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Originally Posted by Polyphonist
Originally Posted by JohnSprung
I started with MuseScore, and am staying with it. I'm used to its quirks, and from all reports, nothing else is better by enough to be worth the un-learning and re-learning.

Incorrect.


Have you used MuseScore 2.0.2?



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Originally Posted by JohnSprung
Originally Posted by Polyphonist
Originally Posted by JohnSprung
I started with MuseScore, and am staying with it. I'm used to its quirks, and from all reports, nothing else is better by enough to be worth the un-learning and re-learning.

Incorrect.


Have you used MuseScore 2.0.2?


No, but I know people who have used it, and I have seen the software. I can tell you that it is worth your while to switch to another program (which might not be as difficult as you think).


Regards,

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Originally Posted by phantomFive
Has anyone tried Lilypond? These files look difficult to work with (for example, the left hand part is far separated in the file from the right hand. That is after you get over the cryptic notation).


I've taught LilyPond in music technology classes in university classes and used it from time to time for projects. And I've had students do the same. IF you like to program and IF you like going into the low-level details of notating a score ("coding" is probably a better word for LilyPond than "notating"), and if you don't mind the the lack of a graphical user interface (which for many the "lack" of the interface is appealing ...) well, then LilyPond is ideal. To that, it's targeted to music engraving rather than composing. So if you do a lot of programming (and if you like to program) LilyPond can be endlessly fascinating and it's easy to get caught up in the fun of technology rather than artistry and music. But those are all valid pursuits ...

Two other software packages not often mentioned but worth looking into are Lime (very inexpensive but has been developed continuously for over 20 years) and NoteAbility (by Keith Hamel who's coded fantastic notation programs for many, many years).

When deciding on a notation program an appropriate question is what are you going to use it for? Quick sketches for students? Professional output for publication (as per Nicholas)? .... who gave some great advice from his publishing biz experience ...

Do you need it for counterpoint exercises in an undergrad theory class? A lead sheet? Contemporary music with nonstandard notation? Do you need to print parts? Submissions to competition contests? Submission to ensembles who've commissioned a piece from you? Submission for a theory or a composition assignment? Examples for an academic thesis or dissertation? Score examples to send as part of an application to an academic program?

How large is the program and whats' the learning curve vs. your need to be productive immediately? How large is the manual? Do the developers answer questions quickly when asked? Is there a good forum or two to which to post questions? Do the developers address bugs when users find them? Do you have a friend you can call at 3am when you have a project due and you need an immediate answer?

Something I like with MuseScore is I can google "musescore" with a few terms and almost immediately get the answer to my question. Most likely that's true a and possible with all other popular programs mentioned in this thread. These days, I mostly I use MuseScore to write out a few measures for blog posts - only because it's quick for that. So I'm not doing anything complex or non-traditional with it. On the other hand, there's an "Open Goldberg" project with Musescore that's led to all sorts of interesting offshoots including braille publications.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/opengoldberg/open-goldberg-variations-setting-bach-free

.... My undergrad and grad composition students all had their favourites and they all had good reasons for their decisions of which notation software to use. A lot of it came down to what did peers and professionals recommend and a lot came down to which computer had which program installed and then for non-institutional purchasers there's always that issue of cost and budget lurking in the background.

And there's music21. It's NOT a notation program and you do have to know how to code to use it but that said it can answer all kinds of interesting questions (but it won't notate anything!). You just have to know how to ask the interesting questions ....

http://web.mit.edu/music21/

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MuseScore gone Sibelius user here. It was weird for me to make the switch, but once I did I realized how great Sibelius is. It's more intelligent, has endless possibilities and the final product looks great.

Haven't used Finale long enough to criticize it but I did feel after having played around with the trial version that it wasn't as elegant as Sibelius.

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