Subject: Notation

In trawling the web I found this program called LilyPond which seems to allow to write music scores. I haven't tried it myself as I haven't touched music theory since I was 16, but the screenshot looks impressive. I remember there was a question a while back about software for writing music scores...

Most serious notation programs (Finale, Sibelius, Amadeus, ehm, there is a new one) are quite expensive. Lilypond is open source (I think) but it has an interface that not everyone may like. It's definitely different.

The third option is that MakeMusic (who make Finale) have a free version, which of course is limited, but still quite capable.

Victor.

Although I have not used LillyPond, I have heard nothing but good things about it. Mind you, I have heard these good things from other composers and academics, and I suspect it may be a bit more challenging to use than Sibelius or Finale for people who maybe don't know notation conventions so well.

A programme that anyone who's serious about notation should check out is NoteAbility Pro. It ONLY works on Mac OSX, can do any kind of notation, from the simplest to the most avant-garde graphic score, it interfaces with MAX-msp ("a graphical environment for music, audio, and multimedia," part of Cycling '74), and people tell me it's easier to learn than either Finale or Sibelius.

Finally, the programme I use is easier to learn than anything else out there, but Mark of the Unicorn orphaned it 9 years ago! Aargh! It's called "Mosaic" (by MOTU), and it doesn't work in OSX, or 'classic' emulation mode; the latest Mac OS it works with is 8.6. This is why I still keep an old Mac (G4) at home and at work, even though I have much more recent Macs. Every summer I vow to stop using it and get really good at Finale or NoteAbility Pro, but every summer I have all these commission deadlines looming that make learning a brand new software programme daunting.

Maybe this summer I'll have the courage to finally break the Moasic habit. I feel like I should enter a 12-steps programme for Mosaic users. It's that hard a habit to break!

Clark (trying to let go, but struggling...)

I recently discovered LilyPond. As mentioned, the interface (text only for input) is not for everyone, but if you know enough music theory to compose (or transcribe) and you enjoy programming or structured languages (like HTML), this program is absolutely amazing.

I'm using it to create jazz fake charts. Previously I had done a few by hand, but my hand charts take forever and look terrible. With LilyPond I can create a fake chart in a few minutes, it looks nearly perfect, and I can transpose it with just a few minor changes.

For anyone with a need for "musical engraving" (notation), I suggest you as least give it a look. You can probably figure out on the first page of the tutorial whether or not you'd like it.

BTW, for the real geeks out there, if you enjoy twiddling with your .emacs settings, writing shells scripts or anything like that, you'll definitely like LilyPond.

Clark, I use Sibelius which is MUCH easier than Finale. I recommend Sibelius highly; it's fairly easy to use. It's a very intuitive program. More and more composers are using it, and it's right up there with Finale for publishers.

If I am able to use Sibelius, pretty much ANYONE can! ;)