[linux-audio-user] Note typesetting for Linux

[Mikhail Ramendik]

Hello,

Them wrote:
> Don't count on it happening.  And you don't need it on Linux anyway.
> 
> I think Rosegarden or NoteEdit are good contenders, and don't cost you 
> $500.00.  And Rosegarden works with JACK and LADSPA plugins, whereas 
> Finale does not.  And Finale can't do LilyPond.  Finale's PostScript 
> output option is a piece of junk, IMHO.

But.

I could not get what I need in the way of note entry and pronting, from
either NoteEdit or RoseGarden. Last time I checked, NoteEdit could not
even wrap lines on the screen, and RoseGarden didn't even have repeat
bars.

I understand these particular problems may get fixed. But Finale's very
concept, as a primarily note editing-and-typesetting tool with some sort
of WYSIWYG, is umnatched on Linux; for both NoteEdit and RoseGarden,
this sort of use is not the main idea of the author, and this leads to
all sorts of missing features. 

Any sort of alphabetic medium for typesetting notes is about as "right"
for a professional musician as it would be "right" for a programmer to
somehow write programs in the language of musical score. So Lilyopnd is
simply off track. It might be good for people working for publishers and
typing notes in from existing drafts; but even they might want a visual
tool instead.

The success of TeX for formula editing came, I think, from the fact that
TeX somehow matches the way a scientist *thinks* about a formula. But
IMHO, neither Lilypond nor any other alphabetic editor can approach the
way a musician thinks about score! And that's why this won't work.

I'm not saying Finale is perfect. And perhaps having a Linux version is
not the best solution. Perhaps the best solution is developing an open
source Linux visual score editing-and-typesetting suite. It might even
become better than Finale because, for example, of a good plugin
structure. 

However, I'm not a programmer, only a technical writer and a husband of
a professional musician; I can write a spec, subscribe to LAD and start
discussing it, but I can't write the code! 

Last time I tried the idea here; the general answer was "RG will be up
to the task soon". But now, perhaps there are coders who would be
willing to join a project for a dedicated note typesetting/editing tool?
I can make a spec and join in a discussion, if there's any hope of
implementing it. 

Yours, Mikhail Ramendik