# Is it just me, or is Notion a clunky mess?



## TonalDynamics (Oct 27, 2021)

Evening folks!

I've always just read music from the page or a .pdf, etc. but lately I am getting into the process of scanning scores and then 'cleaning' them up with notation software so I can import them into my DAW as music XML.

I get access to Notion with my Presonus Sphere subscription, but so far I'm having a hell of a time trying to fix this sheet music I scanned with Photoscore and imported into Notion.

For starters,

- I can't simply erase a note, highlight that area, then input a new note of the same value on the staff. it sends the note to the first beat of the measure (???) regardless of which portion of the bar is highlighted/selected.
- Occasionally, certain accidentals can't be deleted (figured out a workaround for this by assigning a natural on said note instead of deleting the accidental)
- Even after deleting every note in an existing measure filled with 16th notes, starting at beat one and adding 16th notes causes them to be spaced apart in absurd ways, even when grouped as tuplets in groups of 4 (?)
- There doesn't seem to be an effective way of moving a group of notes from treble clef to bass clef or vice-versa
- Exported one cleaned up version of the score as .xml, tried to open said file with Notion, error message comes up (yet an old version of Sibelius opens it just fine)... so Notion can't even open its own files? 
- Notes and tuplets are impossible to move horizontally forward or back along each measure, even if they are the proper note length (?)


As for the last one, what in the world. It should be priority 1 for a user to be able to not only change the pitch of a note, but move it to a different beat on the measure within the staff. Can't think of anything more basic really, yet the user manual offers nothing about this simple process and I see it as a common complaint online, so I'm guessing this isn't even possible?

Am I just missing some plainly obvious stuff as a new user of this software, or is the note-input and editing system in Notion really this bad?

Should I consider Dorico instead? How much cleaner is the actual note-input process in that software, and for Pete's sake can I move an eighth note up two beats? Will the note actually go where my CURSOR is highlighting instead of inexplicably appearing at the first beat of the measure?!

As always, thanks in advance for your thoughts and help friends.

Cheers


----------



## markit (Oct 28, 2021)

I have been trying Notion too as it’s included in Sphere, but there are too many rough edges and clunkiness. Eventually, I just decided to move to Dorico and never looked back.


----------



## nolotrippen (Oct 28, 2021)

That doesn't even sound good enough to be a beta version!


----------



## pinki (Dec 3, 2021)

So the thing with Notion is it doesn't work like other notation software in terms of entry and deletion and for me I LOVE the way it works. When you delete a note and everything else moves, at first this seems alien but actually after a while it really becomes great because the reverse is true: if you insert a note before a note, the note subsequent moves to the right. So it's a bit more like a word processor if that makes sense?


TonalDynamics said:


> For starters,
> 
> - I can't simply erase a note, highlight that area, then input a new note of the same value on the staff. it sends the note to the first beat of the measure (???) regardless of which portion of the bar is highlighted/selected.


See my first point above.


TonalDynamics said:


> - Occasionally, certain accidentals can't be deleted (figured out a workaround for this by assigning a natural on said note instead of deleting the accidental)


Never had that on Mac


TonalDynamics said:


> - Even after deleting every note in an existing measure filled with 16th notes, starting at beat one and adding 16th notes causes them to be spaced apart in absurd ways, even when grouped as tuplets in groups of 4 (?)


Neither this- adding sixteenth notes just adds them and defaults to groups of 4??


TonalDynamics said:


> - There doesn't seem to be an effective way of moving a group of notes from treble clef to bass clef or vice-versa


Copy and paste?


TonalDynamics said:


> - Exported one cleaned up version of the score as .xml, tried to open said file with Notion, error message comes up (yet an old version of Sibelius opens it just fine)... so Notion can't even open its own files?


Why would you do that- just import it as a Notion file. I've always had success with mxml import with Notion though.


TonalDynamics said:


> - Notes and tuplets are impossible to move horizontally forward or back along each measure, even if they are the proper note length (?)


Again that's not the logic of Notion though I can see that that's not great.


TonalDynamics said:


> As for the last one, what in the world. It should be priority 1 for a user to be able to not only change the pitch of a note, but move it to a different beat on the measure within the staff.


Again it's not the way Notion "is" but all I can say is that after years in Sibelius I prefer Notion thinking!


TonalDynamics said:


> Can't think of anything more basic really, yet the user manual offers nothing about this simple process and I see it as a common complaint online, so I'm guessing this isn't even possible?
> 
> Am I just missing some plainly obvious stuff as a new user of this software, or is the note-input and editing system in Notion really this bad?


No it's really good! 


TonalDynamics said:


> Should I consider Dorico instead? How much cleaner is the actual note-input process in that software, and for Pete's sake can I move an eighth note up two beats? Will the note actually go where my CURSOR is highlighting instead of inexplicably appearing at the first beat of the measure?!


Again..it's just a different way of thinking in Notion, but I think it's not for you!  
\


TonalDynamics said:


> As always, thanks in advance for your thoughts and help friends.
> 
> Cheers


Notion is amazing for composition though it definitely lacks in the printing department I grant you that.

Good luck in your search.

PS I have Sphere too and use Studio One and the two-way integration between Notion and Studio One is so unbelievably wonderful it outweighs all other annoying things for me.


----------



## Nando Florestan (Dec 3, 2021)

I have never experienced any of those issues and I use Notion almost every day.

The way we input new notes into Notion is wonderful, that's why it's good for composition. Dorico on the other hand will over-correct you and prevent you from having a measure with the "wrong" number of beats even temporarily. This is why I use Notion even today. Oh, and the rules system has kept me away from sequencers and their illiterate piano rolls since 2014.

However, Dorico and Sibelius are clearly superior in notation features.


----------



## JF (Dec 3, 2021)

Another vote for Notion here. It's note entry methods are vastly easier than other programs, IMO.


----------



## pinki (Dec 3, 2021)

Nando Florestan said:


> The way we input new notes into Notion is wonderful, that's why it's good for composition.


Yes that’s exactly it! I hadn’t thought of it like that but, yes.


----------

