NoteWorthy Composer Forum

The specs given are so misleading. 8 lyrics is actually 8 lyrics per stave. I could do 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall in NWC without it even breaking a sweat.

I'm just dying to try the wav input on The Firebird Suite. I wonder, if I try Carmina Burana, will I get the lyrics too? Always wanted to know what they were.

I've always been overly critical of wave input into a notation processor, and I've never seen one that even comes remotely close to even picking up a note for every beat, let alone anything that sounds like the song.

... you'd run into the playback problem of displaying highlights on the words on the correct verse and only correct verse's lyrics ...

Well... I just sent TopTenREVIEWS a polite complaint letter regarding the fallacies in their review.  We'll see if they respond.

As was reported, there are a number of software products such as Cakewalk and Finale among others, which are not even mentioned.

Which mail-address? I would like to send something myself.

To those responsible for evaluating Noteworthy Composer 1.75b in the Music Notation Software 2007 Review:


Here at the Noteworthy Software Community, we heard about your Music Notation Software Review 2007. In inspecting the stats, we found that Noteworthy Composer had a faulty evaluation.

The primary problems we noticed were as follows:

• Is hard to use-- While I haven't tried the other notation softwares presented in the survey, I was able to learn how to use Noteworthy within a few minutes. I certainly found it much easier to use than any other notation processor I've seen.  Difficulty is relative, though, so I won't go further here.
• Has cross staff beaming-- There's no such feature in this program.
• Has a metronome-- See the above, no such feature.
• Doesn't have a time display-- Yes it does. It's in the right end of the status bar at the bottom. It shows both the elapsed time and the total time.
• Doesn't have "Computer Keyboard Note Input"-- Keyboard input is the primary input method. [Enter/Return] = note; [Spacebar] = rest; [arrow keys] = navigate the staff for foolproof accurate note placement(up, down, forward, backward); [Tab] = bar line; [CTRL] = insert a chord member. Also, most mouse-accessible commands are available through easy-to-use keyboard shortcuts.
• Doesn't have a paper manual-- Yes it does, although it's seldom used.
• There are no download Patches-- Yes there are. Go to noteworthysoftware.com
• There are no download Updates-- Same answer here as above.
• Doesn't support Vista-- Even though it was developed in early versions of Windows, it is supported in ALL versions of Windows, including Vista, running error-free.
• Doesn't support NT-- Again, it is supported and runs error-free.
• The software doesn't automatically place the measure bars so you can enter an infinite number of notes on one measure, whereas other programs prevent you from entering notes that exceed the measure's time.-- One of the things we love the most about this notation processor is just about anything in it can be overridden to meet your composing needs. It's important to allow for too many notes in a measure, especially since the software is used to enter classical compositions, many of which contain "too many" beats in some measures. Corelli is a great example of a composer who did this on purpose. For those who REALLY want their bars forced, there's a button that allows you to force bar lines.
• We found Noteworthy Composer a difficult program to use with a confusing staff set up and inaccurate note placement. For half the cost, you can purchase the Silver or Bronze award winning products.-- Totally wrong. Noteworthy is $39. The silver is $99.95, and the bronze is $399.99. The Noteworthy software is not high-priced at all for what it is capable of. Also, note placement is VERY accurate. You're supposed to use the up and down keys to position your note, not your cursor, which gives you perfect and fast placement EVERY TIME. I don't know anyone who uses the mouse to position their notes. In fact, the ability to use the keyboard for note placement is one of the primary reasons I prefer it over similar notation processors!

All of the the above responses refer to version 1.75b, and the answers are the same regarding the upcoming version 2.



I hope that in the future you are more careful about errors in your reviews.  This could cause Noteworthy Software or any other affected company a loss in popularity and profit.

 

Thank you for your time,

(my name)

A satisfied Noteworthy Composer user and beta tester

To those involved in the evaluation of products in the music notation software review.  In particular I reference the Noteworthy Composer 1.75b comments:

I heard about your review in the Noteworthy Software Forum and, being rather curious, I thought I'd take a look.  Unfortunaltely I was dismayed to discover what I consider many potentialy misleading and possibly damaging (to NWC) errors.

In particular::

• Is hard to use: I have "audtioned" all the notation products I could get my hands on.  There is no doubt, in my mind, that NWC is the easiest to use.  Your reviewer complained about inaccurate note placement - has he never heard about arrow keys?  The mouse is the first thing you stop using when inputting notation - most people are simply not dextrous enough to use a mouse accurately in any  application.  Notation is no exception.  Keyboard input is, in my view, at least 10 times faster than using a mouse - and I have well over 20 years experience in using a mouse...  I'm pretty good at it.
  It doesn't force barlines: This is a FEATURE not a shortcoming.  Free form notation input makes composing at the computer keyboard sooo much easier.  Editing note/rest duration or adding and subtracting notes and rests is a simple matter that does not impact anything or cause constant recalculation of barline position.  When you're done, there is an automatic barline tool that is just 2 keystrokes (or mouse click, if you must) away.
• Has cross staff beaming:  Umm, no, it doesn't - this is a shortcoming we must "work around" - It isn't hard but is mildly irritating.
• Has a metronome: No again, though it isn't hard to build a click track and set the correct tempo.
• Doesn't have a time display:  Unless you are speaking of a simple clock, then wrong again - It's in the right end of the status bar at the bottom and shows both elapsed time and total time.
• Doesn't have "Computer Keyboard Note Input":  Please refer to my first point.  In fact, keyboard entry is the primary input method - <Enter> = note; <Spacebar> = rest; <arrow keys> = move the insertion point for perfectly accurate note placement (up, down, forward, backward); <Tab> or <*> = bar line; <CTRL+Enter> = insert a chord member; <1> through <5> = set duration; <;> = activate slur; </> = activate tie and far too many more to mention.  Almost all most mouse-accessible commands are available through easy-to-use keyboard shortcuts.
• Doesn't have a paper manual:  Well I got one when I purchased my copy - though I don't think I ever needed to open it, the product is so easy and intuitive to use.
• There are no download Patches/Updates:  Online updates are available from the help menu...
• Doesn't support Vista or NT:  Actually, yes it does.  The 32 bit version of NWC functions on ALL versions of windows from 95 on.  The 16 bit version which I think still ships on the CD will run in Windows 3.1...  More to the point, I have never seen it crash.  I am an NWC2 beta tester and I have only seen an older beta crash once - I consider this very impressive.
• The software doesn't automatically place the measure bars so you can enter an infinite number of notes on one measure, whereas other programs prevent you from entering notes that exceed the measure's time:  I mentioned this in my first point, but I will reiterate it as this is possibly the most short sighted comment in the review.  The free form capabilities of this product make it so flexible that other, more rigidly confining, products become unbearable to use.  Remember, I have tested a large, but uncounted, number of other products.  Including those considered the market leaders and they just don't stack up for ease of use and flexibility.  E.G.  Just try adding a new staff in most products - it can be near impossible, in NWC it's a single mouse click OR a control key stroke away - all same deleting a staff.  Editing any element on the staff is a simple matter of highlighting it and pressing <Ctrl+E> or <Alt+Enter>.  Almost anything can be overridden to meet your needs, and to get to the point. it's important to allow for too many OR too few notes in a measure.  Consider the needs of older musical forms that have no barlines, or experimenting with rhythmic patterns that may end up requiring changing for some bars (measures) time signatures; simple free form note input while you figure out what you're hearing in your head WITHOUT the distraction of the notation software bleeping and complaining about note values or breaking crotchets into tied, smaller notes that won't be restored once the bar is finally figured out.
• This program is solely for the purpose of notation.  It doesn't support WAV files to make a complete score or have the ability to do drum notation or guitar tablature notation:  Well Hello!  The review is about notation software!  The inability to import WAV files for "a complete score" is about as inane a comment as I have ever heard - how do you un-scramble an egg?  A product that can create accurate notation from a WAV file is a very long time into the future - if one EVER eventuates.  Drum notation and guitar tab without the work arounds we currently use would be most welcome.
• There is no mixer available during playback:  Umm, we're creating notation here, not sequencing a MIDI.  The fact that MIDI's can be produced is a bonus, not a primary function (IMHO)
• We found Noteworthy Composer a difficult program to use with a confusing staff set up and inaccurate note placement. For half the cost, you can purchase the Silver or Bronze award winning products:  Umm, WRONG again - Noteworthy Composer is $39. The silver winner is $99.95, and the bronze winner is $399.99.  Hardly HALF the price...  I've already commented on what I think about the product's ease of use...  And at $39 Noteworthy Composer simply HAS to be the very best value available in notation software.

All of the the above refers to version 1.75b (and 1.75c, the current downloadable update).  The beta NWC2 has the same, and more features.

While I appreciate these kinds of review, it makes it extremely difficult to accept the results when the review of a product I am familiar with is filled with so many errors.  If this products' review is so inaccurate, how poor are the others?

You hold a powerful and responsible position in the marketplace - an undeserved good review will make your credibility drop, an undeserved poor review can seriously undermine a company's market share.  I implore you to make a better effort in future.


Please note:  I have NO financial or other connection with Noteworthy Software besides being a satisfied customer.

 
Lawrie Pardy

Hi,

I wish to point out to you that there are many errors in your review of Noteworthy Composer. I'm not sure how important veracity is to your website, but I'd encourage you to review the review with the feedback below in mind. (Below, where I say "you", I mean your reviewer).
So that you get the picture, I've been using NWC for about 10 years. I ditched Mozart for it, as Mozart didn't do (and still doesn't - apparently) polyphony on staves. I haven't tried any of the other competitors listed, but note that they all cost on average at least twice as much. I do have problems with some aspects of NWC, but find that they are mostly  obscure or idiomatic to the type of scoring I am doing. As a computer programmer and as a musician, I find NWC works very well for me. NWC2 (still in beta) has many features that leave the competitors for dead.

I know that reviewers have a limited time for their craft, and this may adversely reflect on all reviewed software, but feel that the errors in fact need correcting.

1) You claim it only accommodates up to 8 voices per staff. A cursory test shows me that it can do at least 16.

2) The definition of cross-staff beaming is incorrect, btw. Surely you mean beaming between staves, rather than beaming flagged notes of different lengths? fyi: NWC doesn't do cross-stave beaming, but I think you'd need to re-review all the software before correcting this error.

3) You say that it can't do computer keyboard input. I dunno, I use this exclusively on NWC. I can only imagine that this mistake was a typo, or gross negligence.

4) Just on the .wav thing. Are you saying that all those competitors with a tick can accurately interpret - what? - polyphony? multitimbral sources, or just really clean single notes? I think more than a tick is required here. I agree entirely that NWC does none of those.

5) Control editor. I'm not sure what your reviewer had in mind as to capability, but I've been controlling pitch bend, channel volume, pan and many other midi controllers with NWC for nearly ten years.

6) The definition of Song Editor is missing.

7) The definition of Punch Recording as given is in fact a capability of NWC, though I suspect Punch Recording is demanding more than the definition.

Of course you can download patches and updates of Noteworthy Composer!

9) I think that NWC does satisfy the Knowledgebase Criterion, without calling it such. It certainly has "hints to better use the software and quick fixes to common software problems".

10) Agreed that a tutorial doesn't come with the program, but anyone tapping into the Noteworthy community will quickly find a 78 page tutorial written and revised by several mad keen NWC users.

11) I don't know why your reviewer thought that there wasn't a generic template that goes directly to customer service or customer support. I started using the "wishlist" nearly ten years ago.

12) NWC DOES work on Vista. And NT as far as I know.
You review indeed writes in the detailed review, "Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP or Vista"

13) Turning to http://music-notation-software-review.toptenreviews.com/noteworthy-composer-review.html
I find the program excessively easy to use. The "continuous horizontal scroll" means that I am not bothered by pagination issues whilst inputting notes. Also, being so computer keyboard friendly, input is very fast and can be totally mouse free.

14) Shame you didn't get the real time entry to work. I personally don't use it, but didn't have any problem verifying its activation.

15) You reviewer says "For this price, we would have expected more editing options like a mixer, a piano roll editor and punch recording." I find this an absurd statement. This is the second cheapest product that was reviewed! I see no importance in a mixer (btw: if by "a mixer" the reviewer means that channels can be balanced, this is indeed a capability of NWC). Piano roll editing and punch recording is more for midi processors rather than notation processors, but I guess if you want to pay more for that sort of stuff then okay.

16) Help/Support. For over ten years NWC has had a fantastic user community on both public forums and (for registered users) nntp-based newsgroups. These have provided users with lots of support, provided the vendor with lots of feedback, and have been a very cheerful place.

17) Your reviewer says "We found Noteworthy Composer a difficult program to use with a confusing staff set up and inaccurate note placement."
Hmm. I found NWC difficult for about ten minutes. Then I clicked with how it works, and it has been a breeze to use ever since. I don't understand what the reviewer means by confusing staff set-up, and inaccurate note placement sounds like they were reviewing a different program. These statements are completely baffling to people who actually use the software.

18)  "For half the cost, you can purchase the Silver or Bronze award winning products.".
Ahem. The Silver and Bronze products are $99.95 and $399.95.  NWC is $39

So I guess no one actually checks the reviews before they are published.
I sincerely think you owe Noteworthy Software an apology.
If you'd like a more accurate review of NWC according to your criteria, I'd be happy to oblige. :-)

Sincerely,
....

... you'd run into the playback problem of displaying highlights on the words on the correct verse and only correct verse's lyrics ...

I vote Andrew's the best letter so far for politeness and originality, while effectively making the point!

Andrew Purdam wrote:
So that you get the picture, I've been using NWC for about 10 years. I ditched Mozart for it, as Mozart didn't do (and still doesn't - apparently) polyphony on staves...

Hello Andrew,
I just wandered in here (as a MOZART-user) and I find it a bit ironic that you make the same mistake as you accuse TopTenReviews of. You could at least have *verified* your above statement.

What's going on here? At least I know that I should ignore your reviews of any other products; I would not believe them.

Dear sir/madam,
I would like to thank you for heeding the comments from many of the NWC users who I know sent you emails about the first review of Noteworthy Composer.

While at a subjective level I don't necessarily agree with the perception, at least the details are now reasonably accurate.

Unfortunately I don't know when the corrections were made so I apologise if this thank you is somewhat "out of date".

Thank you,
Lawrie Pardy (a VERY happy NWC user)

BTW, their definition of "cross staff beaming" seems to simply be what we would call "beaming" ...