Music notation programs

[PM]

When it comes to either writing a score or a tablature for upload what are the options out there? Are any free? I have never done it.

Thanks

[Amadan]

I'm using Finale Notepad 2007 or Music Masterworks, both free and with several good caracteristics.
You can google for it

[Cohan]

Anyone knows of any notation programmes for Linux? I've heard of LilyPond, but there might be others. All suggestions are welcome.

[Azalais]

I'm not too sure about Linux or Mac, but TablEdit is a very good one with some interesting features that make it a good learning tool too. If you use the search function, you'll find others discussed as well.

[Thierry]

Anyone knows of any notation programmes for Linux? I've heard of LilyPond, but there might be others. All suggestions are welcome.

Try Rosegarden... It's a sequencer and a score editor. It's very nice. But LilyPond is way more complete (and harder to use).

[dzguitar]

I use Sibelius G7. It's not free -- cost about $150. However, it was well worth the cost. I'm pretty intimidated by computers and I found this program very easy to learn and use almost right away.

Donna

[Bonifacio]

Try Finale Print Music 2007 - for starters. Its relatively inexpensive (less than $100), very user friendly and well worth the cost. You can play back what you notate and hear how it sounds. Good luck.

[Kyle_Poehling]

Hello all!

I'm new here, but figured I could assist on the "Music Notation" question. I work with Notion Music and we JUST released a new program called PROGRESSION which is basically "Music Software for Guitar." Great playback with high quality samples, standard notation and tab, amp simulators, MIDI and wav export plus many other great features.

I'd be happy to answer any questions regarding the program and it's features. There is a page up with some audio samples and screen shots...stop by and check it out if you have a second>>
http://progression.notionmusic.com

Thanks and enjoy!!
Kyle Poehling
Notion Music
kyle@notionmusic.com

[Bobber]

Noteedit works within KDE on Linux. It has a very nice GUI interface and is easy to use. Output works with Lilypond.
http://noteedit.berlios.de

[Vesuvio]

Hello Kyle,

I notice you have only just joined us. Welcome! If you have time please visit the Introduce Yourself area where you might like to tell us a little about your musical background and interests. Are you a guitarist?

Best wishes, V

[Thierry]

Hi Kyle,

Nice software. The result is very impressive.

Here's a few questions/comments:

There's no audio demo of a nylon string guitar. It would be nice to hear a classical guitar piece. Also, it would be nice to see a demo score for solo classical guitar (without the other instruments and that funky jazz font). I realize that classical guitar is not the bread and butter of Progression but Delcamp.net is a classical guitar forum after all!

How are multiple voices in the same stave being handled? In programs like Finale, you need a layer for each voice which is (in my opinion) very annoying.

Is it possible to write a score without the tabs?

[Kyle_Poehling]

Hi Kyle,

Nice software. The result is very impressive.

Here's a few questions/comments:

There's no audio demo of a nylon string guitar. It would be nice to hear a classical guitar piece. Also, it would be nice to see a demo score for solo classical guitar (without the other instruments and that funky jazz font). I realize that classical guitar is not the bread and butter of Progression but Delcamp.net is a classical guitar forum after all!

Thanks for the comments! We are currently editing the samples for the classical guitar (which was recorded by Ben Verdery on his Smallman Guitar at Abbey Road). We've collected a VERY extensive group of samples with TONS of articulations/techniques and they'll be coming to PROGRESSION soon. As far as the solo classical guitar piece we may be able to add that to the demos section sometime soon, but as you said it's not our "bread and butter" so we've focused a bit more on the rock and jazz side.

How are multiple voices in the same stave being handled? In programs like Finale, you need a layer for each voice which is (in my opinion) very annoying.

There are two "voices" available in PROGRESSION, and they can be handled on the same staff. I'm not totally sure if this is how Finale handles it, but I do know that the dual voice option in PROGRESSION is easy to use and very accurate.

Is it possible to write a score without the tabs?

It is absolutely possible to write without tabs...and the options for print and page/score layout are very user friendly as well!

Hope this helps!
Kyle
kyle@notionmusic.com

[Guitar Slim]

How are multiple voices in the same stave being handled? In programs like Finale, you need a layer for each voice which is (in my opinion) very annoying.

There are two "voices" available in PROGRESSION, and they can be handled on the same staff. I'm not totally sure if this is how Finale handles it, but I do know that the dual voice option in PROGRESSION is easy to use and very accurate.

I'm sure it's a good product Kyle, but this is a deal breaker for a serious classical guitar composer or arranger. A lot of classical-guitar music requires (at least) three voices on a single staff, with the ability to handle overlapping note values and rests, etc.

There was another discussion here recently about Guitar Pro software -- another good program with, sadly, the same limitation.

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=18505

In that thread, one of our members said he was in contact with the development staff at PowerTab, and they claimed they were going to take steps to address this shortcoming in future versions.

Please tell us you will also make your software more classical-guitar friendly!

[sender]

I'm using Tabledit which isn't free but is cheap and has a lot of nice features. It has no problem dealing with multiple voices. The interface doesn't look as nice as some other packages, but I've found it produces decent quality printed music. It can also playback what you've entered, automatically display chord diagrams and apply left and right finger indicators to name a few features.
There is a learning curve associated with all these packages and it takes a bit of application and digging around in the help files to use them to anything like their full potential.

[Kyle_Poehling]

How are multiple voices in the same stave being handled? In programs like Finale, you need a layer for each voice which is (in my opinion) very annoying.

There are two "voices" available in PROGRESSION, and they can be handled on the same staff. I'm not totally sure if this is how Finale handles it, but I do know that the dual voice option in PROGRESSION is easy to use and very accurate.

I'm sure it's a good product Kyle, but this is a deal breaker for a serious classical guitar composer or arranger. A lot of classical-guitar music requires (at least) three voices on a single staff, with the ability to handle overlapping note values and rests, etc.

There was another discussion here recently about Guitar Pro software -- another good program with, sadly, the same limitation.

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=18505

In that thread, one of our members said he was in contact with the development staff at PowerTab, and they claimed they were going to take steps to address this shortcoming in future versions.

Please tell us you will also make your software more classical-guitar friendly!

I answered this on another thread, but the nylon string release will support up to 4 voices per staff. Not sure of the exact release date for this, but it should be coming soon.

hope this helps!
Kyle