Finale Notepad...Is it any good?

So my 16th birthday is coming up and I decided I wanted some music notation software. Then I saw the prices for both Sibelius and Finale.

*jaw drops*

No way are my parents going to buy me one. They don't even want to send me back to piano lessons even if it doesn't cost that much!...Anyway...so I stumbled upon finale notepad, downloaded it, and ooh la la! I'm now putting my music into actual sheet music!...But the real question is...Is this just as good as all the other software you actually have to pay for?

Originally Posted by happilyeverrandom

...Is [Notepad] just as good as all the other software you actually have to pay for?

It's a good starting point. It's essentially a heavily crippled version of the full software. SO many things you can't do...but, at the same time, many things that you can. For many purposes - especially those of a beginner, it's adequate.

It's a good starting point and will start you on the right path - preparing you for when you finally do get some 'real' software.

Well, it depends. It's not the best notation software out there, but it's still very very good for personal use as a beginner. I mean, it is possible to use if you were scoring a big budget movie. There's just better software out there for bigger scale stuff. You can use Finale as a beginner to an advanced composer, but the features aren't as good for when you're advanced, or you can use a program like Cubase, but that won't be good for a beginner and only good for someone advanced with all the professional equipment.

What I think is that you should get Finale, and wait and see if you want to choose composing as a career or not, and if you do, then you can get a more advanced program.

Originally Posted by Songjun

You can use Finale as a beginner to an advanced composer, but the features aren't as good for when you're advanced, or you can use a program like Cubase, but that won't be good for a beginner and only good for someone advanced with all the professional equipment.

What I think is that you should get Finale, and wait and see if you want to choose composing as a career or not, and if you do, then you can get a more advanced program.

Please differentiate between Finale and Finale Notepad. They're two VERY different softwares. Finale, being possibly the MOST powerful and professional notation software available. Notepad, being the free, stripped-down teaser.

hahaha teaser. well, I DO want to be a film scorer when I'm older but I'm seriously a little novice when it comes to composing so Finale Notepad is pretty satisfactory to me.

I thought he was asking if "Finale" was as good as every other program, since he used notepad and liked it.

Finale isn't the "MOST powerful" notation software out there. It's good, but there are programs out there with more "power"..for example:

Cubase - http://www.musiciansbuy.com/mmMBCOM/...xs_cubase4.jpg

compared to

Finale - http://www.harmony-central.com/Produ.../000004965.jpg

(i do know that the Cubase screenshot just has a lot of crap open, but i don't believe finale has that many advanced options.) I say this despite the fact that I like Finale better than Cubase.

Notepad isn't bad if you want to open .MUS files. It's the best option available if you don't have Finale. After that, there's really not that much you can do with Notepad. One thing that's bothersome is that you can't change keys throughout a piece. That's what really irked me.

But, as already mentioned, it's not bad for beginners, or for assignments.

Originally Posted by Songjun

Cubase - http://www.musiciansbuy.com/mmMBCOM/...xs_cubase4.jpg

Are you serious? What is all that crap?! Please, because I'd love to see it - using Cubase: engrave and print professional looking parts for a simple string quartet.

I'm not going to get dragged into this again.

agreed... notation and sequencing are two very different things.

Use notepad, and if you don't miss anything, well, perfect! No need to pay for anything you don't need. The question of whether to actually buy a more expensive program only becomes relevant when you notice there are some things you simply can't do with notepad which you want to do.

And because Songjun already apologized in his sig, I'm not commenting on that.