Do you write music?

"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
01/30/2020 at 17:31 • Filed to: music

I was chatting with ttyymmnn about this program I ran across called !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . It’s a pretty impressive full-featured application for writing, transposing, and scoring music. It’s festooned with all kinds of templates for symphonic, jazz, big band, marching band, etc. compositions, and changes propagate through the entire project when you make them on a part. There is so much there, and the amazing thing is it is fully functional donation ware. Not even crippleware or trial, fully capable for free.

I am no composer, just an amateur musician through high school and college, but I can tell you that I could have used something like this to transpose parts for my section or myself, especially when I was playing other parts in three different clefs ( essentially transposing in my head) that were written for other instruments, or to spl ice bits together. Stuff that had to all be done by hand when I was young can now be done for free and look professional .

Ttyymmnn points out that there are more expensive and likely more sophiticated packages that form the industry standard, like Finale, which he uses . But just like there are cheaper Photoshop alternatives for those of us who aren’t graphic designers that can afford an Adobe subscription, this brings creativity close to the masses. It’s just an awesome example of how technology brings the arts closer to us common folk and makes it easier to enrich our lives .

Cool.

DISCUSSION (25)

ttyymmnn > Chariotoflove
01/30/2020 at 18:05

I downloaded this and will check it out. The biggest thing this app has going for it is its cost (nuthin).

Xanadu603 > Chariotoflove
01/30/2020 at 18:08

I used to read it but I forgot how...

Chariotoflove > ttyymmnn
01/30/2020 at 18:32

And a little investment of your time, of course. Nice to have alternate tools though. Sometimes different programs do individual things better than others.

Chariotoflove > Xanadu603
01/30/2020 at 18:33

Like rid ing a bike...

ttyymmnn > Chariotoflove
01/30/2020 at 19:00

They do. This app seems like it might be a bit more intuitive than Finale. My fiddling has shown that its page layout features may be a bit skimpy for my taste. But it looks like a solid contender for those who don’t want to take the time to learn Finale or spend the money for it.

smobgirl > Chariotoflove
01/30/2020 at 19:25

I used to use Finale Notepad (the free version) and holy hell was it a pain. This sounds pretty neat!

7:07 > Chariotoflove
01/30/2020 at 19:25

I think the engraving in Finale is higher quality and looks closest to professional prints, and the MIDI playback is more flexible, but o ther than that Musescore will be totally fine for most projects. Photoshop vs GIMP is a great comparison .

Chariotoflove > ttyymmnn
01/30/2020 at 19:27

Someone like me, if I started up again (with all that spare time I have).

If you have thoughts on what would improve it, drop the developers a line. From their blog, they thrive on input from professional users. They might add the layout features you want.

McMike > Chariotoflove
01/30/2020 at 19:35

Like write it out? On paper and shit?

No, I play guitar.

Chariotoflove > smobgirl
01/30/2020 at 19:42

Yeah, ttyymmnn tells me Finale is very powerful but with a steep learning curve. I like the idea of something you can start using more immediately.

Chariotoflove > 7:07
01/30/2020 at 19:44

Yeah, that’s what I’m getting. My Photoshop alternative is Pixelmator, btw. Does 90% of what PS does.

Chariotoflove > McMike
01/30/2020 at 19:46

Yup, that or stone tablets. Same thing.

Guitars players use sheet music too! But if you don’t, I wouldn’t fret about it.

smobgirl > Chariotoflove
01/30/2020 at 19:57

Notepad wasn’t as bad as the full program but it was just really slow to use. And also lacking all of the instruments I was actually writing for...minor technicality really.

I remember around 2002 ish when the drum corps arrangers first started using computer programs for our scores. Lots of “mousing errors” when copy-pasting parts. W e also tried to convince Sibelius that they needed automated warnings to pop up when someone tried to write in a mallet change in the space of, say, 2.5 counts at 185.

Shour, Aloof and Obnoxious > Chariotoflove
01/30/2020 at 20:45

Once you learn the speedy entry via keypad on Finale, nothing is as fast when you need to write something...at least in my experience. Back in the day, Sibelius would turn out prettier stuff, but the entry system was terrible.

I was the staff arranger for my university marching band, and could knock out a full score in a couple of hours easily after getting Finale learned. Yeah, it's expensive as hell, but damn if it isn't efficient.

ttyymmnn > Chariotoflove
01/30/2020 at 21:03

It’s also entirely possible that the features exist, but I just don’t know how to use them. With 20+ years I have invested in Finale, I’m probably not going to take the time to figure out Musescore. But it does look like a nice app.

ttyymmnn > smobgirl
01/30/2020 at 22:12

Notepad was Finale’s attempt to make a cheaper alternative to full-blown Finale, and it was next to worthless. You could do most of the basic note entry stuff, but it didn’t support any sort of reasonable page layout capabilities. I’ve literally got more than 20 years invested in Finale, and what I know how to do I can do very well. But there is still a whole lot that it does that I don’t know how to do.

ttyymmnn > 7:07
01/30/2020 at 22:13

I would say that the higher quality results of Finale are due in large part to the extraordinarily granular level of layout and engraving options. It also has a lot to do with the music fonts themselves. My goal with Finale is always to make a part look like it was done by hand, not by machine. And you can do that, if you take the time.

ttyymmnn > McMike
01/30/2020 at 22:14

I taught an arranging class at a small local university a few years ago. The kids had to create pieces for various ensembles, but I made them do their first assignment by hand. It’s important to understand how the beats in a multi-instrument score must align vertically. It can be tough to do by hand, but it’s necessary.

ttyymmnn > Shour, Aloof and Obnoxious
01/30/2020 at 22:17

I used to proctor in the music computer lab at UT , and we had both Finale and Sibelius. When people asked me which was better, I would always say that they did pretty much the same thing, but if you had any time at all invested in Finale, it was best to stick with it. If you were coming to engraving software for the first time, then go with Sibelius. The learning curve on Finale is steep as hell, but once you get there it’s by far the best. But if you just need to slam notes in and don’t want to become an engraver, Sibelius was more intuitive for the beginner. Of course, Sibelius is dead now. I think Finale bought them out.

Chariotoflove > Shour, Aloof and Obnoxious
01/30/2020 at 23:11

Once you’ve got your workflow ironed out, nothing else will be faster. That’s why it’s so hard to poach users away from big software packages. As long as it has the features, users usually stay locked in.

Chariotoflove > ttyymmnn
01/30/2020 at 23:17

Once you have your workflow, nothing will be faster. Users mostly stay locked in to a software package like that. That’s why it was so amazing how Adobe stole Quark Xpress customers in the publishing space.

This package is for everyone else, especially those starting out who may grow with the program. That’s the great thing about open source software. It’s goals are different.

McMike > Chariotoflove
01/31/2020 at 05:38

LOL @ “fret” .

Q: H ow to get a guitarist to stop playing?

A: Put sheet music in front of him.

Chariotoflove > McMike
01/31/2020 at 09:00

Ha! Sick burn. I’ll use that carefully.

McMike > Chariotoflove
01/31/2020 at 17:28

Here’s another oldie:

Q: What do you call someone who is always hanging out with musicians?

A: A drummer.

Chariotoflove > McMike
01/31/2020 at 19:05

Oof , a gut punch. Nice.