greetings from boston

[cassie]

Very nice to discover such a resource. I'm writing for the musical stage, using MIDI through an old sequencer by MOTU called Freestyle (FS), for songwriters who just need to get the sketch down with decent notation and a basic arrangement so I can sing it, share it and move on without having to know the depth of info down to bits and bytes. this sys is old but works great with my (also old) Korg X5. Had a recent panic here when it seemed this was all about to break down, though, and definitely need to know more depth that will hopefully be transferrable if and when the FS death knell tolls for me. Last year I bought Finale 2012 but can't get it to work that well with the Korg. Also hate it compared to FS but the latter apparently has no future. Definitely need a structured way to learn the MIDI from the ground up and looking for general info and also collaborations with writers and arrangers. I'm on nine3.com with sketches at .../productions and the way they turn out with studio professionals at .../MusicLyrics.html

Looking forward to discourse! Cheers!

[parametric]

Hi Cassie - and welcome to the forum . . .

I understand your problem - I checked out the motu site and it seems that FreeStyle never made the jump to OSX - and doesn't seem likely to.

I worked in the Music Dept of a Uni here in the UK - and we went through the same nonsense with Nightingale - a notation package for the Mac which also did not survive beyond OS9.

Problem was, we had a lady composer on our Staff of some stature - with over 100 published works - with the originals mostly existing as Nightingale files. It was her tool of choice - and she had to act fast to convert to Sibelius.

Sadly, Sibelius has an uncertain future too following acquisition by AVID, who promptly sacked the entire development team that had created Sibelius from the ground up - so v6 is the last version THEY worked on.

The were re-employed AS A TEAM by Steinberg - and are presently working on a new program called Making Notes - which will surely be impressive - given their massive experience. blog.steinberg.net/

Getting dots on the page is a difficult balancing act - trying to get it to sound correctly midi-wise AND look correct on the score AT THE SAME TIME

Your area of activity seem to indicate you need to produce parts for your players, quickly and easily.
I can well imagine that you are NOT looking forward to learning how a new program "works" so it can become "quick and easy"?

I took a look and eventually bought this www.notation.com/NotationComposer.php

Check out the videos which give an idea how it does what it does.

I have to say, that so far I have found it not as intuitive as I'd have liked - which I think is largely due to having to keep the midi side "in step" as you alter the score.
I guess this will improve as I learn how it likes to do things . . . .

I originate my stuff on my Alesis Fusion 8HD and only really require Composer to produce a solo part I can show to a prospective player - so tidying up the score "as played" is definitely required as midi can produce "silly" notation due to its high resolution 480 ticks/quarternote!

I hope SOME of that makes sense

Let us know how you get on . . .

Best Regards

parametric

[JohnG]

Hi Cassie,

Welcome to the forum.
So pleased that Chris is jumping in whilst I am a little "challenged" in finding time at the moment.
As you may have read, I have just completed the move from Europe, where I've been for ten years, back to the UK. So much to do! And having caught a really heavy cold with a horrible cough that keeps me awake most nights, trying to write new articles has been impossible.

Nonetheless, you are most welcome here. And I hope between us we can be of some help.

I create orchestral accompaniments for my wife to sing to. She is a classically trained, operatic, bel canto mezzo soprano. I use a notation program called "Mozart" (PC only I think) and then move the exported MIDI file into a MIDI sequencing program in order to enter more effective dynamics and to try to "humanise" it a little. (I hear my wife practising some Bach as I write!)

My main output is then via the Garritan Personal Orchestra sample library and finally to CD for rehearsal/performance.

Garritan and Finale joined forces a year or two back and like you, although I obtained a very low cost version of the program I still haven't got to grips with it yet. Others have, and some examples I have heard have been astoundingly good. So maybe perseverance will pay out in the end. Certainly I find the interface less than intuitive.

I'd certainly take a good look at what else is out there in terms of up to date notation if that's your preferred method of music entry as it is with me. Although mine is primarily printed score realisation of classical music songs and arias.

However, all that being said, if you need more please don't be afraid to ask.

Kind regards,
JohnG.

[mbunkerusa]

Cassie, I listened to one of the songs on your website and the piano sound is quite good. No wonder you keep the old gear running! As long as you can couple the keyboard to the computer keep it! On the other hand if you get a new computer you may not have a MIDI connection. In that case any number of inexpensive sound modules or keyboards use USB and you can make a direct connection for both the synth audio output and the MIDI control signal to the keyboard.
-Mike