John T Sylvanis wrote:
So, in fact both are sophisticated notation packages with pseudo
composition capabilities. Why do they cost 500-600 dollars apiece? I am
NOT looking for loop software, but composition software with good
sequencing and sound font editing capabilities, doubled by notation as a
natural complement. In my opinion these two should have come together
with notation software some time ago, as Microsoft has integrated its
discrete Office packages already in the early '90s.
Well, you're making an assumption that Finale and Sibelius have
pseudo-composition capabilities. What the heck are those? Composition
occurs in the human mind, not in a computer. The computer helps the
human get the ideas down on paper so that other musicians can then
reproduce them. Sequencers help the human get the sounds recorded so
they can be played back. Neither aspect (notation or sequencing) is
composition software, as I would use the term, although both aid in
composition. Band in a Box and Jammer Pro are what I would call
composition programs -- no musical skill necessary, enter the chord
symbols, select a style, click play and you've got a composition. Heck,
with Band-in-a-Box's Melodist function you don't even have to enter any
chords, just select a style and click MELODY and the program generates
the chord sequence, the melody, the title. Then you can also combine
that with the Soloist function and it will play a smoking solo if you
wish, resulting in a complete recordable song, interesting to listen to,
with no effort other than some mouse clicks. Now *that's* composition
software, to my mind.
What you describe is currently available from Sonar or Cakewalk Home
Studio or PowerTracks Pro from pgmusic.com -- but the downside is that
their notation packages aren't nearly as robust as Finale or Sibelius.
You might call them composition packages (but I wouldn't) with
pseudo-notation capabilities.
What does soundfont editing have to do with notation? Nothing. These
are notation packages which have playback capabilities which get better
with each new version. Microsoft may have integrated its discrete
Office packages already, but that's a vastly larger market than music
applications which include notation and sequencing and soundfont editing
and all the other things you might wish for. The reason that what you
want hasn't happened is that most musicians who are heavily into
sequencing don't care about the finer points of music notation, they
just want down and dirty notation for those times that it might be
handy, and that's just what those programs provide. And those musicians
who care about the finer points of notation tend to be less interested
in sequencing, since they can put their ideas very nicely into notation.
This is a very tiny niche market, so things don't progress as fast as in
the huge market of office applications.
So you have a choice -- a terrific sequencing program that has minimal
notation capabilities or a notation program which has minimal sequencing
capabilities.
I do hope you're making these same complaints on the Sonar forums, also.
:-)
I've often held that an ideal marriage would be some merging of Sonar
and Finale, but that ain't gonna happen.
David H. Bailey
[snip]
--
David H. Bailey
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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