MakeMusic Software
  • ACabezon
    Posts: 33
    Any advice from those experienced with musical editing software would be appreciated ...

    Has anyone used this software called "Make Music Finale" which seems to sell for only $59?

    https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1007324-REG/finale_whr12dco_finale_songwriter_download.html

    Is it any different from this other Make Music Finale product which sells for a membership of $600?

    https://www.finalemusic.com/

    Any idea why one would be so much more expensive than the other?

    Thanks.
  • Marc Cerisier
    Posts: 516
    That’s Finale Songwriter, which is a stripped down version of Finale. In America, at least, Finale is purchased without a subscription, and updates are at the discretion of the user.

    If you’re not using any engraving software at the moment, I’d recommend starting with Dorico from Steinberg.
    Thanked by 2ACabezon Adam Wood
  • MarkB
    Posts: 1,025
    And Finale Songwriter/Notepad is available as a free download from Finale. No need to purchase it. Website seems to be a scam, offering for purchase what can be obtained for free.

    https://www.finalemusic.com/products/notepad/

    You might also check out Noteflight.com, which is a web and cloud-based music notation editor. Has useful free edition with option to purchase premium features.
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  • NathanReich
    Posts: 31
    This is what my own searching online has brought back:

    https://wpmedia.finalemusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/finale-2014-product-comparison-chart-2.pdf

    While likely no longer perfectly current, I think it gives a good sense as to which features to expect and not expect.

    Bear in mind: if you have proof of church/school/military affiliation, you may be able to purchase the full version of Finale at considerably less than the regular retail price:

    https://www.finalemusic.com/products/finale/special-pricing/
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  • ryandryand
    Posts: 1,640
    Musescore is free.
    Thanked by 2Don9of11 ACabezon
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,933
    I wish I could find a good instruction manual for MuseScore. I would likely use it more. The only thing I found is a single sheet that blows the image off the edge of the paper making it unreadable.
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen ACabezon
  • ryandryand
    Posts: 1,640
    Their community is very good about answering questions. I’ve found it fairly intuitive and anything I couldn’t figure out on my own is solved with a quick google search.
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  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,933
    I actually own Finale and have found it uniformly annoying for the last 20 years.
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  • francis
    Posts: 10,668
    sibelius... hands down, this is a transparent piece of software that puts ALL of your focus on composing/arranging, and none on the interface or wrangling notes onto a staff. Don't waste time thinking about the computer or the software... spend ALL of your energy writing music.

    "You can spend your life BUILDING the violin, or you can spend your time making it SING... the choice is yours."

    http://www.myopus.com
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  • davido
    Posts: 873
    Sibelius is really nice. And really expensive.

    Musescore has enough of the same features to make the cost difference a nobrainer
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  • Don9of11Don9of11
    Posts: 684
    I use Musescore and their online handbook and forum have been very helpful. Its a very capable program availble for pc/mac and various mobile devices. You can access the handbook through the program help file or you can download the handbook at https://musescore.org/en/handbook


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  • stulte
    Posts: 355
    I agree that Musescore is an excellent choice. Noteflight is decent.
  • francis
    Posts: 10,668
    You might pay for sib in dollars, but it will far outweigh the cost in time, and in my professional music book, time is money.

    With my midi keyboard I literally “play in” the parts of the score. Does anybody else use that wonderful feature?
  • MarkB
    Posts: 1,025
    Every application under consideration has that feature, francis.
  • Schönbergian
    Posts: 1,063
    Sibelius's output is uniformly terrible, especially the note spacing. Some polyphonic scores from the Internet have needed to be re-typeset because of the spacing being so bad that accurately reading note values and rhythms was made much more challenging. May as well just purchase Dorico, from most of the same team and with a much more modern featureset.
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  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,044
    My beef with Dorico, as a 20+ -year Finale user, is that the interface is almost exactly the opposite, so it's felt really unnatural to me. But it's a great program, and going places, and if you don't have fossilized brain cells like I do, it would be the way to go.
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  • ghmus7
    Posts: 1,464
    "I actually own Finale and have found it uniformly annoying for the last 20 years"
    I agree Charles, i know it inside and out but they never fix the same issues year after years and just introduce new bugs that you have to upgrade to fix and then they produce new bugs and...
    Thanked by 1CharlesW
  • ghmus7
    Posts: 1,464
    And really annoying is when you ask a question...it takes days to answer,....they can't fux the prblem, and then the "close the case"!
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