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Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
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Joined: Sep 2001
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OP
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i'm a guitarist and have always agreed with Woody Guthrie that 'anything more than three chords is just showing off.'
i have a basic ability to read music - enough to peck out a part on a keyboard from the written notation - but stuff i've written for tv and radio has always been me recording a demo on guitar and voice and someone else scoring it for recording.
so until recently i've had little need of sheet music. so, if any of the real musicians here can help me now i'd be grateful.
i wanted some cole porter and a few standards and a search took me to musescore where the songs i want are listed. but i have to start a '30 day free trial' or so it says.
so i'm confused. i know the software is free but do i have to pay to download sheet music? or is it a collaborative site where musicians post their transcriptions for all to download?
is the 30 day trial for musescore pro which i certainly don't need?
finally if anyone can help, if i download a midi version will it open in RealBand with the midi piano part shown and the sheet music chords or will i have to use ACW to get the chords?
a few hints would save me making a leap in the dark. any help gratefully received.
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Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
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Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 470
Journeyman
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Journeyman
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 470 |
Hi Bob hope you are well,
I am not a musician but I do use Musescore alot.It works very well with BIAB.So the Music Pro you probably dont need so you can use the other for free which is great.I am currently using musescore 3.
With Musescore you can write music or just open up midi files that you have made or downloaded.
Midi Files:
If you open up a midi file from Gutry for instance it will have musescore virtual intruments assigned .These instruments are quite good.
If you want to change lets say an electric guitar with an acoustic you can do that quite easy etc as with all instruments.You can save a track to Mp3 or Wav as well as midi,xml and Pdf.
How I use BIAB:
I sometimes write a very simple melody and save it as a midi file and then open up the file with BIAB and make a backing track to the file after finding one that sounds ok.I then usually save the the BIAB file and bounce it back to musescore and mess around with it in musescore .I then may pop it back in realband or reaper and assign virtual instruments like Arturia to the midi backing track or a mixture of realtracks and synths .Some of the guys here will have used it for more advanced stuff .I hope that helps a bit H
Last edited by Hugh2; 06/10/20 12:53 AM.
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Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
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Joined: Dec 2002
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I thought I knew Musescore pretty well, but never heard of Musecore Pro or a 30 day free trial. And all the sheet music I have seen there is PD and no cost. "There is no demo, trial or limited version of the open source MuseScore software. There is only one version, which has no limitations and can be downloaded for free from musescore.org." And while we are discussing this wonderful open source application, please be aware some significant revisions are here now, including chord naming which in the past required a plugin. MuseScore 3.5 Alpha
May 6, 2020 - 16:20
Today we are announcing an alpha release of what will soon become MuseScore 3.5. Although MuseScore 3.5 is considered a "minor" release, it contains an unusually long list of new features, bug fixes, and other improvements, and we expect that it will set a new standard for stability and usability.
We hope many of you will download and help us test this alpha version. This is especially true of the more significant new features such as chord symbol playback. We anticipate having a beta release in a couple of weeks, and then the actual release after that. You can install the 3.5 alpha version alongside the stable 3.4.2 version.
BIAB – 2026, Reaper (current), i7-12700F Processor, 32GB DDR4-3200MHz RAM, Motu Audio Express 6x6 - My SoundCloud.
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Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
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I also use the free MuseScore and I have never heard of the Pro version until now. Here is what I do when I want to put a cover song into Musescore. I DL a MIDI version of the song and put it into Musescore, BiaB, and/or my DAW.. For instance the Cole Porter songs you want just google/bing cole porter songs in midi. Here is one of the sites I found off of that search: https://freemidi.org/artist-1509-cole-porterThere usually are free and not free MIDI versions of cover songs available. Some of the free ones are pretty good while others really suck, but all of the for purchase ones are really good. Another option I use a lot is with fake books. I will buy a fake book and then get the BiaB version of that book from Note's music: http://nortonmusic.com/There are just the chords in these disks. You have to play the lead but if you are playing single notes on your guitar the inexpensive monophonic version of Melodyne will convert it into MIDI. I think RealBand can do that also but I'm not sure so you might want to check that out if you are on a PC. Good luck and I hope this helps.
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Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
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MuseScore 3 music notation software is free. What I think you are talking about is the site to download scores written in MuseScore. I use this a lot and it’s a wonderful resource! My church chamber orchestra is odd instrumentation and I have to arrange and orchestrate everything we play. You can get music in MIDI or Music XML as well as MuseScore format, along with an MP3. You can post your own too. It’s like Sheet Music Plus in many respects. There is a free trial. https://musescore.com/
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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OP
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thanks matt. i can't download anything without signing up for a 30 day trial and it doesn't tell me how much it will be after the 30 days so i'm a little hesitant
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Bob, it's $29.99 a year. It depends on your needs of course but this is perhaps the best $30 I ever spent.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
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thanks matt but for what i use i might buy the odd piece of sheet music - as i said my need for sheet music is quite minimal
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Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
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Sounds good. For anyone reading, its value is mainly for classical music. But I was surprised at all that is there. For example, are you familiar with the vocal group Pentatonix? Fabulous contemporary harmony on lots of great songs including Christmas carols. I adapted a chart of one of theirs last Christmas for a string group.
So, it isn’t just Classical stuff.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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