I wasted a bunch of hours yesterday looking at various music software. I had no idea that there are literally thousands of programs out there for various purposes. I had been thinking of changing my notation pgm (sibelius 4) for some time. This page has some pretty good reviews:

http://music-notation-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

I downloaded a couple and didn't like them as well as what I have already. More features doesn't always equal a better pgm to me. The cheaper ones have limitations from their "deluxe" ones and the trial demos don't have all the features that would enable a complete evaluation, IMO. I remember when Noteworthy was free and now it's $50. I couldn't get my usb keyboard to work in some of the pgms. I'm just mentioning this as an example of what is probably true for other types of software such as daw's. I know that it takes time to develop a pgm as I've taken some computer science classes, but some of the limited function pgms are way over priced, IMO. Others are feature heavy because they try to be all things to all people. I had been working with Sibelius before I had even heard of biab/rb. It has all the features that you really need in a notation pgm....once you find them. Mine doesn't have a mixer or render to audio, but I have those in other software. As to printed sheet music, I like biab the best. I'm still learning notation entry with it though and I'm actually progressing with it.

Anyway, it's been a good educational experience to me. I guess it was something that I just had to get out of my system. The free trials do help in quickly determining whether a pgm might not be something you want. Although Melodyne may be state-of-the-art, I'm going to pass on it for now. I guess the main lesson I've learned regarding new music software is, be receptive to innovation, but proceed with caution. Oh yeah...and "The grass is always greener...(ad nauseum).

Stan

Cornet Curmudgeon