Software for less "perfect" notation?
So, I have a personal preference when reading music. I like the look of the older music prints, the almost "photocopy" look of them is really easy on the eyes for me. A lot of the stuff on jmgpaper.com is a good example, and of course, imslp is a great place to find some of that older style too.
While Musescore and other engraver software like Lilypond are great for legibility and looking modern, a part of me wishes I could find a software that had a font that has softer edges on the lines and a more vintage look to at least one music font. If anyone knows where I might be able to find one, please let me know!
Comments
Print it from MuseScore and then photocopy it. *shrug*
I recall that there are some heavier, vintage, "old school," distressed notation fonts. A while ago one was mentioned on the forum but I can't remember the name. UPDATE: Info here
If a notation font is in SMuFL format you should be able to use it in place of MuseScore's default font. If I've misspoken I believe that's a goal that's in the works.
In reply to I recall there are some… by scorster
That would be amazing! Thank you! I much prefer the aesthetic for reading personally. Feels like home more than all the overly clean new stuff. Did it look something like this?
In reply to That would be amazing! Thank… by AstralAstrid
@AstralAstrid wrote > Did it look something like this?
The font I saw definitely had the look of traditional/heritage printed music, at least regarding the notational symbols themselves. Not sure if the staves display distressed as in your example.
And it looks like SMuFL option is planned for the pending MS 4.5
https://musescore.org/en/node/374122
In reply to @AstralAstrid wrote Did it… by scorster
SMuFL fonts will come to 4.6 it seems.
https://musescore.org/en/4.5-and-beyond
bradleykunda • Feb 10, 2025 - 12:13
Custom SMuFL fonts are currently in development, but there are some other dependencies we have to sort through first to make it fully functional. The aim is to have this ready for 4.6.
In reply to I recall there are some… by scorster
Sebastian is the font that bears the heritage look.
This is the forum post where I saw a score rendered with the Sebastian font:
https://musescore.org/en/node/371485
In reply to Ah, Sebastian is the font,… by scorster
Thank you! That font is so beautiful!
In reply to Ah, Sebastian is the font,… by scorster
On this site, you can view/compare almost all music fonts
https://elbsound.studio/music-font-comparison.php