Music Notation Software

Subject: RE: Music Notation Software
From: Bruce Johnson
Date: 12 Dec 97 - 09:35 PM

Just to bring it back to the top. Two threads on this subject.

Subject: RE: Music Notation Software
From: Sir
Date: 10 Dec 97 - 07:05 PM

I use Finale music writting at my school on a Mac. It is pretty complicated depending on how you use it and not real cheap. I think we bought the original software for $250 on an education discount. We also have Music Time which is considerably easier to do basic work and is cheaper than the Finale.

Subject: RE: Music Notation Software
From: judy
Date: 10 Dec 97 - 01:24 AM

Thanks, Alice for bringing this up to the top. I'd forgotten all about this. I'm sure someone will help us out

judy

Subject: RE: Music Notation Software
From: judy
Date: 10 Dec 97 - 01:23 AM

Thanks, Alice for bringing this up to the top. I'm sure someone will help us out

judy

Subject: RE: Music Notation Software
From: Alice
Date: 09 Dec 97 - 07:20 PM

To repeat judy's question, what can other MAC users report regarding music software? Alice in Montana

Subject: RE: Music Notation Software
From: Bruce Johnson (aka Anonymous)
Date: 09 Dec 97 - 06:02 PM

Muse was less than $18 US. and like Jon, is the only shareware piece I've ever registered. Jon, it is about the same to key in, once you abandon the mouse in favor of the keyboard. The up and down arrows move you in pitch, and the number keys control the duration. One of the things I may try is saving the Muse file as a MIDI, and then importing the MIDI into NoteWorthy. That should let me have my crude printing with my custom tab, and a pretty acceptable piece of sheet music to share with any itinerant fiddlers I encounter.

I had occasion to communicate with the author of Muse, Laurie Griffiths, and found it to be a pleasant exchange. I was having trouble printing the tab, and she straightened me right out. Certainly the kind of person deserving of any support I can give.

What I would really like is some sort of cross breeding of both Muse and NoteWorthy. It is possible I would have found it had I done a more exhaustive search, but I am very satisfied with the results I did achieve. Good utility at a very modest cost. What more can I expect?

Subject: RE: Music Notation Software
From: Jon W.
Date: 17 Nov 97 - 10:36 AM

Judy, I registered Noteworthy Composer for $40 - the only piece of shareware I've been impressed with enough to register. I don't know about this one on the Mac but I'm under the impression that the Mac music software is better in general than that which is available to us PC owners.

Anonymous (whoever started this thread) - I have tried Muse a little but not to the point of trying to key in music from sheet (I have imported ABC files). I would be interested in your impressions as to how easy it is to key in the music as you do. It is different enough from Noteworthy that I get pretty confused trying to make changes to the scores I have input.

Thanks, Jon W.

Subject: RE: Music Notation Software
From: judy
Date: 17 Nov 97 - 12:48 AM

Thank you very much for the review and comparison. Do you know if either (or both) are available for the MAC and the price. I believe I heard Noteworthy Composer is around $100. Is that right?

Other MAC people, what do you use and why? What are some that can print out music on the low end of the price range.

thank you in advance

judy

Subject: Music Notation Software
From:
Date: 16 Nov 97 - 07:03 PM

A couple of weeks ago I posted a request for the HTML for MUSE music notation, because I had lost it. One of the responses requested that I report the results of my experience as a new thread. So here goes!

To preface my report, I need to tell you a little about myself and my purposes in getting music notation software. I have been a beginner on the guitar for 35 years now but I never really learned to read music. Oh, I understand how to read music. But I don't read well enough to learn new tunes from sheet music alone. I recently developed an interest in Irish music, and bought a cittern to learn to play melodies on. Don't bother looking for cittern tabulature in your local music store.

The two music notation programs that I tried out were _NoteWorthy Composer_ and _Muse_. Each had its own advantages. The two don't really overlap that much. Muse has the ability to produce tablature for any stringed instrument up to 6 strings/courses, and you can specify the tuning of the strings. You enter the music notation and it then produces the tablature! Very slick. You can save the song in several formats, including MIDI.

NoteWorthy Composer is a more polished piece as software goes, and presents itself in a very professional manner. It has the ability to import a MIDI file directly to music notation, print preview and print to any printer you select. Standard Win95 look and feel.

The other area of importance to me is the ability to play the file. Both programs do this, but in the case of NoteWorthy, the note(s) being played are displayed in red, so it is very easy to follow the notes as they play. Building ear/eye coordination, you might say. Muse has an option to play continuously, nice for practicing.

So I ended up buying Muse. I get a piece of sheet music, and key it into Muse. I print it out on the laser printer with the tablature. The printout from Muse is kind of crude but has the tab. After I learn the song by playing it in continuous mode and watching the tab. If I were trying to arrange the song for multiple voices and or instruments, I would have picked NoteWorthy, for it's ability to produce a more polished printout.

Hope this has been of value to some of you. You can get a sample of Muse from [e-mail]