Music Write Songwriter Edition

by Turtle Beach

Product Features

• Windows 98/Me/NT 4.0 Workstation/Windows 2000 Professional, 32MB RAM(64MB recommended, 128MB recommended for NT/2000)
• 800x600 high color(16 bit) video display, GM compatible 16-bit MIDI capable soundcard
• For PC

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005JYC9
• Item model number: 731855049769
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 9, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #13,071 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #40 in Software > Video & Music > Software > Music Creation & Sequencing
  • #75 in Software > Video & Music > Software > Notation & Composition
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

MusicWrite Songwriter Edition is the perfect tool for anyone who wants to compose and print professional-looking scores right away. Use your MIDIkeyboard or mouse to enter your music, then add lyrics, dynamics, ties,triplets, orchestral markings, and more. Play your piece back on yourcomputer or synthesizer and then print out the parts.

With MusicWrite Songwriter Edition, you can cut, copy, and paste music into your score just like a word processor. Play your music on a MIDI keyboardand see it transcribed into notation on your PC screen. Print your score,complete with your name, song title, copyright information, and more, inany Microsoft Windows font. Add chord names and guitar symbols. The loop function lets you try different ideas in real time by playing your song whilewhile you are editing and entering notes. Use the symbol palette to enter rests, clefs, chords, and more. Add up to two lines of lyrics. MusicWrite supports all of the common musical symbols, including triplets, ties, and orchestral markings. When finished, preview your score and hit print.

Product Description

Compose and print professional looking scores with MusicWrite Songwriter Edition. Use your MIDI keyboard or mouse to enter your music. Then add lyrics, dynamics, ties, triplets, orchestral markings and more. You can even play your piece on your computer or synthesizer.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Isn't as easy to use as it claims, October 5, 2002

By 

Michael Freeman (Blanchard, OK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Music Write Songwriter Edition (CD-ROM)

When I purchased this software, I thought writing music would be as easy as selecting the notes and pasting them on the "page." It isn't. While I'm still learning the intricacies of the software, a good portion of the difficulties seems to be caused by deficiencies in the software itself.

It is more difficult than it should be to change things in the score, such as timing. This is the first music-writing program I've ever purchased, however, so I have nothing else with which to compare it. I should have read some online reviews before I purchased it--I probably would have passed on it.

Ideally, one should try out a software package before investing any money in it. That way you know exactly what you're getting.

43 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not worth it, July 7, 2003

By 

Goladus (New York State, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Music Write Songwriter Edition (CD-ROM)

This software is as difficult to use as Finale, yet with fewer features than any other composing software I've ever used. I've transitioned composing software before (Encore to Finale) so I knew it would take some time to get adjusted. But eventually I gave up-- it just wasn't worth it.

In addition to the clumsy, non-intuitive controls, the "Songwriter" version of the software has crippled features: Limits on number of staves and simultaneous midi tracks it will handle at once, limits on the number of measures per line (only 4!), and limits on MIDI editing features. I found there to be simply a general lack of customizeability throughout.

There are simply too many headaches for the end result. I almost got the impression that the people writing this software had never actually written music before, and will certianly not be trying the "Maestro" version of this software. Personally, I'm testing Sibelius 2, Finale, and Overture 3 at the moment and will choose one of them. Those choices are all significantly more expensive than "Music Write", however. For lower cost alternatives I would recommend "Score Writer 2" from Geniesoft or "Finale Allegro" from Coda Software. For the price I wasn't expecting terrific software from Voyetra, however I hoped for either ease of use or robust, musically oriented features and found neither.

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Uncontrollable Default Settings, June 19, 2002

By 

"rkmagnuson" (Sylvania, GA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Music Write Songwriter Edition (CD-ROM)

This software has so many fixed default auto settings (many musically incorrect) that it is essentially unusable. It interferes with entering basic notation: accidentals are assigned and cannot be changed (!!!), and the same with ties, timing, number of bars per line (even though it will claim otherwise). I'm a professional engineer and a musician with a lot of MIDI and audio equipment interface, and this has got to be the worst software program I've ever seen. Don't be fooled into "upgrading" previous versions: they were so primitive that as late as 1996 they actually still used basic program language (.pbl) printer drivers. Try aother brand. Many professional musicians use Finale, which is pricey, but you get what you pay for. As for me, paper and pencil beats Music Write.