Making Great Sheet Music

I have to tell you that your tutorials are first rate. I have a great deal of respect for Notation Composer because it is so user friendly and has what a musician needs to write great scores. I own {other composition software programs}, and Notation Composer... Of all the programs, yours is the best. Notation Composer is a handy way of expressing the musical ideas we have in an accurate manner... Ralph Sirvent

Just wanted to thank you for making Notation Composer. After trying out several sequencing packages costing hundreds of dollars, I'm purchasing your product. It's easy to use, very intuitive, and sports the cleanest interface I've seen. The high-end MIDI software packages try to do too much and the user gets bogged down in the sheer complexity of trying to hammer out a simple tune. Notation Composer appeals to me because it looks and feels like real sheet music. Thanks again... Terry

I can't tell you how much Notation Composer has helped me over the past few years. My only regret is that it didn't exist all those years when I was teaching music and only those horribly expensive programs were available in the last gasp of my working life. Now I just spend hours and hours arranging, orchestrating, extrapolating parts and using it as a teaching tool for the community choirs with whom I work. I am now the 'go to' person when anyone needs an arrangement that can be developed, printed and listened to for learning! A million thanks to the developers and to you [Sherry] for making all our questions a matter of interest, and helping me to look like a real pro! ... MaryLou

A wonderful program in it's simplicity and ease of producing the results one is looking for... Jack White

Notation Composer helps create almost any combination of voices (including drum tracks) quite easily and quite accurately. No tearing out hair and fuming like with the other programs. Thanks! ... Bob Szajner

Many Thanks, and God bless you for such a fine program. I play music by ear, and to play and see the program write out what I'm playing is absolutely wonderful. Thanks again...Lewis Wiseman

If I ever meet someone who is looking for music software, I'd definitely recommend Notation Composer - not just for the great customer service, but because it's a great, easy-to-use, product. Thank you so much for your help! ... Darren

This Notation Composer Software has been nothing short of a GODSEND. It is FUN coding and rearranging classical music (almost as fun as playing it on a large Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ). Big thanks for all the help you have given me in working out kinks as they arise...Ken

I am very impressed with [Notation Composer]. With its highly competitive pricing it is an astounding value, in my opinion. It is amazing what you guys have created, and the great support you offer to your customers is obvious. This is the way software development should work! Everybody wins... Jeremy

As a pianist and organist I often get requests for short pieces of popular music, especially for weddings and funerals. Finding a recording, MP3 or Midi file, listening to it and writing it down is very time-consuming. What a godsend when with a few mouse clicks one can have Composer print the music for me! ...Roger Darbishire

I just wanted to reiterate what a wonderful software program you've developed with Musician. The scores are easy to read and always accurate. This program has made learning new tunes easy and is being utilized by 3 members of our cover band. It has literally saved us hours each week in terms of preparing for our rehearsals...Good Work!! ... Vince Sabatino

I tried several different applications to find midi files on the web and turn them into sheet music. Yours was far and away the *best*.... Keith Winton

I have already tried the latest versions of other, unrelated music-composing programs during the last few months and not one single program held my interest. They were either too over-simplified or ridiculously complicated and difficult to express in notation what I hear in my head. However, Notation, without a doubt, is a cut-above and in a class by itself. It is the ONLY program of its kind that I "CLICK" with, it suits my composing style flawlessly and isn't simple by any means, even though the program itself is relatively easy to learn. I became quite proficient within the first ten days, and a prolific composer producing, on average five compositions a week. I can't think of any features that are lacking in this extraordinary program and I plan on using Notation Composer for the rest of my life. ... Tracy L. Gordon

Well, all I can say is that I got more than I bargained for. I have just used the program ([Notation] Musician) a few times but it was so easy to 'open' the 'Pachelbel' midi and the sheet music was right there for me. ...Poita

I'm digging out some music that I haven't looked at in 10 years and retranscribing the .mid files for a Christmas [musical] production [I wrote]. [Notation's] has to be the best and most accurate midi-to-notation transcription around at any price. ...David Jacklin

I'm a composer who doesn't read music by sight (hence needing the chord names to play), but can write, and have sold a few jazz and classic style pieces over the years. I am liking the accuracy of Musician, and the publishing is so much better than any other programs I've tried. ...Lawrence Pregler

When I hit on [Notation], it always transcribed the music more faithfully than any other program I've used. ... The 'page ahead' feature is great for live performance, along with the ability to scale the screen size and add lyrics (and size them to be large enough to read). ...Rick Curtiss

In all of my years as a musician I have found no better software package than Notation Musician. Though I have had my share of different software packages, I have finally
found a music software which [interprets midi format music and displays it on the screen without the need for heavy editing] for me when I need it most; Isn't that what software should be all about? So thanks Mr. Developer, you have struck gold with your software. Thanks for making my life easier! ...Peter Simoes

I love my [Notation], and would not want to be without it. As a college teacher specializing in music from many countries and in many languages, I find it much easier to get music in midi form on the web than to go out and buy sheet music. ...Evona York

[Notation] qualifies as my 'most often used' software. I have printed out music for use by instrumentalists and vocalists at my church, and I have learned a lot and enjoyed myself. Your software is ingenious. ...Rita

For producing quick combo charts for Jazz, Show band and Dixieland, this program is great. Like I said, I am also trying to produce choral chart for my church. I love it! ..Kent Keller

It just keeps getting better and better, and more and more transparent. Where else could one play for twenty minutes, have it all sitting neatly, and I mean neatly, on the screen, and only need minor cleaning up of the inputting errors instead of hours and hours cleaning up the notation? ...Tim Fatchen
 

Learning and Practicing Music

Thank you for your excellent work - I love using Musician ... I took up playing
bass guitar (at the age of 50!) to encourage our 12 year old drummer (we all
play things in our family) and I can honestly say that it is the best
software practice tool I have come across ... I travel internationally all
the time - (with a travel bass) so I use your software all over the planet...
Thank you for hours and hours of fun when I am stuck in hotel rooms...Richard Teare

I do enjoy this program very much. I am a classically trained violinist and recently joined a rock and blues band. This program has been invaluable to me, especially with the midi files I find on the internet. Adapting parts to the violin from these files with Notation Composer has been pretty much the only way I've been able to keep up with the rest of the band, who don't read music or understand why I can't just come up with improv stuff on the fly. This is a problem for nearly every classical violinist who makes the transition to rock or jazz or blues or whatever. Until the day when I break the code on that and have a fully trained ear, Notation Composer will be my guide. ... Amy Klein

I am using [Notation] for getting melody and harmony lines for flute practice and also for singing. It has so many features I want to tell everyone about it ... Carol Kunert via email

I'm at the point where I'd be lost with out this software. I've made more progress than I had any right to imagine, largely because of the capability of Composer to facilitate my practices. ...Thomas Spillman

I have faithfully used (another program). This (other) program however costs 84 pounds (about $150) and is hopeless at converting Midi to notation - I did not realize how hopeless until I got [Notation] Composer... I like [Notation] Composer mainly because it just gets on with it. I use it to create backing tracks to play along with on the violin, which I am learning (again!) The program is very flexible and so easy to manipulate. ...Graham Raymond Wilson

Thank you for introducing me to [Notation]. I really love the product and I'm confident it will help me learn the guitar much quicker. It's a great complement to my lessons with an instructor. ...Al McCausland

Musician is by far the best notation software I've come across and is invaluable for
someone like me, who needs to be able to transpose both actual pitches and into the right key for different saxophones. ... Dougie Bryce
 

More Testimonials

Just wanted to let you know that I tested Notation Composer this weekend and was blown away. The real time input from my midi keyboard was incredible....Gary, via email

Editing in Notation Composer is amazingly straightforward and comprehensive. Especially allowing both a clear-to-read notation while tweaking the absolutely performance-critical real-time attacks and durations. And the ability to simply draw in real-time dynamics alone is worth the price of admission, never mind all the other editing at your fingertips!...Tim Fatchen

It is very easy to add and move notes, split hands, change tempo, etc. No other program I've seen is this flexible and powerful. ...Note duration adjustment: This is super. It's very powerful because it is easy to use. Changing a section of notes to be more legato was a snap. ...Note Volume editor: Again super. I accidentally recorded a passage with my keyboard volume slider lower than usual. Therefore the notes sounded softer when played back by Composer. So I just opened up the Users Guide and it quickly showed me how to select certain notes or passages and change their volume. The 45 degree slash marks give a great visual reference of what changes have been made. ... I have to say that [Notation] Composer is stellar. ...Michael Greer (via email)

How I would have loved to have had [Notation] Composer 35 yrs ago when I attempted arranging three pieces of music for 15 piece orchestra and singers for a concert... I have now arranged 8 pieces from midi scores (all ensemble) for piano and violin and it's absolutely magic to see the notation go on the screen and to be able to print out the parts. ...Viv Rendall

I would like start by saying how much Notation Composer has simplified the
work that I do for the Peterborough Singers, producing practice CD and
downloadable tracks to improve the efficiency of members learning their
parts. Compared to [some other programs] both of which I have used over
the years, you have struck a balance between flexibility and complexity. For
the most part functions and features are intuitive. Most of the music I work
with is public domain, as the choir sings a lot of Bach, Handle, Mozart etc
as well as some contemporary composers. ... Thanks for a product well done, and well supported. ...Dave Freeman

I especially like the different graphing capabilities for such things as pedal, volume, pan, etc. Also the ability to change notation without changing the performance and vice versa... Composer is simply a GREAT PRODUCT!! ...Robert Coppedge

This is a wonderful piece of software! For those poor souls who think they got troubles, attend to this!!! Our local Mountain Theatre Company, for their first production, headed for "The Gondoliers"... I had a month's notice to do the actual orchestration before the full rehearsals cut in and ... without Composer, I would never have contemplated even starting it! ...Tim Fatchen

I'm a hack guitar player with tunes running in my head but no real training to get them out. I am a church musician and often re-arrange our praise songs using music software with Composer. ...Lawrence Pregler

Thanks for a great product! The people in my choir think I'm some kind of genius - little do they know I'm just using a great tool in Composer. ...Melinda Johansson

Composer has been priced to fit my budget in comparison to other notation programs and is easier to use and does just about all a musician could want to publish a piece of music. Working out band parts (instrument or vocals) has been useful to me and my church group. I do primarily my guitar part but another member of the band, a vocalist, has become a fan of the program so we both work together on a piece of music to benefit all our praise band members with all harmony parts and keyboard. ...Larry Pregler

I used Composer yesterday to actually compose a short song of my own, in about 3-4 hours, my very first. It's just a melody line with chords for piano and voice. It was great! I am stoked! I am basically a singer (bass) who can also play piano, kinda, sorta. My wife and I sing in a community chorus at the local community college. I gave a copy to our director last night and asked for his critique when he had time. He was impressed with the printout, and asked me to rescore an arrangement he had written out by hand. ...Lee Eschen

I am new to the music, and, I came across your product only recently, after acquiring five others, some very highly recommended. After trying Notation Composer, I gladly discarded most of them...Richard Z. Okreglak

I have read music and played wind instruments for more than 30 years, my principle instrument for 24 years has been the Concert Flute, Piccolo, and more recently, the Alto Flute. Before I tried [Notation] Composer, I had no idea I could write surprisingly good and complex music for piano. I have longed for many years for the natural ability to play piano as well as Tori Amos. Using [Notation] Composer I find (to my complete surprise) that I've been able to compose the sheet music and leave it to the program to play the piano composition for me (or harpsichord, or Bassoon, B-flat Clarinet, etc. just to name but a few). It's pure BLISS! ... Tracy L. Gordon (via email)

I haven't seen a program like it or as useful. It's a real user friendly interface too for an amateur like me, I haven't the attention span needed for some of the other fancy and expensive music applications out there. ...John Perry

Until Composer came along... I would usually forget a particular theme or motif just about every time I thought I had something. Now if something is going on in my head, usually just a few notes or a few measures, I quickly record it into Composer and try to elaborate on it later. ...Fred Winterling

Composer is more centered around me, the individual user, than tied to, (dependent upon) the many independent and autonomous processes that support the commercial music creation process. I can now create music for me, and with complete dependence upon me. What a freedom! ...Richard Clements

I found fun and a world of learning here, on the support forum, working with existing MIDI files, and finally, writing a small, but significant to me, first song... I've found a renewed interest in music, and in making music. ...Lee Eschen

I have tested many demos of all the well-advertized notation software and found none of them - not even the very expensive ones - to be really user-friendly, to have intuitively working user-interface. - But [Notation] Composer does! ...Joerg Triesch

I cannot overstate the positive impact that the many hours of pure creativity using "Composer" has had on my state of mind; working with the program even helps to alleviate my PTSD anxiety and works wonders at taking my mind off my constant nerve pain. Making music is wondrous medicine! ... Tracy L. Gordon (via email)

I love Composer, and can hardly imagine not having it. I bought another similar program, and never could figure the thing out, it was very frustrating. But Composer was very easy, and I started using it the first day... Thank you. ... (received via email)