Comparison of scorewriters

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This is a comparison of music notation programs .

General information

NameGuitar tablature WYSIWYG editorMIDI entry [lower-alpha 1] PlaybackFile formatsDeveloper(s)Stable release; review date License CostOperating systems
ImportExport
Canorus NoYes MIDI CanorusML, [lower-alpha 2] MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] simple LilyPond [lower-alpha 5] MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] LilyPond, [lower-alpha 5] PDF Reinhard Katzmann, Matevž Jekovec, Georg Rudolph0.7.3; 18 June 2018(5 years ago)Since 0.7.3: GPL-3.0-only
0.1.0 to 0.7.2: GPL-2.0-only 		No cost Linux
Capella YesYesStep-time and real-timeMIDI, VST, SoundFontsCapella, [lower-alpha 6] CapXML, [lower-alpha 7] MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] MIDI [lower-alpha 4] MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] BMP, JPEG, TIFF, PNG, Truevision TGA, PCX, HTML capella-software AG9.0-13; 19 March 2024(53 days ago) Proprietary Non-freeWindows, macOS
Denemo YesYesStep-timeMIDIDenemo, [lower-alpha 8] limited LilyPond, [lower-alpha 5] MusicXML [lower-alpha 3] LilyPond, [lower-alpha 5] MusicXML, WAV, Ogg, PDF, PNG, MIDI Jeremiah Benham, Richard Shann2.6.0; 11 March 2022(2 years ago) GPL-3.0-or-later No cost Windows, macOS, Linux
Dorico YesYesStep-time and real-timeMIDI, VSTDorico, [lower-alpha 9] MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] MIDI [lower-alpha 4] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] WAV, MP3, PDF, PNG, TIFF, SVG Steinberg5.1.30; 3 April 2024(38 days ago) Proprietary Non-freeWindows, macOS
Early Notation Typesetter NoYesNoNo ENT [lower-alpha 10] ENT, [lower-alpha 10] PDF Samuel Gossner, Daniel West, Dieter Theuns0.9.6; 20 October 2020(3 years ago) Proprietary No charge for single fontWindows, macOS, Linux
Encore YesYesMIDIEncore, [lower-alpha 11] MusicTime, [lower-alpha 12] Rhapsody, [lower-alpha 13] Compressed MusicXML [lower-alpha 14] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] Cakewalk MIDI, [lower-alpha 15] Master Tracks Pro, [lower-alpha 16] PDF Passport Music Software5.0.4 (Windows); 5.0.7 (macOS); 2015(9 years ago) Proprietary Non-freeWindows, macOS
Finale YesYesStep-time and real-timeMIDI, VST, AU, [lower-alpha 17] Garritan libraryFinale, [lower-alpha 18] MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] MIDI [lower-alpha 4] MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] WAV, MP3, AIFF, PDF, TIFF, JPEG, PNG, EPS, BMP, GIF, PICT [lower-alpha 17] MakeMusic, Inc.27.4; 29 November 2023(5 months ago) Proprietary Non-freeWindows, macOS
Forte YesYesStep-time and real-timeMIDI, VSTForte, [lower-alpha 19] MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] CapXML [lower-alpha 7] MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] BMP, JPEG Lugert Verlag GmbH12; 2020(4 years ago) Proprietary Non-freeWindows
Frescobaldi No WYSIWYM MIDI LilyPond, [lower-alpha 5] MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] ABC MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] PDF Wilbert Berendsen3.3.0; 26 March 2023(13 months ago) GPL-2.0-or-later No cost Windows, macOS, Linux
Guitar Pro YesYesMIDI, RSE Guitar Pro (versions 1–8), [lower-alpha 20] MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] Compressed MusicXML, [lower-alpha 14] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] ASCII tab, [lower-alpha 21] Power Tab, [lower-alpha 22] TablEdit [lower-alpha 23] MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] ASCII tab, [lower-alpha 21] PNG, PDF, WAV Arobas Music8.1; 27 March 2023(13 months ago) Proprietary Non-freeWindows, macOS, Linux
Impro-Visor NoYesStep-time and real-timeMIDIImpro-Visor [lower-alpha 24] MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] PDF Bob Keller10.2; 1 August 2019(4 years ago) GPL-2.0-or-later No cost Windows, macOS, Linux
LilyPond YesNoNoMIDI LilyPond; [lower-alpha 5] using converters: ABC, [lower-alpha 25] ETF, [lower-alpha 26] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] MusicXML [lower-alpha 3] PDF, PNG, PS, SVG Han-Wen Nienhuys, Jan Nieuwenhuizen2.24.3; 19 November 2023(5 months ago) GPL-3.0-or-later No cost Windows, macOS, Linux, FreeBSD
MagicScore YesYesStep-time and real-timeMIDI, SoundFontsSFD, [lower-alpha 27] MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] Karaoke, [lower-alpha 28] WAV, MP3 MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] Karaoke, [lower-alpha 28] WAV, MP3, PDF, TIFF, JPEG, PNG, BMP, GIF, EMF, WMF Maestro Music Software8.280; 2017(7 years ago) Proprietary Non-freeWindows
Mozart YesYesStep-time and real-timeMIDIMozart, [lower-alpha 29] MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] NIFF, [lower-alpha 30] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] Karaoke, [lower-alpha 28] ABC [lower-alpha 25] MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] ABC, [lower-alpha 25] BMP, EMF, GIF, JPEG, PBM, PNG, TIFF Mozart Music Software16.1.3; May 2024(0 months ago) Proprietary Non-freeWindows
Mus2 NoYesMIDIMus2 [lower-alpha 31] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] AIFF, WAV, PDF, SVG, BMP, JPEG, PNG Utku Uzmen (Data-Soft Ltd.)3.2.3; November 2022(1 year ago) Proprietary Non-freeWindows, macOS
MuseScore StudioYesYesStep-time and real-timeMIDI, SoundFonts, SFZ MuseScore, [lower-alpha 32] MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] Compressed MusicXML, [lower-alpha 14] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] Karaoke, [lower-alpha 28] MuseData, [lower-alpha 33] Bagpipe Music Writer, [lower-alpha 34] Band-in-a-Box, [lower-alpha 35] Overture, [lower-alpha 36] Capella, [lower-alpha 6] CapXML, [lower-alpha 7] Guitar Pro (versions 1–6), [lower-alpha 20] Power Tab (experimental), [lower-alpha 22] PDF (experimental), ABC [lower-alpha 25] (with plugin) MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] Compressed MusicXML, [lower-alpha 14] PDF, PNG, SVG, MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] WAV, FLAC, Ogg, MP3 The MuseScore developer community 4.3.0; 7 May 2024(4 days ago) GPL-3.0-only for desktop tools; online and mobile tools are proprietary and freemium No cost for most tools Windows, macOS, Linux
MusiCAD NoYesMIDIMusiCAD, [lower-alpha 37] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] ABC [lower-alpha 25] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] ABC, [lower-alpha 25] PDF, JPEG, PNG, BMP Musys Software4.0; 1 May 2015(9 years ago) Proprietary Prompt to purchase license appears when saving [2] Windows
MusicEase YesYesMIDIMusicEase, [lower-alpha 38] MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] ABC, [lower-alpha 25] SongWright [lower-alpha 39] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] PDF MusicEase Software10.1c; August 2023(9 months ago) Proprietary Non-freeWindows, macOS
Musink No WYSIWYM MIDIMusink [lower-alpha 40] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] PDF, PNG, XPS Lee Reid1.3.0.3 Proprietary No cost Windows, macOS
MusiXTeX YesNoNoNo TeX (incl. PMX and M-Tx), [lower-alpha 41] MusicXML [lower-alpha 3] (with converters)DVI, [lower-alpha 42] PS, PDF, MIDI [lower-alpha 4] (for PMX input)Daniel Taupin, Ross Mitchell, Andreas Egler1.38; 29 March 2024(43 days ago) GPL-2.0-or-later No cost Windows, macOS, Linux
Notation Composer NoYesStep-time and real-timeMIDI, SoundFonts Notation, [lower-alpha 43] MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] Compressed MusicXML, [lower-alpha 14] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] Karaoke [lower-alpha 28] MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] Compressed MusicXML, [lower-alpha 14] PDF, MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] Karaoke, [lower-alpha 28] PNG, BMP, JPEG, GIF, WAV, FLAC, Ogg, MP3 Notation Software4.0.3; 2022(2 years ago) Proprietary Non-freeWindows, macOS, Linux
NoteWorthy Composer YesYesStep-time and real-timeMIDINWC, [lower-alpha 44] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] Karaoke [lower-alpha 28] MIDI [lower-alpha 4] NoteWorthy Software2.75a.2; 2017(7 years ago) Proprietary Non-freeWindows
Notion YesYesStep-time and real-timeMIDI, VST MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] Compressed MusicXML, [lower-alpha 14] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] Guitar Pro [lower-alpha 20] (versions 4–5) MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] WAV PreSonus6.8.2; 24 August 2021(2 years ago) Proprietary Non-freeWindows, macOS, iOS (iPad)
Overture YesYesStep-time and real-timeMIDI, VST, AU [lower-alpha 17] Overture, [lower-alpha 36] MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] Score Writer [lower-alpha 45] MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] WAV, MP3 Sonic Scores5.6.1.1; 2 December 2019(4 years ago) Proprietary Non-freeWindows, macOS
Philip's Music Writer YesNoNoMIDIPMW [lower-alpha 46] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] PS Philip Hazel 5.22; 21 December 2023(4 months ago) GPL-2.0-or-later No cost Linux (older versions for RISC OS)
Power Tab Editor YesYesMIDIPower Tab, [lower-alpha 22] MIDI [lower-alpha 4] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] ASCII tab, [lower-alpha 21] BMP, HTML Brad Larsen1.0.0.175; 26 August 2006(17 years ago) Proprietary No cost Windows
Rosegarden NoYesStep-time and real-timeMIDIRosegarden, [lower-alpha 47] MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] Hydrogen [lower-alpha 48] LilyPond, [lower-alpha 5] MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] Csound, [lower-alpha 49] Mup, [lower-alpha 50] PDF Chris Cannam, Richard Bown, Guillaume Laurent23.12; 6 December 2023(5 months ago) GPL-2.0-or-later No cost Linux
SCORE YesNoStep-timeMIDISCORE (.mus) EPS Leland Smith,
San Andreas Press		5.01; 1 November 2013(10 years ago) Proprietary Non-freeMS-DOS
Windows
ScoreCloud StudioNoYesStep-time and real-timeMIDI, VST MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] live audio MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] WAV, PDF Doremir Music Research AB4.7.12; January 2024(4 months ago) Proprietary Free without file savingWindows, macOS, iOS
Sibelius YesYesStep-time and real-timeMIDI, VST, AU, [lower-alpha 17] Avid librarySibelius, [lower-alpha 51] MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] MIDI [lower-alpha 4] MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] MP3, PDF, SVG, EPS, PNG Avid Technology, Inc. 2024.3; 6 March 2024(2 months ago) Proprietary No cost up to 4 staves [3] Windows, macOS, RISC OS, iOS
SmartScore 64 YesYesMIDISmartScore, [lower-alpha 52] scanned images, MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] NIFF [lower-alpha 30] MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] Finale, [lower-alpha 18] NIFF, [lower-alpha 30] PDF Musitek Corporation11.5.105 (Windows); 11.5.106 (macOS); 24 February 2024(2 months ago) Proprietary Non-freeWindows, macOS
TuxGuitar YesYesMIDITuxGuitar, [lower-alpha 53] MusicXML, [lower-alpha 3] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] Guitar Pro (versions 1–6), [lower-alpha 20] Power Tab, [lower-alpha 22] TablEdit [lower-alpha 23] MIDI, [lower-alpha 4] Guitar Pro (versions 3–5), [lower-alpha 20] LilyPond, [lower-alpha 5] ASCII tab, [lower-alpha 21] PDF Julian Gabriel Casadesus1.6.2; 3 April 2024(38 days ago) LGPL-2.1-only No cost Windows, macOS, Linux, FreeBSD
NameGuitar tablature WYSIWYG editorMIDI entry [lower-alpha 1] PlaybackImportExportDeveloper(s)Stable release; review date License CostOperating systems
File formats

File formats and extensions

  1. 1 2 When entering notes, "step-time" means one first selects the note duration then enters notes and chords one a time, while "real-time" means one plays the notes to enter with correct rhythm and the software recognizes the note durations.
  2. ↑ Canorus native format, .can
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 MusicXML, open standard XML-based music notation exchange format, .xml or (version 3.1 or later) .musicxml
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 Standard MIDI file format, .mid or .midi
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 LilyPond plain text native format, .ly
  6. 1 2 Capella native format, binary file, .cap
  7. 1 2 3 Capella native format, compressed ZIP containing XML, .capx
  8. ↑ Denemo native format, .denemo
  9. ↑ Dorico native format, .dorico
  10. 1 2 Early notation typesetter native format, .ent
  11. ↑ Encore native format, .enc
  12. ↑ MusicTime (by the same developer as Encore) native format, .mto, .mus (different to Finale .mus)
  13. ↑ Rhapsody (by the same developer as Encore) native format, .rhp
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 MusicXML version 2.0 or later, compressed as a ZIP, .mxl
  15. ↑ Cakewalk MIDI file format, .mff[ clarification needed ]
  16. ↑ Master Tracks Pro (by the same developer as Encore) native format, .mts
  17. 1 2 3 4 Mac version only
  18. 1 2 Finale native format, .mus (2012 and earlier) or .musx (2014 and later)
  19. ↑ Forte native format, .fnf
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 Guitar Pro native format version 1–2, .gtp; version 3, .gp3; version 4, .gp4; version 5, .gp5; version 6, .gpx; version 7, .gp
  21. 1 2 3 4 ASCII tablature plain text format, .txt, .tab, or .btab
  22. 1 2 3 4 Power Tab Editor native format, .ptb
  23. 1 2 TablEdit native format, .tef
  24. ↑ Impro-Visor native format, .ls
  25. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ABC plain text format, .abc
  26. ↑ Finale Enigma Transport Format, .etf [1]
  27. ↑ Maestro software family native format, .sfd
  28. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Standard MIDI file format including standard MIDI lyrics, used for karaoke, .kar
  29. ↑ Mozart native format, .mz
  30. 1 2 3 Notation Interchange File Format, .nif
  31. ↑ Mus2 notation and tuning file format, .mus2, .mu2
  32. ↑ MuseScore native format, .mscz; uncompressed XML-based format, .mscx; style sheet, .mss; score album, .album
  33. ↑ MuseData project format, .md
  34. ↑ Bagpipe Music Writer native format, .bww
  35. ↑ Band-in-a-Box native format, .mgu or .sgu
  36. 1 2 Overture native format, .ove
  37. ↑ MusiCAD plain text native format, .mc
  38. ↑ MusicEase native format, .mez
  39. ↑ SongWright native format, .sw
  40. ↑ Musink native format, .musink
  41. ↑ PMX, preprocessor language for MusixTeX, .pmx; M-Tx, processor for PMX, .mtx
  42. ↑ TeX device independent file format, .dvi
  43. ↑ NoteSoft file, Notation Software native format, .not
  44. ↑ NoteWorthy Composer native format, .nwc or .nwctxt
  45. ↑ Score Writer (by the same developer as Overture) native format, .scw
  46. ↑ Philip's Music Writer native format, human-readable text, .pmw
  47. ↑ Rosegarden native format, .rg
  48. ↑ Hydrogen drum machine song XML file format, .h2song
  49. ↑ Csound audio domain-specific language format, without orchestra data, .csd
  50. ↑ Music Publisher Score file format, .mup
  51. ↑ Sibelius (scorewriter) native format, .sib
  52. ↑ SmartScore native format, .enf
  53. ↑ TuxGuitar native format, .tg

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "An incomplete description of the Enigma Transport Format". LilyPond.org. Archived from the original on 3 May 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  2. ↑ Restrictions
  3. ↑ Version Comparison

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LilyPond</span> Free software scorewriter

LilyPond is a computer program and file format for music engraving. One of LilyPond's major goals is to produce scores that are engraved with traditional layout rules, reflecting the era when scores were engraved by hand.

Finale is a proprietary music notation software developed and released by MakeMusic for Microsoft Windows and macOS since 1988. In general, the operation of Finale bears some surface similarities to Adobe Photoshop.

A scorewriter, or music notation program is software for creating, editing and printing sheet music. A scorewriter is to music notation what a word processor is to text, in that they typically provide flexible editing and automatic layout, and produce high-quality printed results.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Encore (software)</span> Scorewriter

Encore is a music notation (scorewriter) program for Microsoft Windows and macOS.

MusicXML is an XML-based file format for representing Western musical notation. The format is open, fully documented, and can be freely used under the W3C Community Final Specification Agreement.

capella is a musical notation program or scorewriter developed by the German company capella-software AG, running on Microsoft Windows or corresponding emulators in other operating systems, like Wine on Linux and others on Apple Macintosh. Capella requires to be activated after a trial period of 30 days. The publisher writes the name in lower case letters only. The program was initially created by Hartmut Ring, and is now maintained and developed by Bernd Jungmann.

NoteEdit is a defunct music scorewriter for Linux and other Unix-like computer operating systems. Its official successor is Canorus.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Power Tab Editor</span> Scorewriter

Power Tab Editor is a freeware tablature authoring tool created by Brad Larsen for Windows. It is used to create guitar, bass and ukulele tablature scores, among many others. The current version uses the *.ptb file format.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mozart the music processor</span> Scorewriter

Mozart the music processor is a proprietary WYSIWYG scorewriter program for Microsoft Windows. It is used to create and edit Western musical notation to create and print sheet music, and to play it via MIDI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MusEdit</span> Scorewriter

MusEdit is a scorewriter program for Microsoft Windows, developed by Doug Rogers / Yowza software and first launched in 1997. The current version (4.0.3) was released in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MuseScore</span> Music notation software

MuseScore refers to a free and open-source music notation program for Windows, macOS, and Linux and its accompanying online score-sharing platform MuseScore.com and freemium mobile score viewer and playback app. It is now part of Muse Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Overture (software)</span> Scorewriter

Overture is a music notation (scorewriter) program for Windows and Macintosh platforms, published and developed by Sonic Scores. While Overture is primarily a scorewriter program, it also allows editing the score's MIDI audio playback data in the manner of sequencer and digital audio workstation (DAW) software.

MusicEase is a WYSIWYG scorewriter created by Gary Rader and produced by MusicEase Software. It enables computers using Microsoft Windows and macOS to produce musical notation and listen to them in MIDI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forte (notation program)</span> Scorewriter

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorico</span> Scorewriter

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