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Music composition software



 
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ConnArtist
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 10:28 am    Post subject: Music composition software Reply with quote

Please pardon my ignorance...

Is there any free (or cheap, but preferably free) software available for writing out musical scores y'all can recommend?

I need to get a composition to a third party, but want to supply something better than my chicken-scratch on lined paper.

Looking for something VERRRRRY user friendly and simple. Mac compatible. I don't need audio or playback... just something to write the notes onto lines that can output as pdfs jpegs or other easy-access files.

Thank you!!!
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veery715
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 10:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Musescore: http://musescore.org/
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loweredsixth
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 10:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Finale Notepad
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ConnArtist
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 10:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I forgot to mention... The piece is a little unusual with meter: Verse is 3 bars of 3/4 followed by 2 bars of 4/4 (done twice), followed by chorus, which is just 8 measures of 4/4

So software that has that kind of flexibility (if possible??) would help.

At least there are no key changes

Thanks for the suggestions already! If the new information changes recommendations, I'd appreciate knowing that, I've only got a week to get this thing written for non-Andy minds!
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"Stomvi" PhrankenPhlugel w/ Blessing copper bell
1958 Conn 18A cornet
1962 Conn 9A cornet (yes, the Unicorn )
Reynolds Onyx cornet
c. 1955? Besson 10-10 trumpet
1939 Martin Imperial Handcraft “Model 37”
1986 Bach Strad 37 ML
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bagmangood
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 11:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

2nd vote for musescore - its free, pretty good sound quality (if you download some of the available sampling packages).

Any software SHOULD () be able to do what you asked
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starkadder
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 11:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I use lilypond. It is open source and produces beautiful, high-quality music engravings.

http://lilypond.org/
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cheiden
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 12:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You're best bet is to find someone who's already adept at music entry and have them do it. All the programs I've used have a pretty steep learning curve and I doubt you'll have time to get any program figured out in a week. Note that I'm mostly familiar with just Finale and Sibelius made programs.

If the piece isn't too long or complex I might consider doing it as a favor. Write or PM me if you're interested.
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LittleRusty
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 12:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

cheiden wrote:
You're best bet is to find someone who's already adept at music entry and have them do it. All the programs I've used have a pretty steep learning curve and I doubt you'll have time to get any program figured out in a week. Note that I'm mostly familiar with just Finale and Sibelius made programs.

If the piece isn't too long or complex I might consider doing it as a favor. Write or PM me if you're interested.

I agree with the learning curve point. I have used both Finale and Sibelius.
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RandyTX
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 2:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

starkadder wrote:
I use lilypond. It is open source and produces beautiful, high-quality music engravings.

http://lilypond.org/


Lilypond is certainly gorgeous on the output side. But be forewarned. It's really more a text-based programming (or scripting) language for rendering music. It's probably best suited for people that already have some sort of programming background, it's definitely not WYSIWYG.

Musescore is quite good already, despite being relatively new on the scene, and is graphically oriented, very similar to Finale or Sibelius, but open source, free and runs on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X.
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jadickson
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 4:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

also try Noteflight online.
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kidtwist
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 11:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

+1 on Musescore!!
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spach
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 12:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Two thumbs up for MuseScore. It has a few quirks and sometimes seems to have a mind of its own, but if I can use it...well, you know the saying.
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windandsong
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 1:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

How about downloading a trial of Sibelius? You get 31days.
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ENINCA
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 2:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

jadickson wrote:
also try Noteflight online.


+1 on Noteflight.com. I recently came across it because I was looking for something cheap, simple and fast. I was truly blown away. It's perfect for me. So easy, I was creating jazz charts in about 20 min. They have simple little instructional youtubes that really help you get launched into creating scores. Way more intuitive than the old version of Finale I used to have. I love Noteflight.
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ConnArtist
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 6:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the tips, all!

The project got bumped, which buys me some time to download a few to test. Looking forward to getting at least one of them figured out. Thanks again for bringing your fave's to my attention!
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"Stomvi" PhrankenPhlugel w/ Blessing copper bell
1958 Conn 18A cornet
1962 Conn 9A cornet (yes, the Unicorn )
Reynolds Onyx cornet
c. 1955? Besson 10-10 trumpet
1939 Martin Imperial Handcraft “Model 37”
1986 Bach Strad 37 ML
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trumpetlane
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 6:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Musescore. I use both Finale and Sibelius and Musescore is definitely a legit software program.
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cheiden
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 17, 2013 9:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you're serious about notation then it wouldn't hurt to get Notepad (free), the junior version of Finale. That'll get you familiar with the user interface and the note entry options. If you don't hate it utterly then you can always upgrade to PrintMusic for relatively little cost (same UI and note entry). That program will likely do 98% of what most folks need to do. Only if you're hardcore would you likely need to pony up for a full copy of Finale.
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Charles J Heiden/So Cal
Bach Strad 180ML43*/43 Bb/Yamaha 731 Flugel/Benge 1X C/Kanstul 920 Picc/Conn 80A Cornet
Bach 3C rim on 1.5C underpart
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