fyi-Noteflight® is an online music writing application

Noteflight® is an online music writing application that lets you create, view, print and hear music notation with professional quality, right in your web browser. Write music on your computer, tablet or smartphone, share with other users, or embed in your own pages. Sign up for a free account
http://www.noteflight.com/login

I've been using my free account for a while now. I like the way it "thinks" about entering music, especially using the (typewriter) keyboard. The mouse entry method works well, although I prefer BiaB's method.

Coincidentally, I'll be over at a friend's house updating the lyrics on a music project I did for her. Having the notation is Noteflight made it convenient, since I can make the edits on her computer. I could probably have shared it if she had set up a Noteflight account of her own, but the point of me working on the project was so she wouldn't have to deal with the software. (I had done the backing tracks in BiaB, and she was very happy with them).

I've had some minor irritants with Noteflight's automatic layout. It tries to be as "smart" as possible when laying things out. But when dealing with multiple competing elements (chords, lyrics, dynamics, performance instructions) it can get confused. It doesn't know about number lyrics, so the numbers don't quite line up. I can't get it to do underlines on melissimas, although the documentation says that it's supported.

Edit:

But those are minor things - for the most part, it's a very impressive program.

Yeah... Just like any other cloud service - it'd be worth checking out:
a) who actually owns the IP and
b) who has rights to use the IP without asking permission...

And -- who owns the work placed on the cloud service.

Read those licensing agreements, you may be giving away your own song...

--Mac

This from their FAQ:

Sharing

Can other people see my scores on Noteflight?

Only if you want them to. A new score on Noteflight is always private, and only the author can see it. To change these settings, visit the Sharing panel.

Can other people print my scores?

If you let other people read your scores, then they can also print them.

Intellectual Property and Copyright

Does Noteflight automatically acquire some kind of rights to music I create within it?

No, we don't. Placing your music on Noteflight does not change your ownership of your intellectual property.

When I share music with others, am I giving away my copyright?

No. Your work is still yours, but by sharing it you are granting others certain rights to view and download, and (if you so choose) to edit and adapt the work. See our terms of use for the legal details.

Can I use Noteflight to share other people's copyrighted music?

If we are notified that you are using Noteflight to infringe someone else's legal copyright, we will notify you and remove your content from the system as required by law. If you persist in doing so, we will permanently block your account from Noteflight as detailed in our terms of use.

My music is being shared on Noteflight without my authorization. How do I ask for it to be removed?

Please file a valid DMCA request, as detailed on our copyright policy page.

No, they don't claim ownership of what you post up there.

Working with cover tunes is not a problem as long as you keep it private so I guess that means you can use it to create all the non original scores you want and print them out for yourself. Sharing copywritten songs is no different that putting a cover tune on Youtube. As long as nobody complains no problem but if the rights owner complains then it comes down.

Looks like a cool app to me and is one of the growing number of reasons I just may have to get an IPad.

Bob

I'll stick with my own hard drivea and servers for now, though, thanks.

--Mac

Quote:

Looks like a cool app to me and is one of the growing number of reasons I just may have to get an IPad.

Actually, the main reason I use it is because I like the program. Running as web-based application has pros and cons, and wasn't the big selling point.

But because they're moving to HTML 5, they expect to soon be able to port it to Android devices. So an iPad won't be necessary.

I'm curious to find out how they'll get cross-platform audio support, though. That seems to be the weakest part of the HTML 5 platform.