Notation Software

Nutty · #1 April 9th, 2008

Is there a program that will write the notation from my keyboard (or guitar) that will assign the right timing of the note based on how long I hold the key (e.g half-note, quarter note, etc.)

I have Guitar Pro 5 that will input the notes, but I have to choose the duration. I've looked at Anvil and Finale Notepad 2008 and another one that Fretsource had recommended, but they seem to be the same. Guitar Pro will keep track of the value for the measure (it's highlights the measure if you're over or under the timing), but that's it. I have "punched out" the notes on the keyboard but it is a tedious process going note by note, listening over and over again. Good practice I guess, but not my fortay. I was suprised I was able to get the melody down as I don't play keyboard at all.

It doesn't necessarily have to be free. I'd be willing to pay for something that could do this.

Thanks.

Nutty

Tekker · #2 April 10th, 2008

Does your keyboard have MIDI outputs? If so, any recording program that supports MIDI and music notation will work with the keyboard. Since MIDI information is just data, it will record which notes you played and how long you held them so you will get very accurate notation of what you played.

Guitar however is very different since it would have to be able to detect the pitch and duration of each note you played and tab them out individually and there is currently not a program that can do this. However, in the fall of this year a program called Melodyne will be releasing a new version that will be able to do just this. It costs $300 for the plugin version and $700 for the full stand alone application, so it's a little on the spendy side.

-tkr

Nutty · #3 April 10th, 2008

Yes, I should have specified that my keyboard supports midi. I checked out a lot of demo software tonight and I could only find one program that did what I wanted (Personal Composer), but it is
$210. Personal Composer - Music Notation Software It does a great job on writing the notation (with correcting timing and correct notes) based on how it is played. I found out that the program must have a performance midi recorder function to do this. Most programs will record the notes you play, but they will be all quarter notes (or whatever note you have selected).

So, unless I find something else, I guess I have to decided whether this is worth $200 to me. I'm saying yes, but will my husband? He doesn't know I order a new condenser mic yet, so ..... how far can I get away with (I mean justify) this

Thanks.
Nutty

Tekker · #4 April 10th, 2008

I just took a look on the Reaper forum and it does not have the notation feature, but it does record MIDI. So if you wanted to, you could record the MIDI data in Reaper and then import it into another program that has music notation.

If not, check out some of the Cakewalk products. They have a wide range of programs and most of them (if not all) should be able to do that at much, for much less $$$.

I just did a quick search and found this one:
Amazon.com: Cakewalk Music Creator 4: Windows: Software

Here's a promo video for it:
Cakewalk Music Creator 4

-tkr

Nutty · #5 April 10th, 2008

And it's free! I actually found it yesterday, but didn't play with it long enough to realize it does do what I want. Not as pretty as the $210 or $159 programs that I found, but it does the trick. It does multi-tracking as well, so if you want to be able to do 8 tracks, it costs $19. I don't need that. It's called Anvil Studio Anvil Studio Catalog

It's a weird layout in a way....the help menu is displayed on the bottom of the screen. Might be okay at first, but I think it might be annoying after you know the program. It's quite possible that you can turn it off too. There is an online support and forum too.

I'm so happy. I now have standard notation for the songs I wrote!

Nutty

Nutty · #6 April 10th, 2008

Well, not quite free after all. Just discovered that it'll cost me $29 if I want to be able to print my music. There are lots of other add ons. The whole package is $99. Still better than $159 and $210 I guess. I'll have to see how it compares to the other software I have first. So far I really like it though.

Anvil Studio Catalog

Nutty

Tekker · #7 April 11th, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nutty

Well, not quite free after all. Just discovered that it'll cost me $29 if I want to be able to print my music. There are lots of other add ons. The whole package is $99.

D'oh! They always nail ya with the "hidden costs".

You could always doe a print screen and save it in photoshop or paint. Then print from there.

-tkr

Nutty · #8 April 11th, 2008

Thanks Tekker. I was thinking there must be a way I could print it. I'll give it a try. Hopefully they don't had draft writtin in bold letter waterfall!..Must be a way. The other features in the demo are two limited to try out. For exampe, you can't record for more than 1 minute or download a song longer than 1 minute. Well how the heck are ya supposed to try it out!

I'll revisit the issue today I guess. A hundred dollars seems a lot when you already have programs you like that do most of what this software does. I could be wrong and would love the whole package.

Nutty

Tekker · #9 April 11th, 2008

Check out the program I posted above, it's only $35.

-tkr

Nutty · #10 April 13th, 2008

Thanks Tekker,

I've been trying to download the program, but the link isn't working. So, I'll have to wait until the morning til someone is in the office.

In the meantime, somone from the support forum gave me a link to the manual and it does do everything (and more) than I wanted. There will be a learning curve I'm sure, but the basics are there. I will (should have) an "all in one" program.

Great price too!

Thanks again.

Nutty

cshude · #11 April 15th, 2008

Nutty, you should have this feature already available in PowerTracks. On your toolbar, there is a button for a notation window for standard notation based on what you play. Also, you have the option of looking at it in a piano-roll format that makes it easier to extend/shorten/change notes.

Nutty · #12 April 15th, 2008

Thanks Chris,

I just figured this out yesterday and as I was struggling order the other software. DOH

So, I'm going to play around with it some more. Do you know if I put in the melody can I add the bass clef, for example to the same notation sheet? It's seems that each instrument is a different score.

Thanks again.

Nutty

cshude · #13 April 17th, 2008

I haven't fiddled around much with it (mostly the kids have fun putting notes all over the place and then playing whatever noise they've happened to have created), but it would make sense that each instrument would have its own score.

Anyhoo, if you want to combine a couple MIDI tracks, you can do that. All you need to do is select one of the tracks and copy it, then click on the other track and click paste. When you do that, a dialog window will come up. Select "merge with existing data", and the track will have the midi data from both instruments on one track. Then you can click onto the notation window and voila!

Nutty · #14 April 17th, 2008

Thanks cshude.

I should be more like your kids and not be intimidated by this stuff! I would progress much quicker I'm sure.

Nutty