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Topic: pls help.. newbie (Read 3719 times) previous topic - next topic

pls help.. newbie

I am wondering which of these software is good:
NoteWorthy
Mozart
Cakewalk Overture
Cakewalk Score Writer (this demo looks the same as Overture)

I don't know much about composing or writing songs. Please give me some comments on the above software... like which one has more essential functions and which is easy to use, etc. Thanks!!

Re: pls help.. newbie

Reply #1 –
I've tried Mozart and found it very frustrating and limiting. The "model" has lots of assumptions which mean you spend more time trying to figure out a way *around* the limits of the system than just doing the work. For example, one which I remember is that Mozart INSISTS that all bars be filled with exactly the right number of beats, and note spacing was forced to be proportional to note length. When writing something with an anacrusis, you have to add a phantom beat and then specify that it is "hidden". No matter what you do, it simply isn't possible to completely eliminate the effect of the hidden beat on the printed output. I seem to remember it was also not possible to change time signatures (or clef?) without also changing key.
About the only thing that Mozart had which Noteworthy lacks is n-tuplets. Although it also has multiple bar rests, there was no control over the width of the bar, so for small numbers (3 or 4 bars), the multi bar block actually ended up being wider than the rests listed sequentially. I ended up using the "white out" method of implementing multi bar rests.

Mozart is WYSI(approximately)WYG, which IMHO is simply inappropriate for editting musical scores. It also has (had?) a totally proprietary file format, thus preventing any use of the work in other programs. NoteWorthy can read and write MIDI which makes failes somewhat interchangeable.

Note that since switching to NoteWorthy some years ago, I haven't bothered to keep up with updates to Mozart, so some of the issues may have been addressed. However, most of my complaints were about fairly fundamental architectural issues which I can't see being changed without radical redesign.

I haven't tried any of the Cakewalk family so can't comment on those.

Re: pls help.. newbie

Reply #2 –
Dollar for Dollar you just can't beat Noteworthy! I can't remember how many up grades I've been through with Noteworthy, all for less than forty bucks.

I use Noteworthy to write arrangements for concert band and a 17 piece swing band. It is simple to use, very user friendly, produces professional results and is back by the best support staff on the web (where else do you get bug fixes in less than 24 hours?).

Re: pls help.. newbie

Reply #3 –
NoteWorthy Composer is by far the best value for money if you can live with some of the necessary work-arounds.

I echo John's comments about Mozart - the lack of midi support is frustrating.

IMHO Cakewalk Overture is only a grossly overpriced version of Scorewriter that has few additional benefits other than the ability to extract parts and some extensions to those provided in Scorewriter.

Scorewriter is the better alternative in the Cakewalk family if your budget is low.
It costs twice as much as NWC but if you really need the additional features it provides then the extra cost may be worth your while.

Summary: NWC - best value for money.
Scorewriter - pay twice as much for more features.

The choice is yours.
Check out the evaluation or demos at both sites and work out for yourself if the extra expense of Scorewriter is justified.
Be warned though - you will need to spend a lot of time evaluating both packages before you really know them.

Re: pls help.. newbie

Reply #4 –
I gave up on Mozart very quickly when I realized that it
had no capability for chords - only single-line scoring.
I don't know if chords were added since; this was several years ago.

- seb

Re: pls help.. newbie

Reply #5 –
I have been looking into another program not on your list called Sibelius. It looks to be *the* choice if you want professional-quality scores.
I have been trying out the demo and it's fairly easy to use but does take time to learn.

The one thing that I like about it over Noteworthy is that everything I have seen suggested to the wish list is in this program. (staff crossing, special noteheads, n-tuplets, etc.)
There is a downside though and that is the price. ($599 public, $299 academic)
Noteworthy is simply the best program for your money, but check out the Sibelius demo if you want to compare another program (besides the ones on your list)

http://www.sibelius.com

-Joe

Re: pls help.. newbie

Reply #6 –
I've used Sibelius's demo for a couple of months and Finale for several years. If you're going to go into that price range, Finale is only choice.

I also, use Noteworthy for when I have transport it to some other computer for others to work with, since the cost of having someone else get the program to read my stuff is negligible.
 

Re: pls help.. newbie

Reply #7 –
A friend of mine swears by Personal Composer. (It does make very pretty scores, I have some from her). I don't think she's ever used NoteWorthy Composer, as she's had PC for a long time.

I've never used Personal Composer, I've no idea what sort of MIDI support it has, etc. The full version is $199, they have lite versions too. There is a download available.
http://www.pcomposer.com/

As I said, I've never used (I downloaded the demo once, but never installed it). I just have too much fun with NWC to bother! But you might want to take a look and see if it's worth it to you.

Sue