At 07:11 PM 6/27/06 -0400, David W. Fenton wrote: >But it seems to me that in the historical example, there was no >resulting limitation on the musical expression of the composers, as I >believe Dennis is suggesting is the case with the impoverished >notational vocabulary of primitive notation software (I would note >that the Finale shape designer, however maligned it may be by all of >us who've been frustrated by its idiosyncracies, allows the creation >of just about any symbol or shape you'd desire; that doesn't cover >all elements of notational innovation, but it at least shows, I >think, a degree of planning for some flexibility on the part of >Finale's early designers).
The key words are your last ones: Finale's early designers -- emphasis on the 'early'. The advanced features of Finale lay dormant for years, including the shape designer, key signatures, and time signatures. Some, such as metrical independence of parts or metrics-free entry, were never begun. It's prettier and easier, but in terms of contemporary notation per se, there is little I can do in Finale 2006 that I couldn't do over 13 years ago (albeit much less conveniently) in Finale 2.2. Much of what can be done remains kludgy and requires significant learning, which is a barrier to contemporary notation's more widespread use when Finale and Sibelius dominate the marketplace. Before music software, I taught the range of notation from traditional notes through graphical notation -- in elementary school. In those same schools today, they are using Sibelius, pounding out plain old-fashioned notes in plain old-fashioned rhythms. That's all they have (and teachers certainly aren't going to make their jobs any harder by rejecting the use of computers). I don't think the influence of conservatism in notation software can be underestimated. Future history may have some interesting reflections. Dennis -- Please participate in my latest project: http://maltedmedia.com/waam/ My blog: http://maltedmedia.com/bathory/waam-blog.html _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
