Music 252

Music 252: Introduction to Music Notation Software

Music 252 is an introduction to music notation editing on computers, with a focus on the Finale and Sibelius programs. Students interested in learning only one of these two programs may take the class for one credit. No prior experience with these programs is required or expected, although being able to read music is. In addition, free alternatives to these two commercial music editors will be surveyed.

Webpage: http://252.ccarh.org

Schedule

The class meets from 10:00 to 11:50 a.m. on Fridays in Braun Music Building, room 128, during the Fall 2010 quarter.

Fall 2010

1	Sep 24	Finale 1: Simple Note Entry
2	Oct   1	Finale 2: MIDI Entry
3	Oct   8	Finale 3: Scanning/MusicXML
4	Oct 15	Finale 4: Fine Detail Editing
5	Oct 22	Noteflight/MuseScore
6	Oct 29	Sibelius 1: Alphabetic Note Entry
7	Nov   5	Sibelius 2: Midi Entry
8	Nov 12	Sibelius 3: Editing
9	Nov 19	Sibelius 4: Editing 2
10	Dec   3	Non-interactive: Lilypond/ABC/Guido

Textbook

• Essential Dictionary of Music Notation by Tom Gerou and Linda Lusk. ISBN 0-88284-730-9
• Sibelius: A Comprehensive Guide to Sibelius Music Notation Software by Thomas Rudolph and Vincent Leonard. ISBN 1-4234-1200-1
• Finale and Sibelius (Sibelius 6 Handbook as PDF) online documentation and printed manuals found in lab.

Grading

• 1 or 2 credits, Letter or Pass/Fail
• 1 credit: come to 5 classes & do final project (Typically Finale section or Sibelius section).
• 2 credits: come to 10 classes & do final project.

• Grading:
  • 50% class participation
  • 25% homework
  • 25% final project

• Final project:
  • Typeset 10 pages of music, your choice, my approval
  • Preliminary project submission 12 noon, 2 December
  • Final project submission due by 12 noon 10 December

Homework

Due in class one week after assigned.

1. Enter three songs from Teton Sioux Music by Frances Densmore using the computer keyboard with Simple Note Entry in Finale. List of songs can be found on page xiii. The first song is on page 67. Choose at least one song which has triplets (tuplets) to try and figure out how to enter tuplet rhythms (i.e., search the manual from the help menu).
2. Input a page (or less) of simple music of your choice into Finale using all three input methods presented in class so far (Simple, Speedy, HyperScribe). Be able to discuss at the next class meeting: Which method works best for you (as a novice user of Finale)? Which method would work best if you were equally familiar with all input methods?
3. Scan at least two pages of printed music of your choice and process with SharpEye (preferably using batch mode). Save the extracted symbolic data as a MusicXML file and load into Finale for final cleanup and printing. Extra Credit: Input the same music with one of the input methods presented in class (using the computer or MIDI keyboards). Is scanning or manual entry faster for the music you selected (speculate on the differences between novice and expert points of view).
4. Typeset two of the example lines of music given in this PDF file (not including the one done in class, of course). See hints. Alternatively, choose an equivalent amount of music of your choice and my approval to do.
5. Typeset 1/2 to 1 page of music in Noteflight and MuseScore (either the same or different music). Email a link to these scores in your Noteflight and MuseScore accounts. Also, transfer data from noteflight or MuseScore via MusicXML into Finale and print the music in Finale.

Class resources

• Finale Tips -- Tips for doing various things in Finale to avoid searching through the manual a second time...
• Sibelius keyboard shortcuts
• Sibelius Tips -- Tips for doing various things in Sibelius to avoid searching through the manual a second time...
• Notation program command comparisons

Links

• Classes:
  • Music 253: Introduction to Musical Information
  • Music 254: Computational Music Analysis

• Software:
  • Finale homepage: commercial music notation editor.
  • Sibelius homepage: commercial music notation editor.
  • MuseScore homepage: free open-source music notation editor.
  • Noteflight homepage: online free/subscription music notation editor.
  • Lilypond homepage: free open-source music notation renderer.
  • ABC plus project: musical data format designed for folksongs, with basic polyphonic capabilities that can be graphically rendered with abcm2ps.
  • Guido homepage: musical data format with an online graphical renderer (Noteserver).
  • SharpEye homepage: Music scanning program.
  • MusicXML homepage: Music data format for transferring music notation information between programs.
• Other notation software not covered in the class:
  • SCORE wikipedia page: professional music typesetting editor (covered in Music 253).
  • Dmuse: IDE for music/text data editing and notation rendering of musical data in the MuseData format.
  • MUP homepage: shareware graphical notation renderer.