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Best notation software according to 10TopTenReview (toptenreviews.com) as of March 22, 2019 (compiled and reported by Billy Bommer) BEST OVERALL: Notion 6 Available for MacOS, iOS, and Windows. Input notes with MIDI keyboard or virtual keyboard or guitar fretboard. From PreSonus. Integrates with PreSonus Studio One software. Price $149.95 at Sweetwater. Also available elsewhere. TopTenReview website says: Notion 6 is available for Mac and Windows computers and has all the important editing tools we look for. You can input notes with a MIDI keyboard, virtual piano or virtual guitar fretboard. It’s easy to install and register the program, and the software recognized our MIDI keyboard instantly – we didn’t have to navigate through hidden dropdown menus to get it to connect. The tool palettes are arranged well, which also helped us get started composing within a few minutes of opening the software. It is one of the more expensive programs we reviewed, but it is still hundreds of dollars less than music notation software with similar feature sets. This composition software’s standout feature is its incredible instrument sample library. Notion’s developers took the time to record samples from some of the most sought-after musicians and orchestras in the world, including the London Symphony Orchestra, Neil Zaza and the Wooten brothers. After you finish writing a score, you can listen to it with stunningly accurate articulation and export a WAV or MP3 file to share with your bandmates or fellow composers. Notion can be used with Mac and Windows computers as well as iOS mobile devices and Windows tablets – you can start writing a composition on your home computer and finish editing it on your iPad or iPhone. This is one of only two programs we tested that has a companion mobile app. Pros: Intuitive workflow, realistic playback instrument tones, tablet compatibility. Cons: Intimidating user interface, expensive compared to other programs reviewed, tone library and software use a lot of hard drive space.
Transcript of It’s easy to install and register the program, and the ...
Best notation software according to 10TopTenReview (toptenreviews.com) as of March 22, 2019 (compiled and reported by Billy Bommer) BEST OVERALL: Notion 6 Available for MacOS, iOS, and Windows. Input notes with MIDI keyboard or virtual keyboard or guitar fretboard. From PreSonus. Integrates with PreSonus Studio One software. Price $149.95 at Sweetwater. Also available elsewhere. TopTenReview website says:
Notion 6 is available for Mac and Windows computers and has all the important editing tools we look for. You can input notes with a MIDI keyboard, virtual piano or virtual guitar fretboard.
It’s easy to install and register the program, and the software recognized our MIDI keyboard instantly – we didn’t have to navigate through hidden dropdown menus to get it to connect. The tool palettes are arranged well, which also helped us get started composing within a few minutes of opening the software. It is one of the more expensive programs we reviewed, but it is still hundreds of dollars less than music notation software with similar feature sets.
This composition software’s standout feature is its incredible instrument sample library. Notion’s developers took the time to record samples from some of the most sought-after musicians and orchestras in the world, including the London Symphony Orchestra, Neil Zaza and the Wooten brothers. After you finish writing a score, you can listen to it with stunningly accurate articulation and export a WAV or MP3 file to share with your bandmates or fellow composers.
Notion can be used with Mac and Windows computers as well as iOS mobile devices and Windows tablets – you can start writing a composition on your home computer and finish editing it on your iPad or iPhone. This is one of only two programs we tested that has a companion mobile app.
Pros: Intuitive workflow, realistic playback instrument tones, tablet compatibility. Cons: Intimidating user interface, expensive compared to other programs reviewed, tone library and software use a lot of hard drive space.
BEST VALUE: Musescore Compatible with Windows, Linux and Mac. Open source (free to download). , a good powerful option at no cost, great for an introduction to composition software. Website says:
MuseScore is free, open-source notation software that’s compatible with Windows and Mac operating systems. Even though it’s free, it includes many of the same features and tools found in the best for-pay programs we reviewed.
Its interface is clean and easy to navigate. The left side of the screen displays all the available input tools, and the inspector to the right of the score shows information about the notes you input. We had no problem connecting our MIDI keyboard, but if you don’t have one at your disposal, you can MuseScore’s virtual piano to input notes. You can also use your mouse or keyboard shortcuts to add notes to the staff.
MuseScore can import MusicXML and standard MIDI files from other popular notation software. When your score is complete, you can export it as either a graphic file, MusicXML file or audio file. The instrument samples aren’t as realistic or dynamic as those in the best notation programs we tested, but if you are interested in composing music with software, MuseScore is an easy way to learn for no investment.
Pros: Free, good selection of input and output features, easy-to-use interface. Cons: No volume mixer, no virtual guitar input option, support is limited. NOTES: Many helpful hints here: https://www.scoringnotes.com/news/musescore-3-released-with-automatic-placement/ More help at online forums here: https://musescore.org/en/forum. This site requires registration before using.
EASIEST TO USE: Sibelius Mac and PC compatible. Priced at about $159, but shop around. There are several buying options available. Website says:
Sibelius First is an affordable music notation program with an attractive, easy-to-use interface. You can input notes with a computer mouse, virtual piano or virtual guitar fretboard or by connecting a MIDI keyboard to the USB port on your computer.
Sibelius automatically adds the correct rests and note appearances, so you can work through a melody quickly without worrying about editing the score as you go. In case you have a hard time getting started, this notation software has 40 genre-specific templates to help spark your imagination. In its latest version, Sibelius First gained a unique output feature – you can now share your compositions via the Sibelius Cloud. When you finish a score or reach a good stopping point for collaboration, you can hit the Share button on the toolbar to send your work to the cloud. Avid’s MediaCentral Platform then processes it and sends you a URL that can be opened on any computer with any web browser. If you’re collaborating with another Sibelius user, you can both edit the score, and when either one of you presses the Push button, the changes will be saved without generating a new URL or exporting a file. The full version of Sibelius costs more than $500 and is intended for professional composers who create large, complex arrangements. If you can create your compositions within the framework of 16 staves, Sibelius First is a cost-effective option, and it’s easy enough for musicians and composers of all skill levels to use.
Pros: Easy note entry, innovative cloud-sharing feature. Cons: Can’t save score as a graphic image, takes up a lot of hard drive space, doesn’t include guitar scale diagrams. There is a free version of Sibelius at https://my.avid.com/get/sibelius-first. You probably have to register first, but it’s free. If you find you like the free version and want the more powerful features, you can upgrade to the paid version. Another version, Sibelius Ultimate, is available as an annual subscription. It’s only $19.99 a year (for now, anyway).
MOST USER FRIENDLY: Finale Print Music Compatible with Mac and PC. Priced from $99. Several buying options available. TopTen website says:
Finale PrintMusic has an intuitive workflow and an easy-to-navigate interface. It boasts an impressive set of note entry tools and editing palettes, and they are all easy to find and use.
You can enter notes with your computer’s mouse, a MIDI keyboard or a computer keyboard – even though it doesn't have a virtual piano, there's no shortage of input options. When you finish entering notes, you can listen to your composition with the Human Playback feature, which performs your music using one of the hundreds of built-in instruments, including strings, horns and percussion instruments. Finale has a great list of shareable output formats. It outputs publisher-quality printable files as well as PDF and graphic files. You can also output an MP3 file to share an audio version of your finalized score. Finale is the most recognized name in music production software because it is easy to use and has a great selection of notation tools for beginners and advanced users alike.
Pro: Intuitive and easy-to-use interface Con: No virtual keyboard For a free version of this program (only for Windows), go here: https://www.finalemusic.com/products/notepad/ It isn’t as powerful as the paid version, but you would be able to try it as long as you want without paying.
ABOUT THE TOP TEN TESTING PROCESS
When we test notation software, our first step is to purchase each product, download it and register it. As we do, we note how easy or difficult the process is. Once the software is up and running, we connect a MIDI keyboard and headphones to our testing laptop, count the number of steps it takes to start notating music, and monitor the playback.
Not everyone who uses notation software has a MIDI keyboard, so when available, we also used the programs’ virtual pianos and virtual guitar fretboards to input notes. The third important note input method is shortcut keys and a computer mouse, so we also compared the applications’ tool palettes. We found the best notation programs have toolbars you can customize to prominently display the tools you use most often, which can speed up your work.
After we created a score, we used each software’s playback engine to test how realistic its virtual instruments sound. Our favorite programs have a good variety of instruments in their libraries, including percussion instruments, strings and horns.
Finally, we tested each application’s import and export capabilities. We imported a variety of files, including MIDI files, MusicXML files and graphic images, to see how easy each program makes the process. We then exported the compositions in a variety of formats to check that they were legible and accurate, which is important when you send your scores to other musicians or composers.
Source: https://www.toptenreviews.com/best-music-notation-software
ENCORE (passportmusic.com) Available for Mac and Windows. Use MIDI keyboard to play in music or enter directly in the program. Cost $279.99 PROS: Easy to enter lyrics, can easily extract parts for ensembles, easy transposition CONS: No virtual guitar, tends to freeze (save often or you’ll lose your work) when holding the mouse button or control key too long, must use mouse to enter notes directly (which is difficult to line up exactly), playback is inconsistent, expensive, not well supported. NOTEWORTHY COMPOSER (noteworthycomposer.com) Available for Windows. Cost $49. Enter notes from computer keyboard, mouse, on-screen piano, or MIDI instrument. PROS: Easy to enter notes from computer keyboard, clean exports of MIDI files CONS: Difficult to enter lyrics, not good with odd timings like triplets, not available for Macs. TRY IT FREE: https://noteworthycomposer.com/info/download.htm There are several downloads (trial version plus tutorial and guides) at that link and none of them cost money, so it’s a good place to start.
NOTE: Something to watch if you use a MIDI instrument to enter music—if you don’t play the notes EXACTLY on time, you might have to do some editing to the note values when you’re done.
THERE ARE TUTORIALS FOR *EVERYTHING* ON YOUTUBE. SEARCH AND YOU WILL FIND HELP.
The charts on the next four pages show the results of a survey taken by Composer’s Toolbox, a blog
of interest to composers, which were posted June 25, 2018. Some software packages may have had
updates since then. More than 150 people responded to the survey, and all of them had at least one
year of experience with at least one of the software packages.
Online link to survey results:
https://composerstoolbox.com/2018/06/25/music-notation-software-user-reviews/
