# Notation Software



## Guest (Oct 31, 2018)

For those who use a software to engrave your compositions (or even just to compose), what do you use and why do you use that?


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

Don't compose as such but use muse score to print out tunes and add accompaniment. For simple melody or melody plus chords also use abc notation see http://abcnotation.com/ and http://www.mandolintab.net/abcconverter.php to print it out, Both muse score and mandolin tab will work with music XML. They meet my needs and are free.


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

I use Sibelius for composition and for professional copy work and publishing. When I started, its learning curve was easier than Finale and the default settings produced better copy. I've not found a reason to change since. The inversion, retrograde, augmentation, transposition and other functions are handy tools for a composer.


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## Dorsetmike (Sep 26, 2018)

Somebody suggested Musescore, so I downloaded it, then tried to import a PDF file and got presented with a Farcebook page asking me to log in/register, Musescore now erased. 

I'll probably go ahead with the Finalé upgrade, I've progressed through Songwriter and Print Music so there should not be much, if any, of a learning curve. I mostly use it for editing/arranging.


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## Haydn70 (Jan 8, 2017)

I have been using Finale (for composition and scores/parts creation) for about 20 years. (I have version 2014.5.) I have a friend who is also a composer who has used both Finale and Sibelius and settled on Sibelius which he has recommended to me. The learning curve for Finale was tough but I went through it and I hate change  so I will stay with it. And like Sibelius, it also has inversion, retrograde, augmentation, transposition functionality.

And although there was no mention of playback engines in the OP, I recently acquired and have been using NotePerformer 3. For the most part it is superior to the Garritan Instruments package that comes with Finale.


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## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

I started with a program called "Professional Composer" made by Mark of the Unicorn back in 1986. Prior to that it was pencil, paper for composing and then ink and vellum paper for score and parts.

That program morphed into "Mosaic" in the early 90's.

I used that until 2005 when I switched to Sibelius. And I've stayed with that ever since.


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## pkoi (Jun 10, 2017)

It's Sibelius for me. Used it for the last 10 years and will probably keep on doing so in the future. It's a bit tricky for notating some of the extended techniques or otherwise unconventional notation but not impossible. However, in my own music I most of the time rely on traditional notation, so this is not a problem for me.


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## caters (Aug 2, 2018)

I use musescore because it can be versatile with downloadable plugins and it is free. I feel like I get all the features of Sibelius without the price by using musescore. And I might write what I composed in Musescore on staff paper and vice versa.


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## adrien (Sep 12, 2016)

I started with musescore, went as far as v2.2, spent about a year in it. Then went to Sibelius (briefly looked at Finale, but hated the basic navigation, which is what you do about 95% of the time - having to use scrollbars sucks!).

Got a bit disillusioned with Sibelius after a while. It has some warts still, don't get me started on music with multiple movements.

Looked at Dorico, went back to MuseScore, then went back to Sibelius. When Dorico 2 was released with NotePerformer 3 support I bought that as well, but try as I might I couldn't move to it. I think it's just a matter of time though, it's rapidly heading in the right direction, although they have a few philosophical issues I disagree with.

I got offered a cheap license for Notion 6 (since I have Studio One) and so bought that and took a look at it. Some compelling stuff in there - my son uses Notion on iOS. If they did a few things for Notion 7 it could be viable. It's more designed for live playback.

Currently on Sibelius again, although apparently there's a new Dorico out soon... rumours abound.

Loving the movement in this space, and what it's done for release cycles. Getting 3 or 4 Sibelius releases a year is great.


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## paulc (Apr 18, 2011)

I just happened to pick Sibelius over Finale originally, find it easy to use and have stuck with it. Same with Sonar (DAW).


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## Dorsetmike (Sep 26, 2018)

Further to my post re Musescore, it occurs to me why should I have to register with farcebook to import files from my own hard drive; as soon as I clicked on PDF up came farcebook.


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

Odd. I'm on 2.3.2 and when I try to import pdf I get










I've registered with Musescore so I just fill in my details avoiding farcebook.


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## Guest (Nov 1, 2018)

I started off with Sibelius and have moved over to LilyPond because it's easier to do extended notation there. In order to get a playback functioning, I sometimes export the MIDI file and play it through sibelius. However, this is tome consuming because I often have to edit all the articulations and some complex rhythms in order for it to be anywhere near accurate.


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## E Cristobal Poveda (Jul 12, 2017)

shirime said:


> For those who use a software to engrave your compositions (or even just to compose), what do you use and why do you use that?


My handwriting is atrocious. Also, I find that writing through notation software saves time and struggle when fixing syntax and preparing an orderly score.


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## adrien (Sep 12, 2016)

Dorsetmike said:


> Further to my post re Musescore, it occurs to me why should I have to register with farcebook to import files from my own hard drive; as soon as I clicked on PDF up came farcebook.


What is probably happening is you're going to a musescore login page, and they are offering the option to login with your facebook credentials to save you the trouble.

It's called OAuth. Many many websites do it, it's quite handy if you have a FB login, but it's not forcing you to use Facebook.


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