Klarinet Archive - Posting 000652.txt from 1997/03

From: Dick Walters <waltersd@-----.NET>
Subj: Re: Music Time Deluxe
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 1997 01:00:41 -0500

Dick Walters wrote:
>
> Virginia Scarfino wrote:
>
> I just thought I'd share my experience in purchasing some music
> notation
> software.
>
> I recently purchased a spiffy new computer that is fast, has lots
> of RAM,
> and lots of hard-drive space. It replaced an old 386 machine.
> So, I was
> finally able to start thinking about purchasing some music
> notation
> software.
>
> >From previous posts to the klarinet list, it sounded like Finale
> and Encore
> were the two programs that were most highly praised. I went
> surfing one
> night, and through simple web searches I found the sight for CODA
> products
> that had a downloadable demo of Finale, and PASSPORT products that
> had a
> downloadable demo of Encore.
>
> I downloaded Finale first, and boy did I have a lot of problems
> with it -
> I'm sure its a great program if you have the manuals to help you
> figure out
> how to use it, but without that it was quite difficult to assess
> the
> package fairly.
>
> Next, I downloaded Encore, and it completely blew me away! It
> was
> extremely intuitive, and the download itself came with oodles of
> examples
> showing exactly what it could do. I had a piece of music entered
> into the
> demo version in no time!
>
> Given that I wanted a program mainly for arranging music for small
> chamber
> ensembles, and for transposing, I figured I'd rather have the
> more
> intuitive package, even if there were more subtle things that
> perhaps
> Encore couldn't do that Finale could.
>
> So, the following day, I got on the phone to a local music store
> that sold
> music notation software. I found out that this particular store
> didn't
> sell Finale (because "you have to be a Systems Engineer to figure
> out how
> to use it" according to the sales rep), but it did sell Encore -
> for about
> $800 CDN. Ouch! But the sales rep then informed me that there
> are other
> packages available, and he suggested Music Time Deluxe at $139
> CDN. He
> told me that it was also made by PASSPORT products, but that it
> only
> handled up to 16 staves, instead of the 64 that Encore supports
> (and also
> didn't support guitar tablature whereas Encore did). Furthermore,
> if I
> bought Music Time Deluxe, and then decided I'd rather have Encore,
> I could
> apparently upgrade for about $300 CDN and I'd still be further
> ahead than
> purchasing Encore outright.
>
> I thanked the sales rep very much, got back on the web, went back
> to the
> Encore sight, and downloaded Music Time Deluxe. Except for one
> tool bar, I
> couldn't tell the difference between the two! I went ahead and
> purchased
> Music Time Deluxe, and have been happy as a lark ever since!
>
> For those of you that would like to download some of these demo
> programs
> (and there are other ones as well), here are the sites:
>
> http://www.codamusic.com/Finalepage.html
> http://vortex.netbistro.com/georgemusic/passport.html
>
> Also, I would like to make a suggestion for people with Music
> Notation
> Software that are making files available on SNEEZY. It would be
> really
> nice if along with the files specific to the software being used,
> if midi
> (.MID) files could also be provided. This might make it easier
> for people
> with different software to take advantage of the music files
> being
> provided!
>
> Ginny Scarfino
> scarfinv@-----.net
> Waterloo, ON
> Canada
>
> I've been using Encore for about 6 years and it is a good s/w
> package. I'm a bit surprised at the price they quoted you. Last time
> I checked it was slightly under $400. Misic Time does come close,
> however, and may even be better if you don't need all the power of
> Encore. They are coming out with a new version this Spring, written
> for Win95 that recognizes the new universal midi notation format I
> understand is lurking about. Only problem I've had is that the enc
> file extension conflicts with an mpeg file and confuses Win95 unless
> you go in and change the viewer options. It's a great program and
> very easy to use.
>
> Dick Walters

   
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