Encore Software By Gvox, any reviews of this software?? Options

[ecremean]

hi. i'm trying to find some software to compose, transpose, etc. and also connect to my midi capable keyboard. has anyone heard of this software and how good or bad it is??

thanks.

elizabeth

[dixiechicken]

I have the 4.1 version, it's an outstanding easy to use notation software.

Version 4.5.4 is fully OS X compatible.
( so Gvox claims at least - you can download the demo at their website )

Only problem is, it doesnt have very many specific device-files for synths/sound modules.
You can always playback through the Quicktime synthesizer, of course but…

Sibelius and of course Finale ( especially Finale ) are more capable programs, but also much harder to learn. They are also more expensive.

Cheers: Dixiechicken

[ecremean]

thanks for the reply. that helps a lot. i was considering getting finale (and i may be able to get a significant discount) but wasn't sure since it only works in classic mode. i was kinda thinking that something that was os x compatible would be easier, but wasn't sure.
do you think i should go ahead and get finale instead of encore?
again, your help is greatly appreciated. i am a newbie to the world of midi, composing, and such.

elizabeth

[dixiechicken]

According to Coda Music "Finale 2004" should be Mac OS X compatible. Next sommer sometime.
When working in classic mode with Finale you will NOT be able to print your scores directly from Finale.
(printing, audio and video - generally - does NOT work in classic mode)

After finishing your score in Finale, you can compile a postscript listing. ( cmd in the File menu )
Save the postscript file. IF you have a postscript printer connected to your computer, force quit classic mode and drop the postscript file onto the printer utility in OS X. Then it will print.

If you are willing to learn Finale, ( the manual is some 1200 pages ) and can get it at a good discount price, by all means get it, ( its a bitch to learn ) but it's a very very competent program.
It's probably overkill for you unless you mean to produce really complicated scores with typsetter quality layout.

Personally I favour Encore for it's ease of use, their web-support seems promt an courteus.
Then I prefer Finale for it's completeness, layout possibilities rivals Indesign or Pagemaker.
I didnt like Sibelius too much, but I have not used it a great deal, input methods in Sibelius seems pretty slick once you get the hang of it, I never really did.

All three programs produce good easy to read scores, albeit it bit boring to look at.
Hope this helps some.
You can also take a look att NoteAbilityPro at URL:
http://debussy.music.ubc.ca/~opus1/index.html

Cheers: Dixiechicken

[ecremean]

Thanks so much for the info. It is very helpful!!

[dixiechicken]

After a bit of thought I decided to upgrade my Encore 4.1 to 4.5.4.

Thats a 120$ fee, have a gig coming up in 8 weeks and needed to
have my Encore working for OS X

Cheers: Dixiechicken