NoteEdit: Music Notation Editors for Linux, Part 1

As a working musician in either the classical music world or in ministry, editing musical notation for the purpose of communicating musical ideas, making arrangements, and composing is practically a necessity. Good musical notation software is also a boon for the music enthusiast or serious hobbyist, who can use these applications to hear their ideas and practice more effectively. And of course every music student at virtually any level can benefit from all the advantages of being able to typeset and playback music on their personal computer as well. Until recently, there were little to no applications available for the Linux platform.

How quickly things change in the world of the Free and Open Source Software! Music notation on Linux is developing rapidly, and there are many applications that--while not completely mature-- are still usable for many tasks. This is the first in a series of articles on reviewing and highlighting these programs. I will be evaluating each application in two key areas: features and interface. Each application has a distinctly different feel, and since none of the currently available applications are completely mature yet, you may have choose a different application depending on your notation needs.

Originally created by Jorg Anders, NoteEdit is one of the very oldest music notation editors for Linux. In my opinion, it's still the most mature and usable application for score-writing available on the platform. It's built from the KDE libraries, but of course it can be used in any desktop environment. As a graduate student in music theory and composition, it's currently my primary composing platform!

Features

NoteEdit is packed with useful features and can produce almost every musical symbol the average musician or composer might need. A few highlights: NoteEdit supports an unlimited number of staffs, it can do up to 9 voices on each staff, it can play any staff transposed (for non-concert pitched instruments), it supports the common repeat markings, and it can even automatically bar and reduce the number of accidentals in a piece for you! It's also got a handy transpose feature. Copy and paste is supported, but not for multiple staves at a time, which is definitely a drawback when working with large scores and repetitive sections. Note entry by MIDI keyboard is supported as well, along with support for song lyrics and chord symbols.

Printing and layout is done with the help of external applications like Lilypond, ABC Music Notation, and PMX. You have to have a supported export application installed to print! The ability to use these applications means the output is usually close to publication-quality, however this is a double-edged sword. Sometimes the export is less than perfect--a dynamic symbol may be wrong, or the performance note you wrote may not be the right place. It's often necessary to export the mostly-done score to Lilypond or ABC, and then edit those files with a text editor to get the desired result. This workflow can be very intimidating for new users, and it is a source of frustration, since your edited Lilypond or ABC file can't be imported back into NoteEdit. In addition, you can't specify detailed spacing information or explicit page breaks with NoteEdit, so to do heavy or complex score formatting, it's necessary to delve into the text information from export. Since this is my primary composing platform, I can testify that with a minimal knowledge of ABC, I've been able to do virtually everything I've wanted to with just a bit of hassle.

NoteEdit allows for data to imported from MIDI files and MusicXML, which is useful for sharing scores. Of course, MIDI import is rarely results in a pretty score, but it's usually usable. Since MusicXML is becoming a widely used standard for notation import and export (and since NoteEdit can export it as well) it's very possible to share scores with Finale users, which is fantastic for the academic musician.

NoteEdit is built be compatible with other audio applications, like the capable Ardour Digital Audio Workstation, which means it can be a effective tool for integrating your music written through the score editor with recording of "real" instrument. A handy example: I piped piano accompaniment for a choral song from NoteEdit to Ardour, and then recorded myself singing individual parts over that to create practice CDs for a vocal ensemble! It was a great way to make a quick recording, since I can't play piano and I don't have the facilities to record someone else easily!

Interface

The NoteEdit interface is fairly easy to understand, even for a novice, since it emphasis a point-and-click based interaction with the score. It differs from popular proprietary music notation software, however it that it is a modal editor, meaning there is more than one mode of operation. Advanced computer users that have used the Vim text editor will be familiar with this concept. In NoteEdit, there are two modes: insert and edit. The application opens in insert mode, so it's easy to get started. Simply select a note duration value from the palette above the score, then select any modifiers like a duration dot, accidental, or accent, then just point and click on the score where you'd like to place the note! Placing score elements like key signatures, time signatures, and clef symbols are just as easy. Some items, like dynamic markings and line symbols, are only available from the drop down menus, which can be frustrating when it's necessary to place many of them. I haven't fully explored the keyboard shortcuts, however, so there may be a way to work around constantly clicking on the drop down menus.

The dialogs themselves are quite usable and are usually easy to understand. The only one I would really like to change is the "transpose" dialog. Instead of explicitly transposing to another key, the user selects the transposition based on how many half-steps the selection will be moved. I'd like to be able to select the transposition based on desired key signature as well.

To enter edit mode, simply press the letter "e" on your keyboard. Now you'll be able to select and change the notes on the staff. Items may be deleting in either mode by selecting them and pressing the "delete" key. Some may be put off by the modal interface, but once I got used to the concept, I grew to like it quite a bit.

Copying and pasting is done the "Unix way" of selecting what you'd like to copy, and then clicking with middle mouse button where you'd like to paste. This is useful and intuitive for the Linux user, but someone new to the platform may have trouble figuring it out!

It's important to remember that NoteEdit's interface could be considered "what you see is what you mean" rather than "what you see is what you get." There are, for instance, no page breaks seen in the notation window, and each dynamic symbol also has a numerical value displayed to aide with sequencing MIDI data. Of course, the final product that is printed through Lilypond, ABC, or other typesetter will display proper page breaks and spacing, and will hide non-musical elements like those numerical values. You will likely get a much more beautiful printed page than what you see on screen!

One aspect of this "what you see is what you mean" approach that I really, really, like is the ability to color code virtually every element of the score. I mark every dynamic symbol in red, for instance, and I keep all my measure numbers in a nice shade of green. This lets me quickly identify each element and move faster through the composing and (especially) the editing and revision process.

The Bottom Line

NoteEdit is a fantastic application that allows to do a lot with your score through a wealth of features and a decent workflow, however there are a few rough edges when producing a polished final layout. You'll most likely have to a bit of tweaking with Lilypond and/or ABC exporting to get satisfying result. In terms of feature-completeness, though, it's the best for the Linux platform.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NoteEdit
http://www.linux.com/feature/118302
http://noteedit.berlios.de/