Comments on: Composition and Notation

By: Tyler

Tyler — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 16:04:24 +0000

As far as freeware compositional tools, I highly recommend not using Finale NotePad. Finale is a great program for those who wish to spend $600, but for those who want free notation software there are better alternatives. I used to write all of my music in MuseScore (which I believe has a highly superior interface to Finale and is free), but because it lacks a few features (for example, when you add crescendos or other longer lasting effects they only apply for a certain range, and extending them as printed will not affect the notes they affect in playback) I have since started using LilyPond. LilyPond is also free, but requires that you type music in a sort of code. Once you learn the language, typesetting music can go very quickly, you don’t need to know where notes are on various clefs, and you can get beautiful scores/parts with all the effects you want. Combined with SynthFont and the right Soundfonts, you can make synthesized playbacks of equal quality to Finale’s.

By: S'wonderful

S'wonderful — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 20:38:48 +0000

Yes, I’m using Audacity to arrange a piece myself right now. You can download it for free to record multiple tracks, and if you’re a girl or a tenor, you can even adjust the pitch so that you can sing the bass part in your range and then move it down an octave. It will sound strange, but it’s better than having it in a higher register. Google it.

By: bombaycharlie

bombaycharlie — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:07:25 +0000

I think that you can use audacity to multitrack…just keep recording tracks and listen to the previous track…haven’t tried it myself, but I think that it’s possible.