On Friday 13 February 2009, Martyn Hodgson rattled on the keyboard: > I'm sorry for introducing a non-lute note into these communications, > but I'd be grateful for views on the best FREE computer software for > writing staff notation; ie something like Sibelius or Finale, but > free. I've tried Muscore which, seems to me, to have some problems but > perhaps it's the best there is? > > MH > > -- > For Free software you need to look into the open source world and this often means quit using windows and start with Linux. For Linux an often used command line program is lilypond, but of course it's nice when you have some graphical environment. NoteEdit is one possibility. NoteEdit can export file in lilypond format (it's a graphical frontend.) and lilypond is used to generate a postscript or pdf file which you can print and view. Another frontend for lilypond is Denemo. A bit less powerful. Another graphical program with lots of direct playback etc. is Rosegarden. All these programs do not run easily on windows, but it's possible to install even on windows or apple OS a virtual pc with linux where you can run this. The best option is to install a not too old linux distribution and install these programs from online repositories or the linux dvd. Compiling lilypond and some other programs yourself is something which needs a bit experience. For running Linux you do not need to have a superheavy weight PC like what is needed for Vista, so any old PC will be fine. taco
To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
