Jump to content

changing dependency on notation software.


Recommended Posts

Are there any techniques that are good for making a transition away from traditional notation software to more physical paper works, which is what I intended to do more of. so is there advice for being less dependent on technology and being able to write using just pen and paper. 

Any advice will do, thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think using software is really really practical and you can't just seriously not use them if you're actually intending to organize concerts, etc. However, getting good practice the "old fashioned way" is actually a pretty good idea.

 

So here's a funny little trick I do when I'm writing without computers. Get a chronometer. So, when you write, get the chronometer ready and start it when you start "reading" your music, in your head of course. I think the hardest thing to get is the relation between sound -> time without an automatic metronome+performance that a computer gives you. Since tempo is such an important thing, it's one of the first things you need to know how to check without having it performed in some way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I personally felt that I HAD to learn to write on paper only as I was deprived access to a computer for a long time.  Now that I've gotten used to writing on paper I seem to have lost my ability to write in my sequencer/notation software.  Hearing my composition before it is finished would interfere with the process of composing it for me.

Quote

Are there any techniques that are good for making a transition away from traditional notation software to more physical paper works, which is what I intended to do more of. so is there advice for being less dependent on technology and being able to write using just pen and paper. 

I think if you're going to start writing on paper only, write what you're familiar with both stylistically and harmonically/technically at first so that you establish a correspondence between your inner ear and the results you want.  Also, if you don't have perfect pitch as I don't, keep a tuning fork near you so that you can always check what key you are conceiving your melodies in (or you can figure out what pitch the volume button on your phone is so you can always use that).  I also have little notepads that have college ruled paper that I write lines into to make a 5-line staff so that I can keep it with me everywhere I go.

Of course what really matters in composition is that you get your intended result.  For me however, I find that I make different musical decisions on a piece of paper than I would if I were writing in the software, and for that reason I have come to prefer writing on paper only (although there have been plenty of times where I have made corrections while copying my work into the software because I was able to hear that it was a mistake in that instance but that's much easier to do once you've already mostly written your whole piece).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd never consider notation software for the composing process. It's hopelessly slow and constricting, worse if you do some of your work at a keyboard (unless the keyboard can do the notation for you). Through time I developed a shorthand enough to get down ideas very quickly. It's usually just dots on staves along more like a time line than fixed note values like quarter notes, eighth notes etc. A neater draft can be written up later. I don't want to play a chord both hands then upwards of a dozen clicks of the mouse or keyboard after pointing it wherever, to set it in a computer when I can just jot six dots on a stave. Worse if the chord is arpeggiated unevenly so, at that point, I have to consider how to express it in time value notes. No thank you. 

It would probably be ok if writing in a key and fixed time signature using CPP. But then I'd go straight to the daw. I never start with a key nor bar lines except to note the end of a phrase.

And then, playing back a notation piece is usually poorly balanced and sounds awful so you get even more software to help like Note Performer.

So I do everything on paper then get it in the daw.

Thereafter, notation software comes into its own. I'm thinking of buying Dorico. I'll send it a midi file then edit. That's when I need an engraved quality score and the ability to extract parts if there's a chance of performance. Whatever I buy has to deal with all my notational quirks. Cost obviously comes into it. If I reckon one orchestral/ensemble work per year is worth submitting to an orchestra it would take ten years before the cost came down to £50 per score. Is it worth it? Or should I use spare moments handwriting scores?

I did try taster versions of Sib and Finale (and watched others, some people very fast using it). They didn't cut it.

My tuppenceworth at least. No doubt many will disagree....

.

Edited by Quinn
typo
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...