I began using technology-assisted writing back in the late 1980’s. I was still writing scores by hand in pencil/pen, but I started using a synthesizer and a hardware sequencer to give my clients demo versions of the arrangement. They loved it!

From there, I purchased Mac IIsi, Performer and ProComposer. I used this combo for the first few years of the 1990’s. I would create the arrangement in Performer, then export it to ProComposer, which was a rudimentary notation program. It was crude and not that good-looking, but again, the key was that I could provide my clients with an audio mock-up of what the arrangement would sound like. I was using outboard tone modules at that point, which I would continue to do until the 2000’s.

I learned Finale (version 3.7, I think) in 1994 when I was arranging music for Arranger’s Publishing Company. Jay Dawson was basically my private tutor (thanks, Jay!), and I would spend hours on the phone with him learning the ins and outs of this complex program. Due to Finale’s implementation of midi, I was still able to use my outboard tone modules.

By the early to mid 2000’s, the computer hardware that I could afford had improved enough in power that I began using software synths & sampled instruments. Since I was still firmly in the Finale camp, I eagerly began using Garritan’s Concert and Marching Band sample library when it was first released, using Native Instruments’ Kontakt player. I wasn’t thrilled with the trumpet sounds, but everything else was coming along nicely. With the “human playback” making yearly progress in the quality of interpretation of score markings, my mock-ups were sounding pretty acceptable, though I was noticing that other arrangers were producing incredible-sounding scores using Sibelius.

So, I gave Sibelius a try, but didn’t make much progress in learning the program. With my writing schedule being pretty full and my day work of being a music minister taking up a lot of my time, I just didn’t have the time to devote to learning a new program, a new system. Still, I longed for a more realistic playback and the best possible sounds. But I wanted it all within my notation program, because I just didn’t have the time to devote to working in a sequencer program to create a mock-up.

Now, along comes 2 products that I think will get me where I want to go: Dorico and NotePerformer. Dorico is Steinberg’s entry into the notation market as a professional-level program to compete directly with Finale and Sibelius. I have purchased it and am learning it. NotePerformer is a sound library, but also has a built-in AI to deliver remarkably life-like interpretations of scores, all within the notation program itself.

I will have some side by side comparisons of NotePerformer’s playback to Finale/Garritan COMB/Human Playback in upcoming blog posts. I’ll look forward to your feedback on the quality of sound and the “realism” of the score playback.

In the meantime…do you use NotePerformer? If so, what do you think?

Here’s a link to the NotePerformer website. From there you can listen to demos they have on YouTube. See you soon…