiest to use of the open source programs). I do not write in it. I either work up stuff in PG Music's Power Tracks (which has fairly decent notation itself and is perfectly fine for printing out lead sheets -- and I really like its way of editing the notes) and/or I go very old school and sit down at the piano with staff paper and pencil. Later I'll transfer to the notation program for whatever sort of score I want.

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Sibelius 7.

-easiest, most intuitive
-extremely powerful and versatile
-by far the best quality included library (40Gig)
-available sound sets that make 3rd party libraries such as VSL, EWQL, Kontakt etc... act just like the included one (i.e. responds to standard musical symbols and text).
-most robust handling of VST and VSTi audio

etc...

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I have Sibelius 6...should get 7 I suppose. I like it a lot. I have had Sibelius since v4. Expensive upgrades.....well, compared to some, not all.
Shaky future...Avid just bought it, some seem to think to let it die because they let go the design team in the UK who made it from the ground up. Dumb move I think. Finale is right up there with Sibelius.

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Quote Originally Posted by philbo View Post
I don't use standard notation for music. At one time I played with the scoring ability of Sonar, but gave it up.
It seems to me that you use tabs, fingering may be diagrams.

In this case try

Maestro Composer


or

MagicScore Maestro

I know opinion that tabs more convinient to create in these programs.
Virtual Piano and Guitar, Piano Roll Editor, Velocity Editor, Tempo Editor, MIDI Events Editor, Embed audio track function also present in these progbrams.

Please explain why you gave up and what you need from notation software?
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Quote Originally Posted by peanutroad View Post
From my relatively limited usage, Finale seems to be the 'best' in terms of its depth and features. I actually use MuseScore now because it does 'enough' and, of course, is free (and seems the easiest to use of the open source programs). I do not write in it. I either work up stuff in PG Music's Power Tracks (which has fairly decent notation itself and is perfectly fine for printing out lead sheets -- and I really like its way of editing the notes) and/or I go very old school and sit down at the piano with staff paper and pencil. Later I'll transfer to the notation program for whatever sort of score I want.
What in Finale and MuseScore you like more?

Please describe or provide a link to explanation the PG Music's Power Tracks way of editing the notes.

About pencil, paper and further transferring to notation program - also possible variant - not to interrupt creative process.
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Quote Originally Posted by vintagevibes View Post
Sibelius 7.

-easiest, most intuitive
-extremely powerful and versatile
-by far the best quality included library (40Gig)
-available sound sets that make 3rd party libraries such as VSL, EWQL, Kontakt etc... act just like the included one (i.e. responds to standard musical symbols and text).
-most robust handling of VST and VSTi audio
etc...
Simply the best but almost no details, price of this software not for everybody, plus development of this software is stopped.
http://www.zdnet.com/users-petition-...rm-7000002271/

What you mean talking "easiest, most intuitive, extremely powerful and versatile"?

For me this way to type scores, faster and more ergonomical.
.
Using Quick Input

In any case please provide details.
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James, James, James. Shilling for Maestro Composer are we?
It's pretty well apparent that the questions you're asking you've already answered for yourself since you have a link to Maestro Composer in your signature and you've linked to other aspects of the program.
Spam under any guise is still spam.

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Quote Originally Posted by daklander View Post
James, James, James. Shilling for Maestro Composer are we?
It's pretty well apparent that the questions you're asking you've already answered for yourself since you have a link to Maestro Composer in your signature and you've linked to other aspects of the program.
This topic is created to receive real opinions. So I also have right to write my opinion. When somebody write about software "simply the best" withou details for me it looks more like spam or copy from advertising than personal point of view. When you have explanation you can check any function and share your opinion. IF you wish that I wrote too much about one program I agree not to write about them for a long time except answers about these programs if they will be.

If you use music notation software for me your opinion also important.
You are welcome!
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Quote Originally Posted by WRGKMC View Post
Whatever happened to Midi soft? I still have a copy of that and still find it a useful
midi/notation/recording program.
I think it is usefull mostl for relativily simple notation.
MIDI software care first of all about sound, music notation software care about notes and then about sound.

MIDI soft produces better sound? music notation software produces better scores.

What MIDI soft you use for notation and what you do with them?
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I've always thought Finale was the best, but there is no real good answer.

Neither Finale nor Sibelius have great corporate support, so the software suffers. Not enough money in it I guess idn_smilie.gif

Finale is antiquated but has better features.

Sibelius is missing important features (for me) and is on iffy ground what with the recent Avid shenanigans.

There's a much better notation program out there that has yet to be written...

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Quote Originally Posted by Goobers View Post

Neither Finale nor Sibelius have great corporate support, so the software suffers. Not enough money in it I guess idn_smilie.gif
You are right. Due to my information Finale users don't have support. Sibelius users have to purchase support for additional $100 - that is strange for such expensive software.
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Quote Originally Posted by JamesGV View Post
You are right. Due to my information Finale users don't have support. Sibelius users have to purchase support for additional $100 - that is strange for such expensive software.
I think we're going to see more of that. Before PCs, that's how all software was - you purchased a license and support separately. Music software is getting so fully-featured (the polite term for "bloated but they can sell the same thing to everybody") so there really isn't much reason for anyone to buy an upgrade, and they're they're not making money from their users by giving free updates forever.

Once the bugs are fixed and you've figured out how to work the program, you probably don't need any more support or new features that come with a newer version, but you might need "support" when you get a new computer or update your operating system. That's a problem that you created, not the software manufacturer, so you pay for it as "support." Either you pay as you go and get a new version when you need it, or you pay for the new version if or when you need it.
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Quote Originally Posted by JamesGV View Post
You are right. Due to my information Finale users don't have support. Sibelius users have to purchase support for additional $100 - that is strange for such expensive software.
that's another good point, but I was actually making a more fundamental point - that the software suffers because the companies themselves aren't strong.

whatever money the companies make from notation software, it's not enough to pay for developing, debugging, and updating it properly.
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After reading this thread, it confirms some of my initial thoughts about Finale which I`ve been using sporadically for about a year now and that is that its poorly written software. There are a lot of quirky things the program does which leave me completely shaking my head at times. Granted, no software is perfect but there are "features" in Finale that have me wondering who in the world would use them. For example, I don`t need 240 different fonts... just give me three options: the maestro font, the jazz font and the handwritten font. I don`t need the other junk. Then there are these endless options... lets just cut the nonsense and get to it.

Some of its also the learning curve, which I`m pretty impatient to sit there and go through the tutorials which thankfully there is plenty of. I`ve been pretty good about it, I have watched and read a lot of it but theres just so darn much info to learn, I feel like I should get a degree when I actually learn all of it.

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Quote Originally Posted by JamesGV View Post
What do you think what is the best music notation software?
1. What software you use(know)?
2. How long you use it?
3. What you do with your software?
4. What you line/dislike (need) in music notation software?
JamesGV,

I apologize for the rant... I never answered your questions...

1. Finale 2012
2. It`ll be a year this January
3. Most to notate my own Church compositions
4. Truthfully, I`m still trying to like the product. I know there are other options out there and I did my homework before investing in Finale. Finale seemed to be the most professional from the crop. Also, some musicians and composers I highly respect use it so that pretty much sealed the deal. I really dislike all the crazy amount of options in Finale. I also dislike all the buttons and floating windows. I`m more of a keep everything in one window and within arms reach type of guy. Searching for features in windows and drop downs is just way too much. Granted, all software these days is like this but when it comes time to notate, I don`t want to have to search for 5 minutes to try to insert an upbeat measure at the beginning of the piece.

Also, the playback feature in Finale is archaic. Honestly, I hate to say this because its overly generalizing but Finale is a bit PC oriented for me. I think an Apple developer needs to come in and do it right. Just my $0.02
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Quote Originally Posted by Ernest Buckley View Post
After reading this thread, it confirms some of my initial thoughts about Finale which I`ve been using sporadically for about a year now and that is that its poorly written software. There are a lot of quirky things the program does which leave me completely shaking my head at times. Granted, no software is perfect but there are "features" in Finale that have me wondering who in the world would use them. For example, I don`t need 240 different fonts... just give me three options: the maestro font, the jazz font and the handwritten font. I don`t need the other junk. Then there are these endless options... lets just cut the nonsense and get to it.

Some of its also the learning curve, which I`m pretty impatient to sit there and go through the tutorials which thankfully there is plenty of. I`ve been pretty good about it, I have watched and read a lot of it but theres just so darn much info to learn, I feel like I should get a degree when I actually learn all of it.
one of the problems with Finale (and Sibelius I guess) is that they try to be all things to all people. And the coding just isn't elegant. So they wind up being Franken-programs, just constantly adding features and modules without ever neatening things up.

So they get bloated and quirky and inconsistent.

It would be nice if Finale had a lot of money and could rewrite its {censored} from scratch.
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Quote Originally Posted by Goobers View Post
one of the problems with Finale (and Sibelius I guess) is that they try to be all things to all people. And the coding just isn't elegant. So they wind up being Franken-programs, just constantly adding features and modules without ever neatening things up.

So they get bloated and quirky and inconsistent.

It would be nice if Finale had a lot of money and could rewrite its {censored} from scratch.
Well said. Maybe one of these days we`ll get lucky and Apple will buy out Finale... one can dream...
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Quote Originally Posted by Ernest Buckley View Post
Well said. Maybe one of these days we`ll get lucky and Apple will buy out Finale... one can dream...
I hoped for that, especially after Avid bought Sibelius... thinking Apple might be motivated by a "music software arms race."

And it would be GREAT to integrate Finale with Logic.

At this point, however, it just doesn't seem like there's all that motivation for Apple to buy Finale. Apple wouldn't get that much for its money, and it would come with a lot of headaches.

I think the problem is that music notation software costs more money to do right than it can possibly make with its niche customer base.

On a gut level, both Finale and Sibelius seem like they've stalled out.

Maybe some Paul Allen gazillionaire with a soft spot for music will infuse one of these companies with the millions it needs to develop the next generation notation software. idn_smilie.gif
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Quote Originally Posted by Goobers View Post
I hoped for that, especially after Avid bought Sibelius... thinking Apple might be motivated by a "music software arms race."

And it would be GREAT to integrate Finale with Logic.

At this point, however, it just doesn't seem like there's all that motivation for Apple to buy Finale. Apple wouldn't get that much for its money, and it would come with a lot of headaches.

I think the problem is that music notation software costs more money to do right than it can possibly make with its niche customer base.

On a gut level, both Finale and Sibelius seem like they've stalled out.

Maybe some Paul Allen gazillionaire with a soft spot for music will infuse one of these companies with the millions it needs to develop the next generation notation software. idn_smilie.gif
I think someone will eventually come along and write software that does a great job and its simple to operate. And it`ll be free. Seems to be the trend these days.
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Quote Originally Posted by Ernest Buckley

View Post

Well said. Maybe one of these days we`ll get lucky and Apple will buy out Finale... one can dream...

 

Aaahh, not so fast, I was kind of hoping Roland would buy Finale, and put a subset of the functionality into Sonar..
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