In my music theory workbook, there's a special code on the inside cover to purchase Finale at a discount price. It's sounds tempting to get it, but I don't want to get ahead of my class. But one of my goals for the next four years is to better my music arrangement skills. I feel so stupid asking this question, but I just want to get it off my chest and I should be asking my theory professor but should I get Finale right now or just wait?
Should I?
- Thread starter snakeman5001
- Start date
I think that's what the code is for. And you might be right. I'm gonna gave to go down tio the music store to buy myself a big book of manuscript paper
I'm assuming I'd start with pencil and paper because I would appreciate notation software better?
I think knowing how to write music by hand teaches you a lot about how to properly space music on staffs.
A lot of beginning arrangers leave all of the layout to their notation software and end up putting poorly laid out parts in front of players.
Lesson one when I was studying with Ron Collier was crappy looking parts (even computer printed ones!) = crappy performance.
Well, also check the expiration date on that coupon. It's $650, $350 for academic/theological. I also love the idea that you can get a MIDI file from wherever, import to Finale Notepad (free), upload that to your iPad and see the score with Finale Songbook (free). Hey, you can at least do MIDI input with the $50 Finale Songwriter. Finally, also note that there have been a couple of semi-recent court cases that ended up saying that you can buy or sell used software without violating license agreements, so you might be able to get it a lot cheaper on eBay.
One of my main jobs, working as both an assistant to a director and as a music director, was converting poorly drawn music written by hand into nice looking scores using Finale and/or Mark of the Unicorn's Composer and/or Performer.
Note:
* Learning Finale can easily take over your entire life. It's very kewl software and has a billion functions.
* Depending on your instructor, Merlin could be absolutely be right about you needing to do stuff by hand before going on to computer stuff. Or your instructor might give you extra credit for the better notation.
* Remember that if you're going to be heavily using Finale, you're going to want at least a MIDI keyboard and MIDI interface -- and a computer. You can get a POS MIDI keyboard for around $30 and a POS MIDI interface for $10. The computer ... well, you'll find that Finale works better with good computers that have fast hard drives and lots of memory.
Back to Merlin's comment about learning by hand. Two things I found out about when copying music were that people don't know how to write chords and that you sometimes have to look at the full score to see if the copyist just wrote the notes wrong or if that musical phrase was supposed to work like that. In the case of the chords, I used a book that the director I was working for had bought from someplace. Both of these are probably the biggest challenges to face. In the former case, I had the director I could bounce the notes off of or I'd play it to see if it sounded "right." In the latter case, I blocked all memories.
One of my main jobs, working as both an assistant to a director and as a music director, was converting poorly drawn music written by hand into nice looking scores using Finale and/or Mark of the Unicorn's Composer and/or Performer.
Note:
* Learning Finale can easily take over your entire life. It's very kewl software and has a billion functions.
* Depending on your instructor, Merlin could be absolutely be right about you needing to do stuff by hand before going on to computer stuff. Or your instructor might give you extra credit for the better notation.
* Remember that if you're going to be heavily using Finale, you're going to want at least a MIDI keyboard and MIDI interface -- and a computer. You can get a POS MIDI keyboard for around $30 and a POS MIDI interface for $10. The computer ... well, you'll find that Finale works better with good computers that have fast hard drives and lots of memory.
Back to Merlin's comment about learning by hand. Two things I found out about when copying music were that people don't know how to write chords and that you sometimes have to look at the full score to see if the copyist just wrote the notes wrong or if that musical phrase was supposed to work like that. In the case of the chords, I used a book that the director I was working for had bought from someplace. Both of these are probably the biggest challenges to face. In the former case, I had the director I could bounce the notes off of or I'd play it to see if it sounded "right." In the latter case, I blocked all memories.
Wow. You're right. Pretty cheap copies of Finale 2012. But I'm assuming most were hard copies and the school laptop I have has no CD drive. And there's a local music store near the college where I can get manuscript paper. And I got PLENTY of scores to work with. I also personally think doing it by hand will make me better appreciate music notation software. It's kind of like owning a car: you gotta go with the old-fashioned ones before you appreciate the new ones
writing music down by hand lets you get inside of the piece in an up close & personal way. When i have to use notation software, I find I spend more time mucking about with the software settings than I do understanding how the notes in the piece all fit together. It's still faster & more efficient for me to use pencil & paper; but in terms of production & distribution , then software wins hands down. my 2 cents is, save the money until someone tells you that you HAVE to get it to do the course.
A couple of other reasons you might not need to buy Finale:
http://musescore.org/
http://www.lilypond.org/
http://www.laborejo.org
and more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_scorewriters
http://musescore.org/
http://www.lilypond.org/
http://www.laborejo.org
and more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_scorewriters
I've actually tried the stuff from lilypond.org. I wasn't overly impressed. YMMV.
Finale and Sibelius are interesting because when they first came out in the 1980s, they already did just about everything you could want them to do. Since then there have been a few new features added -- like the ability to scan music to import into the application -- but it's mostly been polishing, particularly with the user interface. Considering how long products like Finale and Sibelius have been around and how much those companies can spend on making the programs better, you'll rapidly get into a, "You get what you pay for"-style argument.
I was fairly unimpressed with MuseScore and I didn't want to get into LilyPond because it was text-based input. I'll just stick to the pencil and paper for now
I'm pretty sure that they still make plastic stencils for musical notes.
Music writing typewriters are also extremely kewl. I'd kinda want one just because.
EDIT: Of course, eBay has one for sale. Needs a bit of work ....
Music writing typewriters are also extremely kewl. I'd kinda want one just because.
EDIT: Of course, eBay has one for sale. Needs a bit of work ....
Weirdest typewriter I've ever seen. Apparently, there are about only a dozen of them left. But I think I'll just take the bus to Kephart's (the local music store here in Dubuque) and get some good manuscript paper
"Real" Japanese typewriters (not the computerized ones) are a order of magnitude more complex than music machines, and Chinese ones are even worse.
I've seen a photo of a Japanese military clerk carrying his typewriter as a backpack load. That alone was punishment enough for China and Pearl Harbor.
I used to have the special keypad for Professional Composer for the Macintosh system. and it made music entry a joy. With the regular keyboard systems of Finale and Sibelius, I can't ever remember which key does what.
I've seen a photo of a Japanese military clerk carrying his typewriter as a backpack load. That alone was punishment enough for China and Pearl Harbor.
I used to have the special keypad for Professional Composer for the Macintosh system. and it made music entry a joy. With the regular keyboard systems of Finale and Sibelius, I can't ever remember which key does what.