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But I do use finale and I've spent a lot on it over the years, but I'm a composer and I need the program, not an open source notation program.

I guess my point is, shut up and use what works. the GIMP will come along eventually, so will open source music notation programs, so will my website :-)

Another nasty virus. Of course I personally am not worried one bit, since I don't run any MS software on any of my computers, but my mother's business depends on Windows. She uses Word and Finale for her music ventures. However she also uses Outlook for her mail.

Is now a good time to upgrade to OS X? I would like this, since it would allow for better remote administration for when her system goes "loopy". Or should I just make her use Mozilla for mail?

I'm a composer that's used Finale for almost 10 years. I love it and it's infinitely useable. It does have a bit of a learning curve though and for writing organ music it may be more powerful than you need. Sibelius would be a good alternative if you are looking for a quick piece of software to pick up and just use. It does have notational limitations that Finale does not have. Finale Sibelius

I agree that being well-rounded is good, and students should try to study other areas as well (I'm minoring in math, for instance). However, I think the opposite order is best. I think if programming is what you enjoy, then you should major in CS and minor in some secondary field (as opposed to majoring in the secondary field and minoring in CS). If you want to be a musician and also program, then minoring in CS would be sufficient. But if what you really want to do is program, then having a major in music and only a minor in CS will be limiting yourself. You could work for Coda Music, but other companies might be hesitant to hire a programmer who only minored in CS and spent most of his college time learning how to play the piano.

And extending that music example above, I think it's likely that CodaMusic would still rather hire someone who majored in CS and minored in music than the other way around. If you work for them and can't play the piano well, Finale won't be degraded as a result. Not so if you can't program as well. :)

I agree that being well-rounded is good, and students should try to study other areas as well (I'm minoring in math, for instance). However, I think the opposite order is best. I think if programming is what you enjoy, then you should major in CS and minor in some secondary field (as opposed to majoring in the secondary field and minoring in CS). If you want to be a musician and also program, then minoring in CS would be sufficient. But if what you really want to do is program, then having a major in music and only a minor in CS will be limiting yourself. You could work for Coda Music, but other companies might be hesitant to hire a programmer who only minored in CS and spent most of his college time learning how to play the piano.

And extending that music example above, I think it's likely that CodaMusic would still rather hire someone who majored in CS and minored in music than the other way around. If you work for them and can't play the piano well, Finale won't be degraded as a result. Not so if you can't program as well. :)

IIRC, the music font sucks

I think you might not RC, given the example (an opera score) I have in front of me at the moment, which looks fantastic.

Not that this is of much practical use to the average poverty-stricken Linux user.

I just went to Coda's website to see if I could see some examples of Finale output in PDF or whatever, and all I could find was a bunch of things that call for "the SmartMusic Viewer plug-in", which obviously I can't use. I guess it's the same idea as Sibelius's Scorch plugin, which I can't use either. Scorch uses the same file format as Sibelius proper, I believe; any idea whether these Finale SmartMusic files are the same format as the ETF files that Lilypond can import?

Now only ProTools and Digital Performer are left on the Mac OS 9 side

[rant] Am I the only composer on the face of the planet who wants Finale to be ported to OS X? It's an industry standard for producing professional-quality scores. Their website says "Runs under classic mode," which I translate into "too much hassle to port." But there's a 2003 version. ARGH. [/rant]

Triv

Of course, if Coda Music could get their ass in gear and get Finale out for OS X I could be happy. Running it in Classic mode is frustrating.

This product was based on the research of Roger Dannenberg, who had auto-accompaniment working years ago. Send him an email if you're interested in working on something similar; he has lots of code he can throw at you and he might want to collaborate.

Good grief. I suppose I should stay out of this, but I've been a professional composer using orchestral and electronic media for more than 30 years, and the PC has always provided the breadth of tools and configurability that I need, especially if I need to quickly build up a control device of some kind.

Look, I know those who started with Macs are happy with their stuff. That's fine. But I can't be tied to an Apple corporate stamp of approval for a product. For example, I'd not likely see an AudioMulch for Mac -- unless you consider Max, priced at 10 times the cost for similar functionality (and with Max lacking the ability to produce techno quickly, for example). And Sound Forge, Cool Edit Pro, Cakewalk, Finale, Graphire Music Press ... all (and hundreds of other programs and advanced plugins) are wonderful and flexible PC software. Finale and Graphire both started on Macs, and Finale's first PC port was terrible. But once they started writing from the ground up for PC, the results were stunning. And according to users on both platforms, the Graphire PC version leaves the Mac version behind for ease and speed of use.

As for professional results, legacy studios with Mac equipment do not a case for Macs make. My CD was produced with PCs alone, as have been thousands of others. Likewise, as an editor and book designer, I have had no trouble accommodating the needs of legacy print houses who still use Macs.

I have no problem with Macs and those who love them, but you are presenting a bogus argument from the computer world of a decade past.

Dennis

MaltedMedia
Kalvos & Damian's New Music Bazaar
Erzsébet the Vampire

• Linux/PPC runs quite well on Macs and is my primary OS.
• I've got a dual-boot setup so I can run Mac OS when I need to run certain applications such as Finale that don't run on Linux/PPC.
• Not only that, but using the excellent open-source product Mac On Linux, I can boot Mac OS from within Linux.
• I'll be able to run Mac OS X when it is available. I might switch to OS X as my primary OS since it may offer advantages over Linux and will definitely offer advantages over Mac OS 9.
• The hardware is very fast, a pleasure to take apart, and it looks great. All of which are important to me.

So even though it costs a little more (although not too much more for me since I got a student discount), for me, Mac hardware was clearly the way to go.