Thread: Great software
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Old 12-18-2007, 01:05 PM
Sherry Crann (sherry)
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Default Howdy Frank, I think you wo

Howdy Frank,

I think you would find that Notation Composer will fill many of your needs. I started using it because I, too, play mostly by ear, and I had a lot of songs that I wanted to get into some sort of sheet music form for others to play along with me

A brief overview for the things you want to do, based on how I do them

To get songs into sheet music format, I use a MIDI keyboard to record the song into the program. I'm no keyboardist by anyone's definition, but I can at least get the rhythms and some of the notes right, and then easily go back and adjust the pitches. You can also "punch in" just particular areas ("regions") where it's just not quite right, and you can do this as many times as you need to and pick the perfect one to blend in with the rest of the composition. I usually record one instrument, then add another staff for another instrument, and so on, til I've got the entire song done. Then I go back and tweak how it all fits together. Then I can print out parts for folks who play with me (or who are playing themselves).

Composer easily transposes parts (for transposing instruments like Bb clarinet), or the entire song (in case you find that the high F was just way too high ).

You can use "found" MIDI files and have Composer transcribe the chord names for you, and they will highlight as you play the song file so you can play along. You can change the tempo of an entire song from the tool bar, or over regions of the song to give the file a more "live" feel.

One thing that no Notation product does is transcribe audio (CDs, mp3s, etc) to MIDI, so that you can get a good music notation transcription. You can visit our Special Interest page at http://www.notation.com/SpecialInter...SheetMusic.htm to read more about that.

You should try out the trial version of Notation Composer by downloading it from www.notation.com/Download.htm.

Have fun!
Sherry
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