michael diemer
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/08 16:29:50
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Brando
Sure- I use midi myself to import into Notion 4 on my daw or Notion 5 for my iPad. Multi parts (type1) are imported fine but you have to decide if importing midi that works in sonar's PRV is worth editing for notation purposes versus replaying a part (in Notion) to a strict click to get clean notation. Often I find this easier than editing the Midi in Notion. I only ever print basic lead sheets (two staff piano accompaniment, (sometimes)1 staff melody, lyrics (if relevant) and chords).
Well, that's encouraging. I'll just have to try it and see. After I finish my current project, otherwise it becomes an excuse for avoidance behavior.
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vmw
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/13 04:22:32
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The staff view is even more useless in the current edition- full of errors/bugs in the use of the tools, in particular the smart tool, which in staff view is dumb tool. The push to make Sonar a tool for the pre made loops market of users who claim to write songs is just a symptom of making it for the lowest common denominator. If you can use piano view to write harmonic music by looking at a rectangle representing a note or to even know what note you are looking at without mousing over it or following a line back to the vertical keyboard, I'd like to know the secret. Given its view name from piano rolls for people who can't play a piano is somewhat ironic to me. Perhaps make two versions of platinum, one for notation without all the features for sequencer users and a second version without a scoring staff view but with all the sequencing features for the loopers.
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interpolated
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/13 05:22:33
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post edited by interpolated - 2015/05/21 17:57:47
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pbognar
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/17 01:49:43
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So as not to soil another forum thread, I will post some thoughts here.
If Cakewalk is concerned about the ROI of fixing the triplet issues in the SV, I must conclude that the code is unmaintainble, and a full rewrite would be required. If that's the case, then I understand why we may never see any fixes.
If voting for DAW software / features is done with dollars toward purchases or upgrades, it would not be in my best interest to upgrade Sonar at this point. I would be sending the wrong message. I will wait for a release which has the fixes and features which are important to me, or I will move on to something else which emerges as a suitable replacement.
I am dismayed at the years of silence from Cakewalk regarding the SV triplet issue. There is at least one other DAW application out there, where the Devs have indicated that their SV is in development, but will not be present in the next major release, rathther, more likely in the dot release following it. How refreshing.
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Kamikaze
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/17 02:02:33
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In the main Sonar Advertisement section there are 2 references to how great the Notation side of the DAW is, whilst they neglect bugs for 5 years. This alone is why they should be tackling now, otherwise it's disingenuous to talk about the benefits of the new system and that you get fixes whilst you only pay, and to make out that an element of the software is a great asset, whilst not treating it so.
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Doktor Avalanche 
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/17 02:19:42
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mudgel
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/17 11:27:34
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Check out Samplitude Pro X2. It has significantly sophisticated notation features.
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BobF
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/17 11:49:30
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This is a serious question, I'm not being sarcastic or digging (this time :))
I've searched and even purchased some Notation apps, not for composition but for sharing with other players and to document ideas. It's really easy to revisit things with an acoustic guitar and printed chart without having to be tethered to a PC.
Anyway, in my searching I've noticed that the major players all support score playback via VSTs. So if your thing is composition, wouldn't it make more sense to use a purpose built notation application? They provide playback for that is at least good enough for writing.
Then when a score is finished, move it to a sequencer for the more powerful samplers, softsynths and mixing capabilities?
Or are you folks really in between these extremes, looking mainly for fixes?
I've visit enough scoring application forums to see that even the most sophisticated notation software has a never-ending list of requests from users. So I wonder if Cakewalk went down the Staff View path, at what point would folks be more/less happy with it? Or would it end up being perpetually inadequate until Staff View capabilities rival those of the top tier scoring tools?
Seriously - I'm not making suggestions or trolling. I'm just mulling this over trying to look at it from the developer's perspective.
I'm guessing here, but I doubt Cakewalk is a cash cow for Gibson right now. I'm betting they have a ton to do in all parts of Sonar and their other products trying to build the income stream.
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cparmerlee
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/17 13:23:30
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BobF
I've searched and even purchased some Notation apps ... I've noticed that the major players all support score playback via VSTs. Please tells us more about that. To my knowledge, NONE of the major notation apps are integrated with any DAWs at this point. The best you can do today is painstakingly follow a very manual, tedious process to move information from the notation program into the DAW, one instrument at a time, by exporting MIDI. And that is not a 2-way process. If you want to make any changes in either platform, ti will not be reflected in the other environment. That's one of the two big problems discussed on this thread. It is an obvious, practically a no-brainer requirement that notation and DAW programs work more seamlessly. We have technologies like Rewire to integrate programs. Something like that is needed to make DAWs and notation play together better. That is what serious notation users need. The other need expressed here is for Cakewalk to fix the long-outstanding bugs in the lightweight notation that is built into Sonar.
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michael diemer
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/17 14:11:27
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cparmerlee
BobF
I've searched and even purchased some Notation apps ... I've noticed that the major players all support score playback via VSTs.
Please tells us more about that. To my knowledge, NONE of the major notation apps are integrated with any DAWs at this point. The best you can do today is painstakingly follow a very manual, tedious process to move information from the notation program into the DAW, one instrument at a time, by exporting MIDI. And that is not a 2-way process. If you want to make any changes in either platform, ti will not be reflected in the other environment.
That's one of the two big problems discussed on this thread. It is an obvious, practically a no-brainer requirement that notation and DAW programs work more seamlessly. We have technologies like Rewire to integrate programs. Something like that is needed to make DAWs and notation play together better. That is what serious notation users need.
The other need expressed here is for Cakewalk to fix the long-outstanding bugs in the lightweight notation that is built into Sonar.
Exactly. In an age in which we will soon witness a spacecraft do a fly-by of Pluto, why is it too much to ask that we have a single software program that can adequately sequence as well as notate? Is this really such a Herculean task? Or is it just complacency? Which will in the end be the death of Sonar or anything else that does not keep growing and meeting the demands of the marketplace.
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TomHelvey
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/17 16:42:13
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I don't see the current staff view as completely useless, most of the time I can get what I need to do there done.
It has some really annoying idiosyncrasies, but I've figured out how to work around most of them. That being said, there are some pretty basic fixes that will satisfy most of the people who are complaining about it. I don't think anyone is asking for full blown scoring.
I suspect that Roland didn't see much value in maintaining it and prioritized other parts of the application. During Rolands tenure, there seemed to be a buy vs build approach to Sonar, not a lot of fixes but all kinds of new lite versions of stuff from other vendors. Over years of neglect the code probably rotted. From what I've seen lately, Gibson appears to be ok with letting the coders code so maybe there is some hope for the worst parts getting fixed.
I do know that fixes to the notation editor will be a major weighting factor for me come renewal time. Other DAWs have good ones and there is little that Sonar does that they don't do, switching is just a matter of learning curve.
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BobF
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/17 19:59:12
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cparmerlee
BobF
I've searched and even purchased some Notation apps ... I've noticed that the major players all support score playback via VSTs.
Please tells us more about that. To my knowledge, NONE of the major notation apps are integrated with any DAWs at this point. The best you can do today is painstakingly follow a very manual, tedious process to move information from the notation program into the DAW, one instrument at a time, by exporting MIDI. And that is not a 2-way process. If you want to make any changes in either platform, ti will not be reflected in the other environment.
That's one of the two big problems discussed on this thread. It is an obvious, practically a no-brainer requirement that notation and DAW programs work more seamlessly. We have technologies like Rewire to integrate programs. Something like that is needed to make DAWs and notation play together better. That is what serious notation users need.
The other need expressed here is for Cakewalk to fix the long-outstanding bugs in the lightweight notation that is built into Sonar.
I didn't say anything about DAW integration. I said playback via VST ... this is a pic from the corner of the Notion 5 score setup screen  This is all supported directly in Notion. Sibelius and Finale have similar capability. I only asked this question because I have heard some pretty amazing score playbacks that folks have done without using a DAW at all. So if, and this is a big if, if the focus is on composing it looks to me -a confessed non-composer type- that using a tool that has composing as the primary function would work best. All of these also have MIDI export capability so that one could -once the composition is complete- export the MIDI for import into a different sequencer/VSTi host/DAW to further enhance the audio side. So ... is full function scoring of this type the end goal folks looking for Staff View improvement have in mind? This is inexperienced curiosity on my part. I'm sure I understand a lot less than I understand on the subject.
Bob -- Angels are crying because truth has died ...Illegitimi non carborundum --Studio One Pro / i7-6700@3.80GHZ, 32GB Win 10 Pro x64 Roland FA06, LX61+, Fishman Tripleplay, FaderPort, US-16x08 + ARC2.5/Event PS8s Waves Gold/IKM Max/Nomad Factory IS3/K11U
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konradh
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/17 20:02:48
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I use Staff View in Sonar to do 95% of my music creation and arrangement. Basically, that is how I build and record a song. It would be extremely tedious to import and export stuff all the time.
I don't just use Staff for orchestra (although I do that, too). I use if for bass, drums, strummed acoustic guitars--basically everything.
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BobF
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/17 20:08:35
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michael diemer
cparmerlee
BobF
I've searched and even purchased some Notation apps ... I've noticed that the major players all support score playback via VSTs.
Please tells us more about that. To my knowledge, NONE of the major notation apps are integrated with any DAWs at this point. The best you can do today is painstakingly follow a very manual, tedious process to move information from the notation program into the DAW, one instrument at a time, by exporting MIDI. And that is not a 2-way process. If you want to make any changes in either platform, ti will not be reflected in the other environment.
That's one of the two big problems discussed on this thread. It is an obvious, practically a no-brainer requirement that notation and DAW programs work more seamlessly. We have technologies like Rewire to integrate programs. Something like that is needed to make DAWs and notation play together better. That is what serious notation users need.
The other need expressed here is for Cakewalk to fix the long-outstanding bugs in the lightweight notation that is built into Sonar.
Exactly. In an age in which we will soon witness a spacecraft do a fly-by of Pluto, why is it too much to ask that we have a single software program that can adequately sequence as well as notate? Is this really such a Herculean task? Or is it just complacency? Which will in the end be the death of Sonar or anything else that does not keep growing and meeting the demands of the marketplace.
The Pluto fly-by is funded by taxes. A funding source that never even questions ROI (in dollar terms). "Adequate" combined MIDI sequencing and notation are projects to be undertaken by entities that DO have to have ROI in dollar terms. Otherwise they won't continue to exist for the next round of enhancements. I doubt the task is "Herculean" as much as I doubt notation is on the back burner because of complacency. There are three notation applications I know of that do notation/scoring really well and also support sophisticated playback and exporting capabilities. Just like 'adequate' though, my idea of 'really well' is subjective as heck and serves no real purpose in a discussion aimed at mutual understanding. I've been along for most of this ride too. Notation has been the red-headed stepchild as far back as my Cakewalk memory goes. I can't imagine having a feature that dear to me left so far behind without me finding another solution. That last sentence comes across way stronger than my intent, but I don't know how else to word it. My understanding is obviously too small to even be involved in this discussion. Sorry for stepping into it. I'll bow out now.
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cparmerlee
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/17 20:37:19
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BobF
I've searched and even purchased some Notation apps ... I've noticed that the major players all support score playback via VSTs. My mistake. Yes, many notation programs can play VST instruments, but this is NOTHING like the capability of playing through a proper DAW.
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BobF
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/17 21:08:54
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cparmerlee
BobF
I've searched and even purchased some Notation apps ... I've noticed that the major players all support score playback via VSTs.
My mistake. Yes, many notation programs can play VST instruments, but this is NOTHING like the capability of playing through a proper DAW.
I get that ... I was suggesting that the playback might be good enough to get a composition completed before exporting to a proper sequencer for final production.
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cparmerlee
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/17 22:07:54
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BobF
I get that ... I was suggesting that the playback might be good enough to get a composition completed before exporting to a proper sequencer for final production.
We do what we have to do. I consider it quite inadequate, considering the state of the DAW art today. And either way, that is quite a tedious process to migrate an orchestration from the notation program to the DAW. In 2015, it really should be much better than this.
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BobF
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/17 22:27:19
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Thanks for filling me in. I think I have a better understanding of the situation now.
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michael diemer
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/17 23:05:09
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Bob, you said:"So if, and this is a big if, if the focus is on composing it looks to me -a confessed non-composer type- that using a tool that has composing as the primary function would work best. All of these also have MIDI export capability so that one could -once the composition is complete- export the MIDI for import into a different sequencer/VSTi host/DAW to further enhance the audio side." The problem, at least for me, in composing in a notation program, is that the playback quality does not give me good enough feedback for orchestration. Orchestration is the one thing that nobody is born knowing how to do. You can study books and internalize rules, and above all, listen to the great masters; but only hearing what you have done, with as much realism as possible, is going to give to give you the necessary feedback. The combination of instruments is often unpredictable. Before I ever had a computer, I composed and orchestrated (in pencil). When I got a computer, and Cakewalk Home Studio 6.0, for the first time I heard my music. Some of it sounded terrible, some amazingly good; but the point is, I really was shooting in the dark without having real feedback. The better the sound, the better the feedback. So, I can't leave Sonar for a notation program. Unless of course they develop DAW capabilities equal to Sonar. For me, Sonar is a composing program. And I don't need it to be Sibelius (incidentally, one of my favorite composers, for those who actually know there was a composer named Sibelius). I just need it to do triplets correctly and print like a real score, which means condensing the instruments so that only those playing are shown on the page. I can't believe this could be that hard.
post edited by michael diemer - 2015/05/17 23:12:01
michael diemer Intel Quad Core i7-3770 Ivy Bridge 32 GB ram 1TB Western Digital Black X2 Microsoft Windows 7 Pro 64 UR22 interface Bandlab Cakewalk/Sonar 8.5 Studio GPO-EWQLSO Gold-Vienna SP ED-Cinematic Strings 2
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cparmerlee
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/17 23:35:50
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michael diemer
Orchestration is the one thing that nobody is born knowing how to do. You can study books and internalize rules, and above all, listen to the great masters; but only hearing what you have done, with as much realism as possible, is going to give to give you the necessary feedback.
My work flow is from the other end (beginning in the notation product), but we converge on the point that high-quality playback is really important for today's composer. I have two colleagues who are both good arrangers and both work with Finale a lot. In the span of 2 weeks, one of them advised me that it was best to play back in Finale's simply MIDI playback because that was the only way you could really hear the harmonies well. The other one was even more extreme. He said that he was most successful playing everything back as piano parts only. I would never dream of doing that. That may make is easy to head bad notes (notes that are simply mistakes. But voicings must be carefully crafted to get the most musical effect. Those simple playback modes don't have a chance of helping us hear the nuances of how instruments blend and how voices work together (or not). Using the simply MIDI playback, one risks producing a poor quality orchestration that may require multiple readings by the ensemble and multiple revision before the arrangement is suitable for public presentation. Indeed, you actually can get very realistic playback directly from Finale by using good VST libraries, and I do this every time. This allows you to hear the timbres and the interaction of overtones. Often I can produce a score that requires no revision at all -- or only minor revisions after the first reading. In other words, it is about time and quality. Isn't everything? The problem with the notation programs is not that they are unable to use VSTs. They do use the VSTi products if you are lucky, and that can do a good job on the viocings. But there are many other nuances that are not so successful directly within the notation programs. For example, swing feel or breathing/bowing just may not sound quite right without some detailed adjustments to the MIDI. And of course, some additional DAW-style processing can help tremendously. For example, it would often be desirable to use a ducking compression technique if a piece features a solo instrument or voice. And I have often wished I could have automation of track volume/velocity within the notation program in order to bring out the important lines a little more than is indicated by the printed dynamic markings. Basically, I see this as two sides of the same coin. One world (DAW and notation), not two separate domains. That's the kind of flexibility we need regardless of which platform we use as our base for composition.
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mudgel
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/18 00:02:36
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cparmerlee
BobF
I've searched and even purchased some Notation apps ... I've noticed that the major players all support score playback via VSTs.
Please tells us more about that. To my knowledge, NONE of the major notation apps are integrated with any DAWs at this point. The best you can do today is painstakingly follow a very manual, tedious process to move information from the notation program into the DAW, one instrument at a time, by exporting MIDI. And that is not a 2-way process. If you want to make any changes in either platform, ti will not be reflected in the other environment.
That's one of the two big problems discussed on this thread. It is an obvious, practically a no-brainer requirement that notation and DAW programs work more seamlessly. We have technologies like Rewire to integrate programs. Something like that is needed to make DAWs and notation play together better. That is what serious notation users need.
The other need expressed here is for Cakewalk to fix the long-outstanding bugs in the lightweight notation that is built into Sonar.
Sonar can already be Rewired to a notation program. I do this between Notion and Sonar. Sonar can already export/import music XML files.
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cparmerlee
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/18 00:15:59
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mudgel
Sonar can already be Rewired to a notation program. I do this between Notion and Sonar. Sonar can already export/import music XML files.
Can you set up a template in Sonar with all your VST instruments and VST effects, and then use Rewire to cause Notion to send its MIDI to Sonar for rendering?
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lfm
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/18 04:27:27
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mudgel
Sonar can already be Rewired to a notation program. I do this between Notion and Sonar. Sonar can already export/import music XML files.
Sonar can work as a rewire client - anything extra to install for that? I see no sign of that in help. Or you mean rewire Notion into Sonar? If that works, problem solved with notation if you can get any number of midi tracks sent to Notion and get a nice assembled score for those with minimum amount of work.
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tomixornot
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/18 04:44:24
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Regarding Sonar rewire with Notion, is the following work flow possible :
- Using Sonar as main system to record midi tracks, in order to use all my existing VSTs.
- Rewire it to Notion, for staff viewing / formatting purposes (rewire sending midi tracks possible ?)
Some touch up on Notion is done for title, etc.. but subsequent update to the arrangement is done at Sonar.
Using music XML may be good for one time import :
After exporting music XML from Sonar, and import it to Notion, one proceed to edit the Title, corrects the tuplet, etc..
However, if there is any update and another music XML export/import is done, all the previous edit done at Notion needs to be done again (entering the Title, corrects the tuplet)...
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BobF
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/18 08:26:17
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cparmerlee
michael diemer
Orchestration is the one thing that nobody is born knowing how to do. You can study books and internalize rules, and above all, listen to the great masters; but only hearing what you have done, with as much realism as possible, is going to give to give you the necessary feedback.
My work flow is from the other end (beginning in the notation product), but we converge on the point that high-quality playback is really important for today's composer. I have two colleagues who are both good arrangers and both work with Finale a lot. In the span of 2 weeks, one of them advised me that it was best to play back in Finale's simply MIDI playback because that was the only way you could really hear the harmonies well. The other one was even more extreme. He said that he was most successful playing everything back as piano parts only.
I would never dream of doing that. That may make is easy to head bad notes (notes that are simply mistakes. But voicings must be carefully crafted to get the most musical effect. Those simple playback modes don't have a chance of helping us hear the nuances of how instruments blend and how voices work together (or not). Using the simply MIDI playback, one risks producing a poor quality orchestration that may require multiple readings by the ensemble and multiple revision before the arrangement is suitable for public presentation.
Indeed, you actually can get very realistic playback directly from Finale by using good VST libraries, and I do this every time. This allows you to hear the timbres and the interaction of overtones. Often I can produce a score that requires no revision at all -- or only minor revisions after the first reading.
In other words, it is about time and quality. Isn't everything?
The problem with the notation programs is not that they are unable to use VSTs. They do use the VSTi products if you are lucky, and that can do a good job on the viocings. But there are many other nuances that are not so successful directly within the notation programs. For example, swing feel or breathing/bowing just may not sound quite right without some detailed adjustments to the MIDI. And of course, some additional DAW-style processing can help tremendously. For example, it would often be desirable to use a ducking compression technique if a piece features a solo instrument or voice. And I have often wished I could have automation of track volume/velocity within the notation program in order to bring out the important lines a little more than is indicated by the printed dynamic markings.
Basically, I see this as two sides of the same coin. One world (DAW and notation), not two separate domains. That's the kind of flexibility we need regardless of which platform we use as our base for composition.
Thanks to both of you for taking the time to help me understand. I'm getting the idea that no matter which you go with this, you end up with a lot of painstaking fiddly details to tweak in order to get articulations to sound correctly. You have way more patience than me!
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cparmerlee
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/18 10:01:34
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BobF
I'm getting the idea that no matter which you go with this, you end up with a lot of painstaking fiddly details to tweak in order to get articulations to sound correctly.
Yep. And I am not a person who particularly enjoys fiddling with details like that. Finale, with its Human Playback, gets about 97% of the articulations and rhythms to sound acceptable for my purposes. In theory, I could twiddle with the remainder at the MIDI manipulation level in Finale, but I'd surely go insane. Sonar is much better for that level of editing. BobF
You have way more patience than me!
I have never produced anything that I would say is "fully realistic". I don't have that kind of patience. My main goal is for the playback to be good enough that the client will be happy, will want to perform the music, and will really get the musical concept. I finished an arrangement last week for a big band. I did this entirely in Finale (no transfer to Sonar). There were two big flaws and a bunch of little things I would have changed in Sonar, but I just didn't have the extra three hours to go through that tedious process. One was a ritard that was way too slow. In theory I could have modified this timing in Finale, but I had already had some serious strangeness in the playback tempos on this file and didn't want to chance that. That was so obvious I thought I could easily explain that. The other big problem was one measure where Finale, in its wisdom, decided to interpret a rhythm completely wrong. I didn't figure that would be so evident, so I didn't mention it. Sure enough, after I played it for the band, the alto say player said "In measure 74, do you really want beat four to be late like that?" Grrrrrr. It shouldn't be this hard. But I was impressed she caught it. I guess that means that my efforts toward a decent playback were mostly worthwhile. These two specific problems are things that could be considered Finale errors or weaknesses, so I am not blaming Sonar. But if there were a more integrated solution, I could easily fix these things in Sonar. And while I was in Sonar, I'd make a bunch of other refinements for a really polished presentation.
post edited by cparmerlee - 2015/05/18 21:45:54
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BobF
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/18 10:59:29
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As a totally impartial, non-Staff View user, I will be happy to take input and compile a prioritized list of specific Staff View fixes you're looking for.
I will start a new thread for this along with ideas on how to get the list prepared.
Bob -- Angels are crying because truth has died ...Illegitimi non carborundum --Studio One Pro / i7-6700@3.80GHZ, 32GB Win 10 Pro x64 Roland FA06, LX61+, Fishman Tripleplay, FaderPort, US-16x08 + ARC2.5/Event PS8s Waves Gold/IKM Max/Nomad Factory IS3/K11U
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michael diemer
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/18 11:36:57
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BobF
As a totally impartial, non-Staff View user, I will be happy to take input and compile a prioritized list of specific Staff View fixes you're looking for.
I will start a new thread for this along with ideas on how to get the list prepared.
Sounds great to me, Bob! Thank you also for taking the time to understand! Ah, the spirit of cooperation. A beautiful thing.
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michael diemer
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/21 12:20:46
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☄ Helpfulby cparmerlee 2015/05/21 12:56:56
Update on Presonus Studio One: They just released Version 3. I've been waiting to see if they have integrated Notion into Studio One. They have not. You still need to use Rewire. Good news actually for Cakewalk, they still have the opportunity to beat Presonus to the punch. I haven't given up hope. I can't, I love Sonar too much. I refuse to believe that the Bakers can't at least equal the notation in Rosegarden, the free DAW for Linux.
michael diemer Intel Quad Core i7-3770 Ivy Bridge 32 GB ram 1TB Western Digital Black X2 Microsoft Windows 7 Pro 64 UR22 interface Bandlab Cakewalk/Sonar 8.5 Studio GPO-EWQLSO Gold-Vienna SP ED-Cinematic Strings 2
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1ManMusic
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Re: No notation fixes!
2015/05/30 18:22:29
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Years ago, I too was frustrated by the notation feature in Cakewalk. This was before it was even called Sonar, so you know I am going back more than a decade - like late 1990s.
I wrote maybe two, possibly three songs in the space of a few years. The reason was that I dreaded the process of composing on Cakewalk. I searched all over the web for solutions. I tried both paid and free programs. Then, thinking it was more me than the suite, I went into the discussion fora and found one on this very topic. The user revealed the secret that has made me stick with Cakewalk products to this very day. nearly twenty years later. The earth-shattering revelation was that the Cakewalk gods had revealed to the faithful that Cakewalk was far less for notation than for mastering and engineering. He then gave me the sign of the baritone clef and departed in The Cloud.
After this epiphany, I returned to my quest for notation software and I was guided to a place that is Noteworthy where a faction of only slightly lesser music software gods had created a tool for which those who desire may compose with much ease and accuracy. It came with a limited-time fully operational free preview period, which would be easily transformed into permanency for less than a Centadollar (US).
I have since composed well over 200 songs, now only slowed by the fact that I returned to Rutgers University to finish a degree in Music (class of 2013).
The software is called Noteworthy Music Composer. It is still available for less than $100. It is well-supported, as the developers are constantly posting updates. Whole number updates are discounted to current licensed users. Decimal point updates are free to licensed users. Every update adds and improves the utility of this program which I have given as gifts to classmates.
I have tried Finale and whatever other uber-costly graduated notation packages are available and highly touted. However, none of them has approached the intuitive ease of composing that Noteworthy provides. For me, Noteworthy Music Composer is as simple as using Microsoft Word. The developers were smart to use as many keystrokes common to Microsoft programs as possible. Copy, paste, edit. Save. Ctrl-A by default does something different than it does in Microsoft, but you can also customize keys and key combinations to perform specific functions. I compose in Noteworthy. Save it to its proprietary format and/or export it to midi. I open it in Cakewalk and dress it up there, then release it. I am now preparing to release a self-produced CD using Noteworthy and Sonar. If I were to be forced to choose two programs for music, they would be Noteworthy Music Composer and Sonar.
I see a note regarding restrictions on hyperlinks, so just search for the software name, Noteworthy Music Composer.
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