/ Register

Software for creating notation to play along with?

Discussion in 'General Instruction [BG]' started by kirkdickinson, Dec 29, 2012.

  1. Dec 29, 2012 #1
    kirkdickinson

    kirkdickinson Supporting Member

    Feb 25, 2012
    Belmont County, Ohio - USA
    I have just picked up a 5 string fretless bass and had an idea to help with my practice. I wanted to create scales and modes that I could play along with, then I could hear how close I was to proper intonation.

    My idea was to set up a series of scales like D Major on the B string and play every note available in that position, then E Dorian, then F# Phrygian, etc...

    I could play along, and learn where exactly to put my fingers by listening.

    Other exercises could be playing 2 octave arpeggios in each mode and of course doing it in multiple keys.

    I already do exercises like this on my fretted instrument.

    I have a free program called MuseScore that lets me put notes in the bass clef, then play them. It is not an easy program to use.

    Can someone recommend a program that could do this and be easy to use?

    Thanks,

    Kirk
     
  2. Dec 29, 2012 #2
    Alembic7

    Alembic7 Guest

    Mar 13, 2012
    Atlanta and all northern Areas
    Author The Groove Monster Method Bass Guidebook
    Good Luck!
     
  3. Dec 29, 2012 #3
    kirkdickinson

    kirkdickinson Supporting Member

    Feb 25, 2012
    Belmont County, Ohio - USA
    One of the purposes of practicing along with the computer is to practice my time as well as my pitch. Only perfect practice makes perfect and if I record my fretted bass, that won't be perfect, so I will be practicing to an imperfect recording. :)

    Maybe that is more reason to do it though?? Still hoping for a good notation program. There are other uses for it.

    Kirk
     
  4. Dec 29, 2012 #4
    Bainbridge

    Bainbridge Guest

    Oct 28, 2012
  5. Dec 29, 2012 #5
    Timmah

    Timmah

    May 19, 2011
    Connecticut
  6. Dec 29, 2012 #6
    Luke19Boarder

    Luke19Boarder

    Jul 5, 2001
    Chicago, IL
    maybe try guitar pro?

    It has tab and standard notation, but you can change it to only view one or the other.
     
  7. Dec 29, 2012 #7
    phmike

    phmike Guest

    Oct 25, 2006
    Nashville, TN
    Pencil, staff paper and metronome (online or other) would work fine. It does for me.
    And a +1 for Tux Guitar.
     
  8. Dec 29, 2012 #8
    kirkdickinson

    kirkdickinson Supporting Member

    Feb 25, 2012
    Belmont County, Ohio - USA
    Thanks for all the recomendations. PHmike, I am wanting to play along with exact tones to hone my intonation skills. That is why I wanted a computer program that was easy to program the notes into.
     
  9. Dec 30, 2012 #9
    phmike

    phmike Guest

    Oct 25, 2006
    Nashville, TN
    Sounds good in theory but when I tried it the effort of programming was way more trouble than it was worth.
     
  10. Dec 30, 2012 #10
    kirkdickinson

    kirkdickinson Supporting Member

    Feb 25, 2012
    Belmont County, Ohio - USA
    That is why I was wanting an easier program. :)
     
  11. Dec 30, 2012 #11
    Bainbridge

    Bainbridge Guest

    Oct 28, 2012
    Another free one: http://musescore.org/

    Edit: Oops, re-read the OP and realized that you're already using MuseScore.

    Finale is what I use, and I'm satisfied with it. Once you know a few hotkeys and get familiar with the menus, you can really enter notes quite fast. I can turn out an average length song scored out for a full band in a few hours, so I know that it is possible to get fluent with the program without a ridiculous learning curve. This is Finale Notepad, the free entry level software: http://www.finalemusic.com/notepad/default.aspx Haven't used that version myself, but it looks like it has the same basic features.

    Double edit: If you're going to use Finale, the default MIDI settings are awful. In every document I create, I go into the AUI (Audio Unit Instruments) options and crank the dry gain all the way up so that I can actually hear what's going on without having to dime my speakers.
     
  12. Dec 30, 2012 #12
    hgiles

    hgiles Guest

    Nov 8, 2012
    Virginia
    Whats wrong with Band In a Box?
     
  13. Dec 30, 2012 #13
    kirkdickinson

    kirkdickinson Supporting Member

    Feb 25, 2012
    Belmont County, Ohio - USA
    I have band in the box, I bought it a while back, but haven't become proficient in it. I didn't realize you could add individual notes. I have just been using the chords and included progressions as a playalong.

    I know there is a lot more that can be done with it.

    Seems like a decent program, I just can't seem to get the hang of entering a lot of notes quickly like would be required for what I need.

    I know that Garageband can edit a midi file, but I have never tried to create one using only the computer. Might be easiest to get a keyboard and hook it up to the computer and record the scales that way.

    I will look into the free version of Finale

    Thanks,

    Kirk