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.
MuseScore is a very flexible and full featured music editor that promises to be a strong replacement to the now non-free Finale Notepad. Of course, free isn't always perfect, but the promise of this being an open source software product mean that in the future MuseScore could be to music notation what OpenOffice now is to Microsoft Word.
Open Source Music Notation Formats Supported:
Providing support for both MusicXML import and MusicXML export as well as beta support of the open source Lilypond music notation format , MuseScore provides access to many free libraries of sheet music such as the Mutopia Project and others that the major commercial products (Sibelius and Finale) do not.
Editor review
Unlimited Future Potential!
39 of 44 people found the following review helpful
While MuseScore as a free music notation editor is far superior to even the most recent versions of Finale Notepad, it is still a limited piece of software. There are many positive aspects to the program, such as unlimited staves and a fairly intuitive interface, however some of the basic necessities are rather hard to set up properly (when playing back pieces with more than one instrument the only instrument that I could hear was piano). Apparently a user can download a complete MIDI sound font package or set it up to play back by internal MIDI.
Also missing from the program are any of the plug-ins that users of the commercial products have come to rely on. Still, plug-in support is built in to the system, so it is likely that as the program becomes more popular more developers will add features to the program through the plug-in interface.
Since this is a free product, MuseScore has only the most basic of support options via an online forum. Currently there are only a few hundred posts but it appears that most are answered fairly quickly.
The most appealing thing about the product is what it could become in the future. As MuseScore becomes more well known it is quite likely that more developers will join in the project, improving and expanding the capabilities of the program. For now though, MuseScore is great for basic music notation projects but lacks the power that complex projects require.
Coming from Finale Notepad, I, too, was a little let down when MuseScore would only play using piano sounds only. But, I then loaded MuseScore onto my Linux box running Ubuntu. WOW! I have over 100 different instruments there. We have to remember that MuseScore is ported to Windows and Mac and runs best on the system in which it was programmed. I am now much impressed with MuseScore and especially like the ability to compose on one machine and then play it on another.
I have been pleasantly surprised by MuseScore. It's not as polished as Finale PrintMusic (which I've been usign), but the GUI has been well thought out. I whipped out an arrangement of Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On" this week for Piano/Bass/Drums/Guitar/Alto 1/Alto 2, and it turned out nicely. I did the whole thing using mouse input in about 2 1/2 hours! I have tried the Linux, Mac & Windows version. The Linux version has trouble interpreting the code from arrangements I've done in Windows, but the Mac seems OK with it. Can't get the sound to work in Linux, but then, I'm no Linux expert.
The onscreen navigation usually works like you think it should. Highlight a note and hit "s" to create a slur; hit "+" to tie them together. Click a note, scrub it up and down the staff to change pitch; it all makes sense. Once you get used to the keyboard shortcuts, entering notes via keyboard is faster than the mouse.
No, it's not perfect, but it's free. What's more important is what it *could be*. If someone set up a website, hundreds of thousands of us could start sharing arrangements and lead sheets. If you're like me, you only use 50% of Finale's capabilities anyway. MuseScore has that 50%.
I've made my first donation, and I'll no doubt make more. The MuseScore team has a winner here.
I agree with Chad's assessment that MuseScore is a good alternative to the limited features of Finale's NotePad. You can, with some work, produce adequate-looking scores and there are even enough formatting options to make custom-worksheets for your music class students (blank staves, intervals questions, hidden barlines etc). Invisible staves will also be an option in a future release which will make stick notation possible.
The issues associated with playback (piano sounds only; multiple instruments not playing back) may put off technologically-challenged users if functional playback rates highly on their list of "must-have" features.
Missing from MuseScore in its current version is the ability to filter objects like lyrics or chord symbols in order to copy and paste them elsewhere in your score. I also found that in the process of copying and pasting a vocal line I lose all the lyrics upon pasting the music into a second part.
Having said all that, MuseScore is a fantastic solution for the budget-challenged music teacher or for students looking for notation program to use at home.
