Thank you Eugene,
I use pen and paper copies now but, since so many collegues seem to be
producing computer set parts these days, thought that using the
appropriate software might not be as time consuming as I feared (I
can't quite believe that it takes less time to enter a note via a
keyboard than by writing it). I might stick to photocopied MS
parts........
Martyn
--- On Fri, 13/2/09, Eugene C. Braig IV <brai...@osu.edu> wrote:
From: Eugene C. Braig IV <brai...@osu.edu>
Subject: [LUTE] Re: Staff notation software - views?
To: "'Lute Dmth'" <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Date: Friday, 13 February, 2009, 2:56 PM
Another nice facility of the full version of Finale over the very severely
limited Finale Notepad is that the full version of Finale does have a
fully-functional "Rapid Entry" tool based entirely upon keystrokes.
With a
little practice, the basics of notation move very quickly with it.
.And did I mention that the pared down Notepad is no longer free!? As a
free download, Finale Notepad served purpose as an introduction to notation
software. Personally, I don't think paying anything at all for Notepad is
warranted. I'd favor darkly penciled staff paper and a decent scanner over
actually paying for Notepad.
Best,
Eugene
> -----Original Message-----
> From: William Brohinsky [mailto:tiorbin...@gmail.com]
> Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 9:05 AM
> To: Lute Dmth
> Subject: [LUTE] Re: Staff notation software - views?
>
> Caveats for Finale Notepad:
>
> This is a very very pared-down version of finale. That means that you
> get all the problems without the facilities to fix them (spider-thin
> staff lines and barlines, which are more than an annoyance to folk
> with less-than-perfect vision, including us older folk) and the
> limitations can be stultifying.
>
> You cannot change keysignature once it has been established.
> (that alone is stuldtifying!)
> Tablature is 'standard guitar and bass', and doesn't include
5- or 6-
> string bass (which may not be a problem)
> Time signatures are limited, and may or not be changeable within one
> score now. When I last tried it, you couldn't.
> Only one verse of lyrics.
> There are other limitations which are not obvious until you need them:
> the FinaleMusic folk are good at telling you what features are
> included, and very good at avoiding mentioning what you probably need
> and don't get.
>
> Free is an odd term: you invariably pay, either by giving up what you
> need, spending time finding workarounds for what you can't do without,
> or taking 11 times longer to do what you need to do quickly.
>
> If you have access to a student version of Finale or Sibelius (worth
> taking a course or two at a local community college, even) you can get
> them for about a quarter of what you'd pay, and the feature set rises
> to the 'usable' level. For free, Notepad (at least for me) has
always
> been too expensive.
>
> Notepad is good for just what is stated: an introduction to Finale, a
> way to 'jot' musical ideas, and a way to set the simplest of music
> into notation.
>
> This is a philosophy of dichotomy, by the way, between the
> "WYSIWYG"=What you see is what you get and
"WYSIAYG"="What you see is
> all you get", the binary attitude towards visual music editors, and
> the "WYLTDIWYG"=What you learn to do is what you get and
> "WYGOOTBISWYSW" = what you get out-of-the-box is what you're
stuck
> with. Finale and Sibelius straddle WYSIWYG and WYGOOTBISWYSW: you can
> pay an expert to provide you with what you actually want, or spend
> your life becoming that expert. Lilypond and abc straddle the latter:
> you don't get the immediate visual feedback of a GUI, but you can get
> to the guts (at least of Lilypond) more easily, and you can donate
> money to fund the establishment of features which aren't provided with
> Lilypond, if you are so inclined. (I don't know of a big-corporation
> WYSIWYG notation editor where you can directly influence the program
> like you can with Lily: the corporations do what they think is going
> to sell the most copies. The Lilypond guys are more concerned with
> doing what is wanted, as long as they get to eat as well.)
>
> I will disclaim: I am in the "everything from the keyboard"
school, so
> I find Lilypond delightful. There are things you can't do in Lilypond,
> but if you want Broude-Brothers quality scores and parts with a
> minimum of learning curve, it's a best-buy, being really free.
> Learning to input doesn't take that long, and a proper setup (which
> you get in the standard install) gives you quick-enough feedback, by
> simply learning to enter music in manageable pieces (so you aren't
> leaving something open that will choke the compiler) and compiling and
> displaying often.
>
> For lilypond on windows, you used to have to install Ghostscript
> separately, and it seems to now all come as one piece.
>
> lilypond.org is a good place to visit.
>
> Ray
>
> On Fri, Feb 13, 2009 at 4:32 AM, <denyssteph...@ukonline.co.uk>
wrote:
> > Dear Martyn,
> > There is a simplified free version of Finale called 'Notepad'
> > which is worth trying - see www.finalemusic.com
> >
> > Best wishes,
> >
> > Denys
> >
>
>
>
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