Music Notation

As a music notation package Finale has come a long way in the many years since it was first released.  Each release has brought about significant improvements and the new Finale 2008 is no exception.  However some of the lingering issues from the past continue to persist even in this latest upgrade.  This article will point out the positives, and the negatives, surrounding this latest iteration of MakeMusic's flagship product. 

How does a company like MakeMusic take their flagship Finale music notation software program and improve it?  The answer is that they listen to the concerns of their users and try to find ways to solve as many of them as possible.  The latest version of the Finale music notation software makes several notable improvements to issues that have been an annoyance to many.

Finale 2011 brings with it a smattering of new and improved features, mostly focused on the areas of fonts, lyrics, and staff management.  After seeing the changes first hand we will try to answer the question, is it really worth it to upgrade to Finale 2011?

MakeMusic has a long and venerable history of making great music notation software for professionals.  One thing that is often forgotten is that they also do a very good job of packaging their music writing software into very effective consumer level products as well.  Finale Songwriter is no exception to this rule, and the latest version of the program adds features that help it maintain its value in the midst of many other competing products.

Mozart 9 is a useful and competent music notation software program by a developer named David Weber.  The software is a fairly popular alternative to the more expensive (and fully featured) offerings from Sibelius and Finale.  Mozart is still very functional, and some users will find it easier to use than the other alternatives.

A new entry into the music notation software arena, MuseScore is an open source, free music editor that sports many nice features previously found only on commercial music notation products.

The MusicReader Solo Pro is a software based music presentation system for Windows based computers. In a similar style to the hardware based MusicPad Pro the MusicReader provides any user with a Windows machine to catalog and work with digitized sheet music files for use in a classroom or in a performance setting.

Notation Composer is a full featured, economical alternative to the big name music notation products of Finale and Sibelius.  With most of the same features but at half the retail price, Notation Composer presents itself as a solid notation product with a lot going for it.

 

Branded as a "powerful yet affordable music composition software program," Quickscore Elite is up against some heavy hitters in the world of music notation products.  Does it pack enough features and versatility to be a worthy competitor in this very niche area of music technology?

Sibelius Software recently released version 5 of their popular flagship music notation package.  Sibelius has come a long way in the past few years, and the improvements that the company has made in terms of reliability and usefullness have really begun to pay off.  This article presents a review of the Sibelius 5 music notation software (full version) from the perspective of a music educator and amateur composer.