We have a need to be able to print Lead Sheets from music that is no longer available. At present we play it on the keyboard & write it by hand on manuscript paper, which is very time consuming & inconvenient if we need to make alterations.

I have researched the forum( Technics) regarding this & it looks like that the easiest way to achieve this is to play the tune on the keyboard,(KNs), save it as a midi file on a floppy, insert it into the computer & load it into a notation programme for manipulation & finally printing.

Our need is for a simple & easy to learn programme that allows us to manipulate the notes,has chord recognition, & will print Lead Sheet Music.

Looking forward to your valuable suggestions, recommendations & input.

Yours in Music

Alan

Hi Alan
I have been doing exactly what you describe for 5 years with MidiNote(Composer). It has the least learning curve, accurate notation,best forum support, and printing options at a very reasonable price.

Check it out. http://www.notation.com/MidiNotateDemo.php?demo=FindAndTranscribeMIDIFiles

Bernie

Hi Alan,
You might be interested in a program called "Sibelius". Check out www.sibelius.com . It has a trial period.

George

PG MUSIC...PowerTracks.

I use Finale...love it!!

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The same company that makes Power Tracks also makes Band in a box. Both are astonishingly simple adn fast for the kind of notation you are talking about. You can get both for under 100US.

I prefer Band in a Box for these tasks because it actually is a leadsheet based program. When you press play before you print, you can actually hear the program perform a leadsheet arrangement as you wrote it.

Programs like Sibelius and MidiNote are good, and have a great many features that will not help to create lead sheets. I find that these features get in the way.

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PG Powertracks or Band in the Box. These programs are incredibly easy to use and produce great lead sheets in minutes.

Joe

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Songman55
Joe Ayala

I recommend Sibelius. You can also scan to Sibelius using Neuratron which works very well.

Sibelius then exports very well to freehand when you get that MusicPad Pro

A couple of years ago, I tested a product but don't remember the brand name. I selected the feature that plays the midi file and then determines the chords.
The chords that it determined were really bad.

Is one of the products more accurate at reading/playing a midi file and determining the chord/bass?


[This message has been edited by MrEd (edited 01-19-2006).]

You might want to look into Overture at Geniesoft.com.
I've tried Sibelius and Finale, both excellent programs and expensive and steep learning curves. Overture is half the price and easy to learn. This is what I now use for a simple lead sheet to large arrangements.
They also have a scaled down version called Scorewriter which I believe is less than a humdred dollar and also very good.

A program like Band-In-A-Box is very good if you want to just push buttons and have the program creat an arrangement for you and good for lead sheets and some orchestration.

Good luck

Peter

Hi everyone,

I,ve noted all of your suggestions & have just downloaded MidiNotate Composer. Will play with this & see how it works out for the time being. So far so good. Thanking you all for your input & suggestions.

Yours in Music

Alan

Hi Alan
Good choice. You can look on the on-line help section, or you can ask on the forum. They are very eager to help you. The beauty of Composer, is that you can keep it simple, or edit and create as much as you want. http://www.notation.com/cgi-bin/discus/discus.cgi?pg=topics

Bernie

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....QUOTE A couple of years ago, I tested a product but don't remember the brand name. I selected the feature that plays the midi file and then determines the chords....The chords that it determined were really bad....>>>.UNQUOTE

Band in a Box will do what you describe. The first dozen times I tried it I get bad results. The chords just werent right. After a while I learned that I had to tell BIAB where the bass part was, what measure to start on, and other info. Once I knew how to use the program right, I got nearly perfect results nearly all the time.

Go ahead and buy it. Band in a Box is a program every musician needs.

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