Music Notation Software

[bajistaman]

Anyone has tried one of these? Any recommendation?

Thanks!

Johann

Yeah i've tried guitar pro 5, finale, and sibelius

Guitar pro is really useful for guitar, as there's tonnes that you can do in guitar pro that you can't do in the other two, and it's pretty fast.

Finale is very good (probably my favourite) although I can't use it for guitar notation because it won't do certain stuff. But for bass it's totally fine. Finale I find is very quick to edit stuff and playback etc.

Sibelius is shite.

(In my humble opinion of course)

[MonetBass]

I use an older version of Finale Allegro, which works great. Not so intuitive, but once you learn it, you can do lots of stuff. There are cheaper products by Finale that would do what you need probably (I've heard good things about Finale NotePad): http://www.finalemusic.com/store/productoverview.aspx

[UncleBalsamic]

Finale is very good in my experience.

[Stereo Joe]

I'll put in a nod to Sibelius. I've been using it since version 3 and it's always been solid and reliable. It definitely has a different look than Finale, but when it comes to comparing the two, it's really just a matter of preference.
I prefer the interface of Sibelius, but I could do all the same things on Finale if I had to.

I'm pretty sure most of these programs offer trial periods, so you can't go wrong just downloading one and giving it a shot..

[bwv1013]

i've used a bunch of these myself. IME the biggest difference between the different products is what workspace suits you best. some were fairly intuitive for me, others i couldn't wrap my head around. it's definitely worth downloading all the trials you can to see which one suits you best.

[Stumbo]

Here's another TB thread you might want to take a look at: Transcribing

[1Bigolbass]

I would stay away from Finale. I bought the 2009 version and have yet to get it to work and their tech line is no help. The program will not play back. I had to get Sibelius, witch I am very happy with.

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Another long time Finale user/fan here.

[Illbay]

I like Guitar Pro pretty well, because of ease-of-use. But the most comprehensive I've used is Finale Allegro (the "just-one-step-from-the-top-shelf" version of Finale).

It also has plenty of guitar/bass tools including the option to include TAB.

[EADG mx]

Originally Posted by afromoose

Guitar pro is really useful for guitar, as there's tonnes that you can do in guitar pro that you can't do in the other two, and it's pretty fast.

Finale is very good (probably my favourite) although I can't use it for guitar notation because it won't do certain stuff.

Like what? I do lots of guitar and bass (with extended techniques) in Finale and I've never encountered a problem.

[Illbay]

Originally Posted by EADG mx

Like what? I do lots of guitar and bass (with extended techniques) in Finale and I've never encountered a problem.

Ditto for Finale Allegro (which saves you about $400, by the way).

[EADG mx]

I use 2009, for the record.

[bajistaman]

Thanks for the replies, I was looking for a cheap alternative while learning Grade 1 in music theory (Just starting to learn) and I have downloaded Finale NotePad, also trying free alternatives like lilypond ( http://lilypond.org/web/ ) and musescore ( http://www.musescore.org/ ). The previous ones are not so easy to work with, maybe just need to get used to the interfaces.
Today will work more with finale, it looks like a good program.
BTW, in order to transcript bass lines, I build the rythm in FLStudio using my ear and playing my bass, with that I get the notes lengths and then I traslate them in the music notation and finally I put the silences, ... I hope soon to be able to do it without the need of FLStudio.
Anyone knows another method to get the rythm right?

Cheers!

Johann

[aMUSEd]

i use TuxGuitar which is for free. Includes nearly all the features of Guitar Pro

Originally Posted by EADG mx

Like what? I do lots of guitar and bass (with extended techniques) in Finale and I've never encountered a problem.

Can't remember exactly I just know that for guitar thing I was doing it was much better to use guitar pro.

Probably strumming patterns and stuff like that.

[Hoover]

I've been using notation software since 1988: Started with MOTU's Professional Composer, then moved to Finale, dabbled with Deluxe Music Construction Set (at least I think that's what it was called) and one other flash-in-the-pan, then moved to MOTU's Mosaic.

I still use Mosaic, although it's been orphaned by MOTU and may soon be impossible to use if I keep upgrading my computers. If that happens I'll probably check out Sibelius. Though I'm still a registered Finale user I haven't been upgrading the software recently and some of the things they do are just so insipid that I can't in good conscience continue to support a company that out-of-touch with reality.

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Originally Posted by Hoover

Though I'm still a registered Finale user I haven't been upgrading the software recently and some of the things they do are just so insipid that I can't in good conscience continue to support a company that out-of-touch with reality.

What's the most recent version you use? IMO, they made a big jump with Finale 2008.

[Hoover]

Originally Posted by Alvaro Martín Gómez A.

What's the most recent version you use? IMO, they made a big jump with Finale 2008.

I did not make that jump, still have something pre-2008. (Vers3 perhaps? It's been a while since I've fired it up.) Good to hear they're taking big steps.

[benc]

I use Mozart. http://www.mozart.co.uk/ The interface is intuitive and not complex at all. It's cheap too. Also, you can make the eighth notes swing and even set the degree of swing - from a full-out triplet feel to just barely swinging.