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The Passport website now shows that Don Williams, the original programmer of Encore music notation software and Master Tracks Pro, has acquired the assets from GVOX and will revive Encore with a version 6. I used Encore from the late 1980s and was a beta tester from two decades. This could be good news, as Encore was always the most user-friendly of the notation software solutions out there. It's been stuck on version 5 for well over ten years, and the shareware/pirated versions out there appear to be even worse, version 4. Encore became a horrible buggy mess in the GVOX years. In 2013, I wrote four songs for a symphony orchestra and cannot believe the amount of my wasted time from crashes. Even now I hold my nose and fire it up once in a while to load one of the thousands of older scores I wrote using it, and then convert it to Music XML so I can get out of Encore. It may be too late for them, though; most of us abandoned Encore years ago. I use Notion by Presonus and it will take a phenomenal rewrite of Encore to coax me back. Still, it's something to watch, here: https://passportmusic.com/
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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I still have an old copy of Encore, and it fulfills my needs for head charts just fine.
I also still use Master Tracks Pro as a sequencer. I like it because it has great editing functions, and without the option of audio, it is fast, and every dialog box is one click away from the menu. There are no sub-menus and sub-sub menus.
The problem is the GVOX version is a little buggy, and the Passport Version quit working on Win10. So I'll ask him to revive MTPro right now.
Thanks for the heads-up.
Notes ♫
Bob "Notes" Norton  Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Sadly "Contact Us" doesn't work yet.  But I'll keep trying.  Notes ♫
Bob "Notes" Norton Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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I assume the Tracy Collins referenced on the Passport Music Software about webpage is Tracy Collins of +++ Indiginus +++ virtual instrument fame.
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Without pointing out the obvious.......well, maybe I am seeings how I mentioned it...
Encore kinda means coming back, doesn't it? So the return is very appropriate.
The only question is..... how many encores can we expect?
Last edited by Guitarhacker; 07/18/22 12:45 PM.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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We don't know very much now, of course.
My first exposure to Encore was on the Mac, before it became available for Windows.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Slight update: the site now says that Encore 6 will be available for Windows and Mac 64-bit, Fall 2022.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Hey! Notes I think they heard you:
Sonic Scores plans to update Encore and Master Tracks Pro software to today’s standards while adding a few critically needed features.
My wife asked if I had seen the dog bowl. I told her I didn't even know he could.
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Hey! Notes I think they heard you:
Sonic Scores plans to update Encore and Master Tracks Pro software to today’s standards while adding a few critically needed features. That would make me very happy.
Bob "Notes" Norton Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Hey! Notes I think they heard you:
Sonic Scores plans to update Encore and Master Tracks Pro software to today’s standards while adding a few critically needed features. Do you have a source for this info? I would like to read more.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Hey! Notes I think they heard you:
Sonic Scores plans to update Encore and Master Tracks Pro software to today’s standards while adding a few critically needed features. Do you have a source for this info? I would like to read more. webpage, second sentence from the top.
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Hey! Notes I think they heard you:
Sonic Scores plans to update Encore and Master Tracks Pro software to today’s standards while adding a few critically needed features. Do you have a source for this info? I would like to read more. webpage, second sentence from the top. Thanks, Jim & Joe. That's the About info on the same site. I just didn't remember Sonic Scores, only GenieSoft, GVOX (which they left out entirely?) and Passport. Appreciate it.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Hey! Notes I think they heard you:
Sonic Scores plans to update Encore and Master Tracks Pro software to today’s standards while adding a few critically needed features. Do you have a source for this info? I would like to read more. It was on the web page.
My wife asked if I had seen the dog bowl. I told her I didn't even know he could.
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Yes, thanks. When the page first went up, there wasn’t much detail and it just mentioned Don Williams. I’m more encouraged by the announcement now.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Three-month update: there is no update. There is a user forum you can join, but no further word on the availability of Encore 6.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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I met Don Williams, the guy who created the original and is now in the process of updating Encore and Master Tracks Pro a few weeks ago.
He lives not too far from me, and came out to listen to us after I joined the forum.
We chatted a bit and he said the people who bought Encore and MTPro messed the code up quite a bit, and it's going to take a lot of work to get them right, but he's working on it.
I told him when he gets MTPro up, I'll be his first customer. I still use MTPro for MIDI sequencing. It's extremely fast and efficient, and has great editing features.
So I'm being patient.
Notes ♫
Bob "Notes" Norton Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Thanks Bob. No question, the original Encore I used since the mid 1990s was amazing.
During the time I was a beta tester, GVOX let it deteriorate. There was even a battle between the company and a group of beta testers who developed a better version. I couldn’t live with the bugs and converted to Presonus Notion in 2020. Still, I welcome Don Williams back and can’t wait to check out Encore 6.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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I still have a pre-GVox version of Encore.
It does what I need, which is mainly "head charts". I don't even print them, but do screenshots, trim and turn them into tiff files and read them on the computer.
We have over 650 songs now, and I don't have the time to memorize that many, I would rather spend the time learning new songs, because that keeps the audience from being bored with us. So either words on a head chart on screen gets me by. Sooner or later, if I play them enough, the get semi-memorized and all it takes is a few glances at the screen to get me by.
Sometimes the ancient version Encore is a bit awkward to use, but it's but-free.
When GVox bought Encore and MTPro, I bought MTPro, and after the bugs (some of which they fixed) I decided not to upgrade Encore.
When Don releases a new Encore, I'd probably buy it because with the improvements in interfaces in the past few decades, I'm sure it'll be easier to use.
Insights and incites by Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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We have over 650 songs now, ... So either words on a head chart on screen gets me by. I have only around 100 songs, but we do the same because the screen allows us to index and/or search for a song, and we're not all leafing through folders or fake books. Most such apps allow playlists if one wants them. The only time I use paper is if I'll be in sunlight as the screen struggles with that.
Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful.
AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11
BIAB2026 Audiophile, a bunch of other software.
Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
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Special offers available until August 31st, 2026!
All the XPro Styles PAKs 1-11 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!
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In this PAK you can find: dulcet folk ballads, funky gospel country, Brazilian jazz fusion, upbeat 1980s pop, classic Americana, a plethora of breezy bossa novas, indie singer-songwriter, scintillating synthwave, exuberant electronica, and many, many more!
Special offers available until August 31st, 2026!
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Learn more and listen to demos of the Xtra Styles PAK 22.
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Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 22 requires the 2026 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
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