Evaluating Musescore!! Does the software have function similarly to the old Cakewalk Pro Audio 9
To all you budding composers.
How good is Musescore? What I have read seems impressive.
I am a jazz and classical composer. I used to use Cakewalk Pro Audio years ago and want to write music for Piano, Bass, Drums, Percussion and Saxes Eb & Bb and Clarinet now using a Windows 10 computer and my Korg keyboard. I have recently retranscibed a quintet based version of Don Ellis's Electric Bath in 7/4 and saved the midi.
Now to Musescore. I have successfully tried the tutorial on step entry using the computer keyboard which is very acceptable for editing wrong notes and timing etc. So it is fine and dandy but as I write lengthy scores with tricky timing it may not entirely suit the way I generally write music.
I assume I can create music direct from midi import by playing both Clefs on the piano (MIDI) instrument in time to a metronome"?. So assuming I can, is it possible to compose the monophonic scores for Sax / Clarinet, Trumpet, Flugelhorn parts in concert on the keyboard and audition the playback result in concert whilst having transposed their scores to Bb or Eb?.
Can I see and print the whole score and also print individual parts for my workshop students to practice to.. Does the software allow for more unusual rhythms such as 5/4 and 7/4 etc ? What about quantisation or swing feel or is that purely down to the percussion from the keyboard?
Comments
I'm not sure about all of the midi features since I don't use them. Other than that, you can pretty much do all of the things you asked about. Transposition is easy. Extracting parts and printing is easy. Swing is an easy option. Quantisation is possible, but what you want to do will determine how easy it is. As far as writing for an instrument, you can write for any instrument that uses western music notation. Playback is another story. If you want a flugelhorn for example, you will need to find a sound font that uses it. If you ask, people will help you find those on this forum.
The starting point for all of this is the handbook. While it does not disclose every tip and trick, it does explain the basics. The online handbook has additional links to "How To..." pages. Finally, there are several people who live on this forum and will be willing to help figure out how to do the unusual. They've even been know to explain how to enter notes to people who refuse to read the handbook.
If you can use some other program to create a MIDI file, MuseScore is happy to import it. This isn't a particular efficient way to enter complex music since each MIDI file will result in a separate score, meaning you'd need to assemble a score from pieces if you record separate MIDI files. MuseScore 2.1 will have a "semi real time" MIDI input mode, but it may or may not be what you are wanting if you come from a program that is a sequencer first, like Cakewalk. Swing playback is supported as mentioned, but "quantization" doesn't really make sense for a notation program - if it's notated, it is by definition quantized (only real time MIDI input would ever *not* be quantized). MuseScore can indeed quantize such MIDI files on import after a fashion, but again, not to the extend a sequencer could. But the notation side of MuseScore will *far* exceed what you could do in a sequencer, I'll bet. That includes everything you asked about and then some (and some more, and some more).
In reply to If you can use some other by Marc Sabatella
I had a feeling that what you say is the case since there is little information on midi import. I appreciate your reply and will see what happens to a midi file which is multilayered i.e. 5 part harmony plus piano, bass and drums. As I said in the original post I made I have a 5 part midi file I created of Don Ell's Electric Bath track, Turkish Bath. Its ok as it goes. Its in 7/4 which some score programs can't cope with. I am still working on it. Unfortunately on a steam powered XP laptop.
I assume I can create music direct from midi import by playing both Clefs on the piano (MIDI) instrument in time to a metronome"?
As I believe you now realize, you cannot do this. However, you can use an external sequencer and import the result.