Any suggestions on Mac/iOS music notation apps?

Software & Setup
1

I was thinking about something for making clean copies of transcriptions. I’ve read good things about PreSonus Notion 6 Music Notation Software. Works with Mac and iOS. Anyone have any experience with this or other similar programs?

2

I’d highly recommend you try out MuseScore:

  • completely free to use

  • you can export as PDF and as Music XML file

  • Music XML allows you to then open the file in any other music notation software

  • I haven’t experimented with the midi input using MuseScore, so I can’t comment on it’s accuracy.

  • I have tried importing midi files into Sibelius and whilst it comes up with something, i found it was quicker to simply start from scratch.

Let us know what you think of MuseScore.

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3

Maybe worth mentioning that I use Sibelius:

  • I managed to get an educational license years ago.

  • It’s kinda pricey now which is one of the downsides… particularly compared to MuseScore which is totally free to use.

  • Sibelius is more powerful than MuseScore, but I must admit that I don’t utilise the advanced features.

  • Because I’ve always used Sibelius for notating things, I’ve been reluctant to change due to having to learn a new software system

  • Sibelius does offer a 30 day free trial so you can always take it for a test drive: https://my.avid.com/get/sibelius-ultimate-trial

4

+1 for musescore much more easy to use than lot of expensive blockbusters

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5

Thanks guys for your ideas. I’ll check them out.

6

A quick followup on music notation apps. I came across a really thorough and honest assessment of what’s out there by an educator who has apparently used all of them at one time. He makes some good points. So, if anyone else is interested, this might help you make a decision.

http://www.georgehess.net/notation-wars/

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7

Really useful link Scott.

I can only use my experience from using Sibelius and MuseScore, and I agree with everything he says regarding those 2 programs.

I do remember when I first started with Sibelius, I found the learning curve to be very steep with the sheer amount of options in the interface. Even after using the program for many years, I’m still finding new buttons and short cuts to speed up my work.

MuseScore on the other hand has a more simplified interface which in my opinion makes it a little less daunting for beginners.

8

I couple of years back I stumbled across Finale, another free program that was just fine for my beginners skills and I used it a good deal. MuseScore is far more superior to Finale and I will switch to it (I looked at Sibelius and it was way above my head and still is, plus price).

An excellent suggestion, Hayden. Thank you, Smole

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9

I figured there has been enough said on this, but I did come across this free software today. It’s Mac only, but it looks like it might be of interest to some.

http://debussy.music.ubc.ca/NoteAbility/index.html

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