10 questions to ask when you choose a music notation program

By Laura B. Whitmore

Here are some suggestions to help you select the product that’s perfect for you.

What are your needs?
It’s important to know how complex your notation tasks will be before you can figure out which program to choose.

How many staves does the program allow?
Just about every program out there can allow you to create a simple lead sheet, but multi-stave orchestrations are another matter. For example, in a top-level program like Finale 2010 you can have unlimited staves. However, when you move to something like Finale Songwriter, it allows a maximum of 8 staves.

What are your input options?
You can link a controller to your computer and play the music in, scan in pre-printed music, input the notes using your computer keyboard or even use a keyboard or fretboard screen on your computer to “play” in the notes. You can even import a MIDI file and it will appear as notation. So think about how you like to get your scores into the program and how much flexibility in this area is important to you.

How easy is it to add marks, lyrics and other instructions?
A good notation program makes it easy to add things like dynamics, codas and other performance instructions, and helps keep those items together with the notes and measures that you intend them to relate to. For example, Sibelius 6 has a new feature called magnetic layout that not only connects these items to the right notes and measures, but also makes sure they appear properly without crowding or overlap.

Appearance matters!
Top end programs offer more flexibility and features in this area so your frustrations with getting your notation to look perfect are eliminated.

How quickly does your program update the changes you’ve input?
If you ask a program to do something like transpose a horn part or an entire orchestra score, consider how long that might take. Top-level programs like Sibelius excel at updating your requests in the blink of an eye!

How does your notation program sound?
This might seem like an odd question, but today’s notation programs come with amazing sounds built in so that you can play back your compositions and hear how they sound. For example, Finale 2010 comes with over 300 sounds created by the makers of the Garritan Orchestra samples. Lower end versions come with less sounds of lower quality. And programs like Sibelius and Finale allow you to create an audio file or burn a CD of your score as well.

Can you extract parts?
If you’re writing for a band or orchestra, you can create your whole score and then automatically pull out the part for each instrument. Or play back just that part of the score. More flexibility here saves you time and aggravation.

Are options like guitar tab and lyrics manipulation important to you?
There are software programs out there that are focused on notating for the guitar. Both Sibelius 6 and Finale 2010 offer top-notch flexibility that allows you to write in guitar tab and add chord fingering charts.

What other enhanced features would make your life easier?
Sibelius 6 offers new features for teachers like the ability to control students’ satellite programs in a lab, the ability to track and see all changes in the file and include “sticky” notes comments. Finale enables you to convert your notation files to SmartMusic accompaniments or enter notes by playing a brass or woodwind instrument using its MicNotator® feature.

Today’s notation products bring a huge amount of power and flexibility to your computer, so don’t be afraid to jump in!

How to choose an audio interface

By Laura B. Whitmore

At some point, you have probably thought about doing some recording using your computer or laptop. If you've finally decided to jump in, then you probably need an audio interface. An audio interface's purpose is simply this; it helps you bring audio signals into your computer. Here are some of the things you need to think about when choosing the best interface for you.

In or out of the box?
Most audio interfaces are external devices that you can connect to your computer using a high speed USB or Firewire connection. However you can actually install an audio interface into your computer using an interface card. You’ll have to open up your computer and use one of your card slots.

Connection options
It’s important to know what kind of ports your computer has available for connecting your interface. Your choices are: USB 1.1 – if you have a computer that is over four years old or so, you might have this port. USB 2.0—the faster, newer version of USB, has been a standard port for more recent computer models. And finally Firewire – fast and widely available on newer Macs.

The ins and outs
Think about what are you going to plug into your interface and how many you’ll plug in at once. If you are recording multiple instruments at once, you’ll want more ins. And don’t forget about outs! Use these to connect your computer to some great sounding monitors, a PA or even your stereo. The important thing is to plan ahead and get what you think you’ll need up front.

Sample rate
When you convert audio through an interface, it does the conversion at a particular sample rate. The standard sampling rate is 44.1 kHz, the same resolution that is used for audio CDs. However, if you are working in a high-end recording situation, you might want to consider a higher rate like 192 kHz resolution and a more high-end interface.

Microphone essentials
All microphones require their signal to be boosted so that the levels are hot enough for recording. If your interface has a microphone in, it will have some pre-amplification for this purpose, but if you prefer to use a condenser mic, you’ll want an interface that also has phantom power. This is not included in all interfaces, so you’ll have to look for it.

Software choices
Check to make sure that the interface you choose is compatible with the software you are using for recording. For example, Digidesign’s Pro Tools will only work with a Digidesign or M-Audio interface, depending on which version you are using. Also, some interfaces come with recording software, so read the fine print!