What music notation software to get?

[csharp_minor]

Hi

What music notation software should I get? I would like to get into writing out the pieces I have started in pencil but do them neatly on computer, without having to rub out the changes all the time. I’m thinking one that works with midi would be good, so I could play back what I just composed, and then make little adjustments to the score as I go along.

If you know of any programs that are good and you can play back the composition I would like to know the names of them! 

I used to have one I think it was called Cakewalk but I can't really remember as it was a while ago, and I don't know where it is .

Thanx

[iroveashe]

Cakewalk, I remember that! I used it looong time ago, but I don't know if they're still releasing new versions. Anyway, I used one called Encore (Google Gvox Encore to find it) and now I'm using Sibelius. The problem with those two is that they're only trial versions with limitations and you have to buy or dowload it illegally to be able to use properly. I think there's another program called Finale (which is not free either) but I haven't tried it.

[Petter]

You can still find Finale Notepad 2008 for free I think or if it was 2007. The latest version 2009 costs like 30 dollars I think. I bought it but there's really no difference as far as i can tell. I haven't used it all that much yet though. Something that annoys me is that you cannot transpose phrases in other keys without changing the original key of the whole piece. So it's almost more practical to write by hand...

[csharp_minor]

I used one called Encore (Google Gvox Encore to find it) and now I'm using Sibelius. The problem with those two is that they're only trial versions with limitations and you have to buy or dowload it illegally to be able to use properly. I think there's another program called Finale (which is not free either) but I haven't tried it.

Iroveashe 

does the ones you mentioned Encore, Sibelius let you play back the composition as a midi piano sound or something? Thanks for that I will google to find more out.


Thanks Peter

for the suggestion too, thats what I need at the moment just the name of them, as I'm out of touch with music software, haven't used it for about 5 years! I will also cheack it out.

thanks for the quick replys.

[iroveashe]

They can all playback, what I'm not sure about is if they can save the files in MIDI to listen to them with ordinary media players, other than the software you used to create the files. I don't know about Encore since from what I remember it was mostly piano oriented but in Sibelius you can write a full orchestra and it sounds good.

[csharp_minor]

They can all playback, what I'm not sure about is if they can save the files in MIDI to listen to them with ordinary media players, other than the software you used to create the files. I don't know about Encore since from what I remember it was mostly piano oriented but in Sibelius you can write a full orchestra and it sounds good.

Thanks

Thats fine as long as I can hear the score after making changes and adding to it. I don't like the sound of midi play back much so aren't bothered about exporting the composition as a midi flie. The best way is to record yourself playing it on a real piano once its finished.
I think I might go with Encore as its for piano.

[jabbz]

Sibelius is the best. There is really no contest.

[timothy42b]

Something that annoys me is that you cannot transpose phrases in other keys without changing the original key of the whole piece. So it's almost more practical to write by hand...

I have both Finale Notepad and Noteworthy Composer.  You are right about changing the key in Finale, that made it useless when i was writing parts for a a musical pit.  That's the reason I use NWC.  It is free, but I paid about $30 USD for the upgrade because I use it so much.  It will save to .nwc or .mid files, no problem.  It is FAR faster than writing by hand.  And it does playback, in any of the standard midi definition files.  How good they sound depends on your sound card of course. 

[learner of liszt]

I have Finale '09, and I haven't noticed the transposing problem. If you can afford it (normal price is something like 600 dollars, but with the student/teacher discounts, if you are either of those, more like 225 or something), I would recommend it.

[simon_horsey]

I haven't used Finale for a long time... I switched to Sibelius and I never looked back! It blew all other notation packages out of the water when it was released...nothing matched up to it in terms of ease of use and rapidity of screen redraw for large scores. I think Finale etc. have caught up somewhat now, but as far as I can see Sibelius still leads the field... you only have to look at the list of top composers who use it...they need something stable, quick and easy to use on a day to day basis.

It comes with Kontakt Player Silver which uses sampled instead of GM sounds... you can get extra sampled sound packs or use Garritan Personal Orchestra if you have it. Photoscore light is also included - I didn't ever think about the convenience of scanning a score and having it available in an editable format until I used Photoscore for the first time!

I highly recommend Sibelius. Check out their website www.sibelius.com

[rob_the_dude]

Agreed. Sibelius is by far the best.
Cakewalk is more for midi/audio recording than scoring (it does have the functions, but can't quantize very well)
Any notation package is ok, but make sure that you don't get capella. It's awful.

[goatmeal]

I have finally 09 and i got it for 150$ ( full version with gariton, and VST Vitual Sound libraries) from a student discount of of a theory text book i bought for school, the book is "Tonal Harmony" through Mc Graw Hill.
I would have considered Sibelious but with the offer i had i went with finale. I like it but it has some bugs with dynamics in the playback, and some other bugs too...
                I am not sure if the offer still exists ( i bought a year ago)  but you could probably call the publishing company to find out, and I think you might have to buy the work/text book bundle (but it goes through college theory 1-4)   

[iroveashe]

Has anyone used Noteflight? I think it's wonderful as long as you don't need something too complicated. I find online software to be much more comfortable.

[minor9th]

Another vote for Sibelius, especially version 6.

[the romantic]

I think Finale & Sibelius are the main programs used by professionals.  I have Sibelius 5 and I can't imagine anything being better - it's not cheap, but I highly recommend it.

When I started out looking for software, Sibelius had a fully working trial version.  It was after trying this that I decided to hand over the money for the full version.  As I recall it was without time-limit, but one was not able to print or save in the trial version.  However, there is now Sibelius 6 (which I haven't tried, but is probably a safe bet) and I don't know if a trial version exists.

Even more appealing is that Sibelius has good online support, including tutorial videos and a forum where you can post questions and get fast replies from experts - this is only accessible to those who have bought the software.

Good Luck!

[kookaburra]

I have finale notepad 2007, free version. works pretty well, but I have been frustrated by several things, such as the inability to make some notes in a chord come in a little later by using rests; it won't let you put a rest above a note, it must register that as an oxymoron. all around I have been pretty pleased, there are a few glitches, but what can you expect with a trial version. The playback feature is good, you can change the speed, etc.
and best of all it's free.

P.S. NEVER order anything from or do business with Notation Technologies, if you ever hear of them. I ordered some cool-sounding music software from them, found it wasn't compatible with my computer, so I returned it. They never gave my $40 back (sale price) , refused to do so, and when I sent them a letter, their address was incorrect or nonexistent or something like that. a SCAM.

[nanabush]

In Finale, somewhere along the toolbar, there should be four small boxes with "1", "2", "3", and "4".  Each one acts as a different layer of notation, so this way it's possible to put rests above notes.  This also works for passages where you have a chord held the entire measure, while playing eighths for example.

Finale is really screwy sometimes...

[timothy42b]

I have finale notepad 2007, free version. works pretty well, but I have been frustrated by several things, such as the inability to make some notes in a chord come in a little later by using rests; it won't let you put a rest above a note, it must register that as an oxymoron. all around I have been pretty pleased, there are a few glitches, but what can you expect with a trial version. The playback feature is good, you can change the speed, etc.
and best of all it's free.

This is nonintuitive but easy with Noteworthy Composer, which is also free.

When you write a chord on one staff, you use <enter> for the first note and <control-enter> for the remaining notes, and they stack up nicely.

When writing notes of different duration in that chord, for example one quarter note C with two eighth note E's, you just have to write the shortest notes (or rests) first.  When you add the long note, it lines up and plays back correctly.

However, with some figues like dotted or triplet patterns, it just doesn't work right.  That's when you layer.

You just add a staff, copy and paste below, then put the two separate rhythms for that measure on different staffs.  Then the Layer command merges them. 

[gyzzzmo]

Finale Printmusic.

[pianowolfi]

I use Finale (startet with 2003, now 2008) but I got mad at it because of these annoying bugs they never correct, for instance writing double accidentals if you write on different layers. You need to remove them tediously one by one!!! And it doesn't know some of the simplest notation rules. For instance, if you want to have an alterated note tied over the barline playbacked correctly you need to add a separate accidental to the second note of the tie, after the barline, otherwise it won't play that note correctly! At least, in the 2008 version they have corrected it to the extent that it doesn't show the respective accidental again!   For every more complicated action, like adding tremolos, you need plugins. It constantly keeps writing rests amidst the noteheads of other layers, and again you need to correct manually step by step... I am honestly thinking about switching to Sibelius...

[mattgreenecomposer]

Id like to make a suggestion...
Not to sound pretentious here but as a teacher, I recommend my students not use notation software until they write out their scores by hand for a year or so.  This forces them to learn the rules of notation which seems to be a dying art.  Little things like stem direction, beat groupings, order of clef/key/time signature.  You'd be amazed at how many people don't know this stuff when you give them a blank piece of paper and tell them to write music.
I see too much pointing and clicking on Finale and Sibelius without thinking about what they are writing.
...But to to answer your question I use Finale.  I think either Finale or Sibelius are great.  Its just what your used to.  Its like Mac or PC, Toyota or Honda, Logic or Protools...