After I wrote a song a couple of weeks ago I started copying it out and then decided to look into purchasing music notation software. The first program I came across is called Finale and the full package cost $600 which I considered but then decided was too expensive. A week or so later I was at the Apple store and came across a version of the Finale software called Print Music for $100. That seemed to do what I needed and at the right price. But Peleg and I decided to buy it online rather than at the store. Then in researching where to buy it online I found an even simpler version of the softward called Finale Note Pad, for free! My favorite price.
So I downloaded Finale Note Pad and have been obsessively inputting all the music I've ever written since studying music composition back at UCLA and Cal Arts in the early 1980s. The best feature is a playback that reads your score once you've entered it. I've been able to actually hear some pieces that I wrote years ago but have never heard, not having for instance a string sextet handy wiling to read my music for me. The playback is pretty mechanical but it does have dynamics and reproduces the approximate sound of the instruments, so it's all in all fairly satisfying.
One of my goals for 2008 is to do some more composing and to organize a concert of my music. Exciting.
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1 comment:
Rev. Ricky, I've been searching for something just like Finale Note Pad. I've used Sibelius, but no longer have access to it and desperately need something to score the songs my worship leadership class is writing.
Could you add the link for downloading FNP to your blog?
Thanks from Indonesia.
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