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-   Share news about music (http://www.notation.com/vb-forum/forumdisplay.php?f=2585)
-   -   My overall impression of Notation Composer (http://www.notation.com/vb-forum/showthread.php?t=1728)

Alex Shields (alexshields) 08-10-2008 10:02 PM

I am glad this forum exists wi
 
I am glad this forum exists with the title (Your Overall Impressions and How You Use Notation Software), so I can say exactly what I think.

Negative first:
1. I am absolutely astonished that such a buggy program is sold commercially. These days, I tend to find that commercial software is generally low in bugs. (Except for video games. Video games are loaded with bugs until they're patched.) It amazes me that Notation Composer is so heavily laden with bugs.
2. I am absolutely astonished that one version of Notation Composer is made to patch the previous version, and the new version brings new bugs. In other words, version X is made, and new bugs were introduced. Version Y is made to patch version X, but version Y has whole new bugs.
3. I am actually considering not buying Notation Composer because of the prevalence of so many bugs.
4. Might I suggest extensive regression testing for all new versions of Notation Composer?
5. Version 2.5.1 has a certain new bug in it which renders it unusable to me, so I uninstalled it and went back to version 2.4.2. I'm still using the trial versions only.
6. Most (or all?) of the accents and articulations do nothing, which I can live without, but it would be nice if they did something.

The positive points are unnecessary to state, but I'll state them anyway:
1. One of the most important things for my musical composing is to be able to transpose individual notes. Notation Composer allows that and allows it fairly nicely.
2. The interface is nice.
3. In comparison to other music composition software, I prefer the traditional staff music composing method as opposed to the piano-roll method, or the tracker method. I can't stand those other two. So stuff like Notation Composer is preferable to me.
4. Even with the unbelievably large number of bugs, it still works well enough that I like it. However, if I buy it, I'll want to use 2.4.2 rather than 2.5.1.

Tim Fatchen (flyingtadpole) 08-11-2008 05:18 AM

Hello Alex, I'm not in the
 
Hello Alex, I'm not in the forum much these days but I hit the same bug that I think has afflicted you, and bounced in to say something and catch up in other ways. Now, I'm not on Notation staff or linked in any way other than a user, so all of what I'm saying here is Me not Them (!)

I am using Notation Composer for professional/commercial composition now. I am still using it for the same reasons I welcomed it in the long, long ago: there is no other piece of software that can do what Notation does at anywhere near the price. So I put up with the buggies.

I write, perform and record. The particular aspect of Notation Composer that is an incredible winner here, and where no-one else even looks in, is the deceptively simple as-notated/as-performed/combination using notation and the piano roll together. This was not available in early versions; when it arrived it trailed a few remaining bugs, which were quickly stepped on.

I know there is an active community of what amount to beta testers. The updates come fast, especially in response to a new bug. At the same time, the new bugs appear because the capabilities keep expanding with each update.

Right now I can't afford to have things fall over, no time (!), so normally I run an update or two behind the current, and let the enthusiastic checkers clean things up. This is not optimal, of course, and it would be preferable to non-enthusiast users if the testing could be separated from the commercial product, as you suggest.

But I bite my tongue, because I'm aware that Notation Composer is not a huge Cakewalk-type organisation but a couple of people, which again is reflected in the pricing.

From past experience, I predict the bugs which bit us both will be fixed in (literally) a few days. Even with the passing bugs, the product to me has been worth every penny I paid for it.



http://www.myspace.com/timfatchen
http://www.myspace.com/flyingtadpole2
http://www.cdbaby.com/timfatchen2

Sherry Crann (sherry) 08-11-2008 06:59 AM

Howdy, Alex, thanks for the
 
Howdy,

Alex, thanks for the feedback http://www.notation.com/discus/clipart/happy.gif We really do strive to listen to our customers, and the points that you listed as "positives" (except the wanting a previous version ;) ) are a result of such input.

Yes, there are bugs. We work to get rid of them. We do test the software, but as Tim pointed out we don't have a huge testing department. We simply do the best we can with our resources. We appreciate customers (and trial users) who report specific ones that have gotten past us, and help us find and squash those. If you do have a specific bug, it's easier for us to keep track of if you send it to support@notation.com (it gets it's own ticket that way). Or you can post it in the related section of the forum here.

For your above point
6. Most (or all?) of the accents and articulations do nothing, which I can live without, but it would be nice if they did something.

It's on the "do" list http://www.notation.com/discus/clipart/happy.gif

Thanks!
Sherry

Alex Shields (alexshields) 08-11-2008 04:02 PM

I already sent the specific bu
 
I already sent the specific bug to that email address.

Sherry Crann (sherry) 08-11-2008 04:27 PM

Howdy Alex,

 
Howdy Alex,

<blockquote><hr size=0><!-quote-!><font size=1>quote:</font>

I already sent the specific bug to that email address.<!-/quote-!><hr size=0></blockquote>

Yes, and Mark responded to you directly from there. I was mentioning the address so that others who may not be aware of our direct email support would know where to send email.

If you didn't receive Mark's response, please try checking any spam filter boxes or junk mail boxes you may have. If you didn't receive the response at all, do let me know so I can check it out.

ttfn,
Sherry


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