# Quickscribe in DP is "almost" good enough for me...options?



## lamboguy (Aug 7, 2010)

Hi folks,

I'm not looking for a "finished, final" notation software package like Finale etc., so I hope this is the right place to post.

What I'm doing is slowly moving from working/composing in a piano-roll (MIDI graphic) mode back to working/composing in a traditional notation mode. 

This is something new for me -- though I'm classically trained and have written music traditionally all my life, in the past 20 years I've drifted over to synths and have been using the MIDI graphic/piano roll mode exclusively.

MOTU DP "quickscribe" is almost good enough for my needs. I don't really intend to be printing out, but that's an option.

Still, as much as I love DP (don't we all?  ) Quickscribe lives up to its billing, and no more -- it's a quick scribe. It's really not a great notation piece of software, and I find myself constantly saying "no! Don't put those notes there!" You know, that sort of thing.

Are there options between the "dp/quickscribe" and "Finale" environments that I should be aware of? I write at the keyboard, and what I would like is to compose on a better software platform or system than quickscribe, then simply copy the results back to DP for orchestration.

I'm in no great rush here -- quickscribe is fine for now. I'm thinking more like "hey, what a nice christmas present!" :-D

Thanks! o-[][]-o 

Fred


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## JJP (Aug 10, 2010)

JohnG @ Tue Aug 10 said:


> At one point I thought I remembered MOTU having a "next step up" notation add-on for DP, but that may have been discontinued. Have you explored that?


Are you thinking of Mosaic? I don't think it made the jump to OS X.

http://www.motu.com/products/software/mosaic


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## JohnG (Aug 10, 2010)

I think you are right -- they abandoned it, effectively.

When in a hurry, I've resorted to printing out Quickscribe and hand-entering all the dynamics, articulations, etc. 

Which isn't probably the most elegant way to get it done, but when one has players on the way over, it works.


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## JohnG (Aug 10, 2010)

not to mention *64 BIT!!!*

I mean, come on. New GUI appearance toggles are no doubt fun but puh-lease


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## dedersen (Aug 18, 2010)

I recently ran a similar topic in this forum, wondering which notation package to get. After doing some test runs on the different choices (Finale, Sibelius and Notion) I ended up choosing Notion. My requirements were somewhat similar to yours, in that I wasn't really in need of professional looking prints, but more interested in composing using notation rather than piano roll.

I've been really pleased with Notion so far. It seems to fill that gap between notation software and DAWs quite nicely. And it integrates wonderfully with external VSTi's. Granted, there are some more advanced notation which isn't possible to do, and there are some small quirks here and there. Overall, though, it is a wonderful piece of software for composing.

You can use Rewire to link to DP so no need for moving MIDI back and forth. And there are some "piano roll"-like features in Notion as well, which I haven't really explored though. I have a feeling that for laying those final touches you may wanna transfer the MIDI to your main DAW in the end, but I haven't really used Notion long enough to be sure.

It's 32 bit, which is quite annoying. However, with the Rewire link you can setup everything so that Notion sends MIDI to your 64-bit DAW.


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## dcoscina (Aug 21, 2010)

I do find DPs Quickscribe to be a very effective translator of realtime keyboard entry, especially rhythmically. However, I mostly use Logic these days because it has a much more robust notation section. I know a couple composers who used Logic 5 to produce a concert score in fact!

For notation, I mostly use Sibelius. I find it much faster to move around on and get great results. Unless you are doing some crazy Xenakis styled piece where weird notation is necessary, Sibelius is pretty spot on. For $100, you can always try out Sibelius First although that might lack the deeper features you might need. 

Worth downloading the demo though mind you.


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## lamboguy (Aug 24, 2010)

Very interesting, thanks everybody!

I do think QuickScribe is great -- for what it is. But it also demands you work a certain way, and is clearly not written by a composer. I mean -- you can't eve any bass or treble signs! Just "automatic according to quick scribe"

The more I go, the more I hear about Logic. I may have to check that out at some point, but I think for now I'll just stick with what I bought.

Thanks!

Fred


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