Notation software

[JW]

Help! My PP has asked me to set the new Ordinary simply for our parish so we can hit the ground running. Now I can (and will) do this the old fashioned way on manuscript paper, but my writing has not imrproved with age, so the choir/congregation will have problems deciphering. I'm a bit concerned about the cost of both Sibelius and Finale. I know from degree days that the stuff I write is fairly bland and is never going to blow people away so I won't expect to earn any money out of this. I also know from my degree days (early 90's) that it took me almost as long to copy a piece using notation software as it did to write it out neatly in ink. Whilst acknowedging that many of the contributors to this thread compose professionally and need to use Professional Versions of the software, would some of the less sophisticated versions of Finale , such as Finale Print Music or Sibelius First allow me to notate a setting for organ, cantor/choir & congregation fairly quickly and intuitively?

[Nick Baty]

Why not work by hand as you usually do for choir and organ, and persuade one of us to produce the people's part for you – working from your score it would only take a few minutes.

[TimSharrock]

I'm a bit concerned about the cost of both Sibelius and Finale.

I use Noteworthy Composerhttp://www.noteworthysoftware.com which at $49 is less expensive than the professional programs, but is good enough for my needs

[contrabordun]

Yes, I use that too, on the very rare occasions I need a music processor.

[Peter]

Help! My PP has asked me to set the new Ordinary simply for our parish so we can hit the ground running...

Why not bring your new setting to the Composers' Group meeting at Ware on 12th February? You'll get some constructive feedback on it, probably hear some alternative settings that may be of interest and may even find someone to advise you on notation software or even offer to typeset your pieces for you! You'll find a link to more details on the SSG home page.

[JW]

Thanks very much for all the helpful suggestions and the invitation to the composers' group. I'm not ready to bring it to the composers' group yet as I've barely started. So far, I've read the Guidelines for Composers and drafted the Lamb of God. I'll be aiming for the following composers' group.

Going to have to think of a way to record the Missal Tone Preface Dialogue, Mystery of Faith, and Doxology for the PP to practice as well. Nick is way ahead of me on that one. I know the chants haven't really changed, but you tend to sing the old words rather than the new ones. I guess no-one has cassette players any more! I'll get my son, the computer programmer, to help out on that one (once he's settled into his new job and his wedding is over)!

Back to notation software, I notice surfing the web that there is a freesource programme called MuseScore. Has anyone had any experience of it? I also have a 10 year old copy of something called Harmony Assistant but have never loaded it to this computer as I didn't find it easy to use.

[Nick Baty]

Going to have to think of a way to record the Missal Tone Preface Dialogue, Mystery of Faith, and Doxology for the PP to practice as well.

Try Audacity. Free to download and simple to use. http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/
Sing right into your machine and watch the sounds waves.
Then you simple crop off the bits you don't want (click, drag, delete) and export as a sound file.
Trust me, if I can use it then it has to be simple.

[docmattc]

Going to have to think of a way to record the Missal Tone Preface Dialogue, Mystery of Faith, and Doxology for the PP to practice as well.

You could try having a look here.

[JW]

I notice there is a freesource programme called MuseScore.

I loaded MuseScore 3 days ago, looked at the tutorials on YouTube, printed the User Guide and played around for a couple of sessions. I'm feeling quite chuffed because I've just notated the draft of a short composition (Lamb of God), composed and notated a Flute part, included lyrics, tempo and dynamic markings, saved it to PDF (for the Inquisition), and printed enough copies for the choir, all in under 2hrs 30mins. Although slow, this is much quicker than I'm accustomed to with notation software and I still needed to look up a lot of things on online Help/Forums.

I've found this free programme very user-friendly (with a good on line help system and forums) and it's free: so school music students can use it for composition exercises. I would certainly recommend this programme for those who want free notation software.

[promusica]

I use Finale for my own personal use, and teach Sibelius as a module in school. Sibelius is definitely far more intuitive, and sometimes even seems to predict what you want to do, but in my books, Finale still has the edge, which is why I always use it for my own material. However, if cost is a factor, there is a free version of Finale called Finale NotePad which gives good quality typesetting, and can also read and modify existing Finale files. Haven't quite grasped how to begin on an anacrusis with this program however, and suspect that it's just not possible. It is limited, but it's also free, and is suitable for beginner typesetters and composers. It's something that you could learn in around an hour, there are tutorial videos available also.

[Gwyn]

Sibelius 6 was a hard act ot follow, Sibelius 7 confirmed this.

I've reverted to Sibelius 6 from 7 mainly because of that annoying ribbon not to mention the "Print setup" sequence. Let the buyer beware.

Gwyn.

[mcb]

Have to say I hate Sibelius 7. I bought it because of the ability to export in MusicXML, and thus communicate at last with the rest of the music notation software world. But in other respects it's infuriating - little or no continuity with previous versions of Sibelius, and wholesale disregard for normal user-interface conventions. For someone who'd never used Sibelius before, and had no other experience of using a computer, I'm sure it would be a fine tool. But it just annoys me every time I use it.

[Nick Baty]

When you say "little or no continuity with previous versions of Sibelius" do you mean it almost looks like a different programme?

[musicus]

When you say "little or no continuity with previous versions of Sibelius" do you mean it almost looks like a different programme?

That has certainly been my experience with it. I have used version 7 extensively now, so I am used to it, but, so far as what the program can actually do, apart from Music XML, which is HUGE, it feels like the same features dressed-up differently - 'Lamb dressed as mutton', you might say. I, too, was initially tempted to revert to version 6, but I was aware (hopeful?) that there were underlying bug-fixes and improvements, quite apart from the feature set. There was also the issue of compatibility with other people's files: version 7 can read anything they send me; 6 can't.

[Southern Comfort]

Something similar happened with Finale in the 2009 version. Lots of tools and techniques migrated to new places, and it was necessary to find out where they were all over again. Despite a few continuing annoyances, three years on I am very grateful for the additional features in that version and those in 2011. And musicus's remarks about compatibility are spot on.