From: "David W. Fenton" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
One of my main arguments is that Score's design and UI means that it
can never be widely used by anyone but the most dedicated engravers
and computer users.
i don't find this to be a bad thing. it may be that score **should**
concentrate on a higher end "market" and let finale and sibelius
shoot it out in the lower realm of notation programmes.
Are you saying that f and p in Score are not drawn with fonts? That's
very weird.
exactly. yes very strange, considering it obviously has the capacity
to deal with fonts, and the X-Y grid approach would work fine for
dynamics as fonts.
For me, this is all completely off-base, as the composition/engraving
distinction has no correlation at all with whether or not MIDI entry
is helpful.
the assumption is that the composer gives the engraver a finished
piece, and the engraver uses the notation software for notation, at a
highly specialised level. score users are not entirely unconcerned
with MIDI input, and i am not saying there is no need for it.
I haven't looked that closely. Surely they can't *always* be
symmetrical, such as in a situation where a slur starts on one staff
and ends on another.
apparently entirely symmetrical, i just checked a cross-system
examples, and yes totally symmetrical.
> text on an angle is a joke in score and will
always remain exactly as you position it.
That makes no sense to me given Score's ability to do independent
staves/notation on a single page.
i meant it is a joke, as in easy schmeezy (chris was right).
> in sibelius and score you have to have enough
staves for all situations which will occur in
> each instrumental group...
And in Score, the comparison is far, far worse, as you have no
flexibility whatsoever. Can Score even generate parts from an
engraved score at all? I honestly don't know.
yes, the parts are compiled from the various score (partitur) files.
> you can't change the vertical order or the
horizontal positioning of the articulations in
> sibelius...
And in Score?
everything is individually definable/moveable.
Can you transpose something already entered in Score? I thought not,
but perhaps I'm wrong?
of course. but i actually don't know exactly what is involved, and
how much of a PITA it would be.
> you can't reorder the articulations in the
sibelius toolpad, and there are a limited number
of articulations (as well as some other
elements), so you have to define extra
artculations as symbols (which of course react
differently than articulations).
And Score?
everything is individually definable/moveable.
> sibelius automatically changes the beam height
when tremoli are added (but it seems you can't
change the tremolo symbol or the font used for
it... i'm presently looking into this if anyone
has the answer).
And Score?
everything is individually definable/moveable. as it turns out in
sibelius you can change the font and character for tremoli.
But in Score, is there a way to apply a changed style to multiple
pages of a score? I don't believe there is -- you'd have to change
each page individually, no?
not exactly sure, but i know you can search/replace text, since
everything is code. and some people have written a number of
programmes (or plugins or whatever) for multiple tasks, possibly this
exists, i can't say for sure, but it seems to me it would be possible.
Anyone who understands music and has used a computer can open Finale
and Sibelius and create a printable score. It will look *terrible*,
probably, but they will be able to get something out of it.
That is simply not true at all with Score -- you won't be able to do
anything until you've learned a lot of details about the non-obvious
UI.
sure, i totally agree with you, but my concern has never been quick
and dirty work, i am interested in an extremely high level of
craftsmanship in engraving, and scores which have musical and graphic
longevity.
>"musicians" are not those who make the
PRIMARY decisions about the development of finale.
And they are for Sibelius? And they are for Score?
for score for certain. the developer has always remained accessible
to all users.
From where I sit, having musicians make the decisions for Score
hasn't gotten anybody anything, given that it's basically a
completely moribund program.
that doesn't have anything to do with the input and feedback of the
musicians or users.
What's so secret about the algorithms involved that Finale and
Sibelius's programmers can't figure it out? I suspect that there's
two things operating:
1. they have to accommodate substantially more engraving styles that
Score was designed for, AND
score isn't designed to accomodate one or another engraving style.
it was designed to accomodate engraving. the needs of any community
of users - jazz charts, new music, classical, pop - can be entered as
easily as any other, as long as the engraver knows the notation
standards the score they are working on is part of.
2. they didn't start out from a goal of implementing a single
engraving style to begin with.
ibid.
> have you noticed how many errors there are in the
instrument.txt file? most users wouldn't notice,
but the kinds of errors this introduces wouldn't
happen (or at least only rarely) with score
users' output.
But that's not because Score has a better intrument.txt file (or
something corresponding to it) -- it's because whatever is in
Finale's instrument.txt file has to be provided by the Score user
from his or her own knowledge.
If you don't want to depend on the Finale setup wizards, you can get
it right, but if you take shortcuts, you may end up with mistakes
made by someone else.
I don't see this as something better about Score at all, because it's
a feature that Score doesn't even implement at all. How can you
compare an implementation with mistakes in it to no implementation at
all? Surely the added flexibility of the wizard is better to have
than no shortuct tools at all?
because i wasn't necessarily comparing implementation, i am
interested in the differences of the users of the different
programmes. no programme in existence
The goal is a nicely engraved page, and if the computer can figure
it out correctly without the human being needing to know how it's
done, I say GREAT!
finale and sibelius aren't capable of this, the default settings are
atrocious. noone who takes engraving seriously uses the default
settings of any programme (this is true of any kind of specialization
on computer software).
A Windows version is necessary for Score to have any long-term
future, and that's been the case for 15 years now. That there isn't
a Windows version after 15 years suggests to me that there never
will be, because nobody cares enough about it anymore to justify the
investment.
as i've said, there is no lack of interest in it. and the last
update was in 1999. a windows version has been in the works for
around 7 years, informal info says the developer is at least past the
stage of writing the help scripts... although this admittedly does
not say much...
What programs have been developed to assist Score? This is an area I
know nothing about.
the best-known (i think there are a few others):
http://scoremus.com/products.html
http://home.att.net/~tom.brodhead
--
shirling & neueweise ... new music publishers
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] :.../ http://newmusicnotation.com
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