I’m still using pencil and paper to write down tunes I’ve composed. A music notation program (software to help write sheet music) would simplify things a bit.
Any recommendations out there? What do you people use?
I use Finale, but it’s a bit dear in price. A lot of people report using the free Finale Notepad to great effect. After getting used to the flexibility of the full software (and since I’ve already paid for it!) i just can’t get used the restrictions within the free version, even for incidental use.
For very basic things I learned ABCformat and then convert it.
It really depends on what you are looking for though.
You would want to visit www.geniesoft.com
‘Overture’ is very easy to use for ‘just plain musicians’ who don’t want to study computer techniques only to notate music. ‘Score Writer’ costs almost nothing and will do fine for ITM notation, unless you’d like to make guitar tabs.
‘Finale’ is a very good program as well, quite expensive and with a steep learning curve. I’d probably buy that program if I was to start a music publishing company, but I haven’t found a score yet that I couldn’t duplicate in Overture.
Jack, I asked that same question not long ago. Here is the link to that thread:
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=45403&view=previous
For simplicities sake and to take advantage of thousands of tunes published freely I recommend using the abc format.
abc resource page: http://www.walshaw.plus.com/abc/
I am using a variety of free or very cheap shareware software for abc, on a Windows platform:
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ABCMUS2 from Henrik Norbeck. This is great for organising your abc collections, copying tunes, searching for tunes through multiple files, and for playback, as it uses MIDI sounds and the rhythmns are not straight mechanical, but can have some “swing” and sound more natural. - Biggest minus point: you can’t print your music.
ABCMUS homepage is at http://www.norbeck.nu/abcmus/ -
For printing I use ABC2WIN. This software is a bit dated and cranky, but does the job.
ABC2Win homepage is at http://www.abc2win.com/ -
If you need multi voices in abc, a format called abc plus, you can use ABCedit.
ABCEdit home page is http://www.abcedit.tk/ -
I use ABCNavigator2 at the moment for writing/printing/listening/browsing tunes. It lets me write the abc tune in a text window, and I can see the dot music underneath in a notation window. It plays with MIDI sounds, and tempo can be changed while playing (pitch too), which I like. The windows interface is not standard and needs some getting used to, as is the case for 3 and 2.
The ABCNavigator homepage is at http://abcnavigator.free.fr/
Unfortunately there is no one program which is good at everything, and easy to use. Still the abc format is great, you can even learn to read it and play straight from the abc, and you can send tunes by email as text.
~Hans
you can get a free download trial version , well , it’s not a trial version really , you get to keep it for always and always and …
of Harmony Assistant .
lemme see now , hic …
http://www.myriad-online.com/cgi-bin/download.pl?lang=EN&prod=HA
the get to keep for always ,full version , costs about 70 lids .
the trial/free version won’t let you save or print , but you can do pretty much anything you like with the tune , once you have it in the programme, having written it ,or , having imported through abc2win .
it’ll then play it for you with that curious bing bong thingy .
speaking of which , i wonder why it’s not possible to have for your playback , the sounds of the likes of Séamus Ennis , although , how would you programme the attitude , like .
or even ,the mellifluous tones of H… hic… Ha…
I periodically use the free Finale Notepad, but I’d be interested to hear of anyone’s experiences with Finale PrintMusic’s MicNotator feature. I’ve also looked into Noteworthy Composer.
As a former IT guy it’s surprising to me how fragmented the music notation software industry still is after so many years.
The truth be mentioned, I continue to use old fashioned pencil and paper.
Actually, I am trying to wean myself away from the written note altogether, but continue to employ a crutch. :-\
That said, for me to get involved with modern software for such purpose would, in all honesty, represent a step backwards.
Unless you’re scoring, abc really is the way to go. I remember seeing tunebooks people had posted and wondering where they get all the time to do that. Then I discovered that I could enter a standard 32-bar jig or reel in just a few minutes in abc. I used to use graphics-based programs (Finale Notepad and some other thing), which I found much more cumbersome, but could do multi-staff scores.
I use sibelius music notation software and would recommend it.
I use Myriad’s Harmony Assistant and would really recommend it. It’s easy to learn, updates are issued free to all license holders, there’s a forum and they always respond quickly.
Regards,
Pamela
A friend who’s a professional composer and arranger swears by Sibelius, though it’s not cheap. He also uses the full pro version of Finale. For my myriad and limited purposes, he recommended Finale Notepad (freeware at the time), and that’s served me just fine.
And for quickie-abc on the Mac, I love Five Line Skink (more freeware). Very stable (I had some trouble with BarFly crashing) and very sensible.
Its final plus is that its notation is pretty big, a nice feature for these middle-aged eyes. 
Thank you, Will McCaulay!
Great suggestions all. I’m checking out most of them. Thank you!
For a relatively cheap application (a lot cheaper than Sibelius or Finale) that supports tinwhistle and flute notation, it may be worth checking out CelticPipes. It can read and write ABC among other things.
It is at: www.celticpipes.net
You can download a 30-day full evaluation from there.
Currently for Windows but will be on the MAC too sometime in May.
I’m going to buy this one after I play around with the demos some more and figure out which version I prefer – great price!
Interesting that no one uses lilypond.
I’ve often wondered how well one of those midi wind instrument devices could take down notes with one of these programs. I know the keyboard guys use them. Anyone have experience with trying to get their computer to spit out Irish tune sheets using a WX7 or the like?