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Recommendations for Notation Software?

LowDown Hal

LowDown Hal

Aug 30, 2007
1,486
7
southeast Michigan
#1
I'm a newbie who needs some help. I've tried to use the "staff" view in Cakewalk 2002 Home Studio to write out some stuff. It is pretty hostile.

Can y'all recommend some good, fairly cheap, notation software?
It would be nice to be able to have an audition feature and to save to midi (as well as whatever)?


THANKS
Hal :bassist:
 
#8
Finale is the best for notation, in my opinion. I hear Sibelius is more user friendly, but after using Finale for years, I can't figure it out.

Finale Songwriter is probably what you need. Notepad is VERY limited; I can't even use it to edit scores on a different computer. It was basically designed to have the ability to read and print Finale files on another computer.

Nick
 
#9
BTW, I've tried all Finale and Sibelius version, they all drove me completely bunker with their user unfriendliness, non-respect of Window convention and weird, illogical and absurd workflow. Oh, they're ok for basic notes entry, but anything a little bit deeper drove me to the edge of insanity. Anybody else think those programs were made by aliens from a foreign galaxy?
 
#10
bullshark said:
BTW, I've tried all Finale and Sibelius version, they all drove me completely bunker with their user unfriendliness, non-respect of Window convention and weird, illogical and absurd workflow. Oh, they're ok for basic notes entry, but anything a little bit deeper drove me to the edge of insanity. Anybody else think those programs were made by aliens from a foreign galaxy?
Click to expand...


It's like bass playing really. If you want to be good at it, you need to practice. If you give any piece of software enough time, you'll be using it properly in no time. Irrespective of how weird Finale or Sibelius might be to use, they are industry leading software programs for this type of work, so I wouldn't blow them out just because you don't understand them. Music notation can be very complex, perhaps the advanced features of these 2 software programs reflect this?
 
#11
Finale is very weird. It was originally written by musicians who had basic knowledge in programming, and Finale 1.0 was poorly written for the computer savvy. MakeMusic is now slowly making it more like a typical Windows program, so it makes more sense.

Nick
 
#14
derrenleepoole said:
It's like bass playing really. If you want to be good at it, you need to practice. If you give any piece of software enough time, you'll be using it properly in no time. Irrespective of how weird Finale or Sibelius might be to use, they are industry leading software programs for this type of work, so I wouldn't blow them out just because you don't understand them. Music notation can be very complex, perhaps the advanced features of these 2 software programs reflect this?
Click to expand...

Strangely enough though, I took to Guitar Pro in a matter of minutes. While not as fully featured as the flagship Finale or Sibelius, it certainly a lot more powerful than any of those company cut down program (like PrintMusic...Bleh... or the Sibelius G7, even more Bleh compared to GP).
 
#15
saxnbass said:
+1 on Finale NotePad for free or Finale SongWriter for $50.
The Finale continues on up to PrintMusic for $100, Alegro for $200 and Finale 2008 for $600 (or $350 academic).

I would recommend Sibelius over Finale personally, but Sibelius is more expensive.
Click to expand...

Big old +1. If you're really serious though I would look at Sibelius. Other then that Finale should cover you.
 

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