Portable Keyboard and Notation Software

This is my first post.

I currently have an old version of Finale's PrintMusic on my PC (2002, if you can believe that !)

I am an amateur who like to figure out the occasional pop song by ear. I record the lead line on the diskette recorder built into my digital piano.

I then take the diskette, insert it into my PC and import the midi file into PrintMusic. The problem is: my old version of PrintMusic often imports the midi file in such a way that I end up having to do a lot of manual editing to get the print version into decent shape.

I was thinking that I should purchase a small portable keyboard - perhaps with a USB output that I could hook up directly to my PC. Also, I thought I should probably update my PrintMusic software or perhaps change my notation software completely to another product.

In the end, all I want is to be able to notate the lead line of the occasional pop song - probably with chords noted above - so that I don't forget what I have figured out by ear.

If you have any suggestions or advice, I'm all ears !

Thanks.

-- Robert

You should be able to purchase an upgrade for PrintMusic from the Finale website.

As for a keyboard, for your purposes it will mainly come down to the number of desired octaves and the inclusion/lack of weighted keys. Try searching Google Shopping for the M-Audio line, there's decent variety available and the units are good.

korg.com

The nanoKEY is about as small and portable as they get and perfect for note entry, but you're really losing feeling and control with it (although the keys are velocity sensitive). If you're just using it for Finale, it's great. I love mine.

M-audio ... midi controllers - oxygen or axiom product lines