Klarinet Archive - Posting 000024.txt from 1997/01

From: "Christopher J. Thibeault" <lespaul@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Notation Programs
Date: Fri, 3 Jan 1997 00:58:16 -0500

I've also tried Mozart, and it really does lack a lot of features. I use
Encore and Finale and I think they work great, but both have their strengths
and weaknesses.

Encore: Don't be so quick to judge. You can produce great looking scores
with Encore once you get used to using
it. There are bugs in the demo version, which is why it crashed. I'm
using 4.0 but they released 4.1
recently. It also is the cheapest of the major notation programs.
I'd recommend it if you didn't need
alot of extremely advance notational procedures (modern music), or
if you don't need pictures in your
music.

Finale: This is one of the best programs you can buy, but it costs quite a
bit. Of the two programs, Finale is
definately the most powerful as to what it can do, even though it
might take a lifetime to learn how to
use it. Finale comes with several large books that alot of people
like to look at constantly while
using the program. Personally, none of the books or videos out there
seem to be much help. There is a
e-mail list for finale users, and that is probably your best source
of information. As far as output
quality, it is somewhat better than Encore and has a more
'classical' look. If you can figure out how
to use it, its a great program.

Other: There two other high-end packages that I'm aware of. Score and
Graphire Music Press are generally
considered to be the absolute best by people who have tried them.
>From what I hear, they are difficult
to use at first but once you are used to it, it's no problem. They
provide exact control over every
possible detail (even more that Finale!). The biggest problem with
these is cost. Both will cost
up to several thousand dollars! For a teenager like me, this is just
a 'little bit' out of my range,
but if you can afford them, they are the best.

Well that's just about it for notation programs (I'm assuming you use a PC).

-Christopher J. Thibeault