Hi Jerry,

Of course you're right about most DAWs having a scoring unit. I started a couple of years ago with Logic Pro X. It was my first DAW experience and I found it hard to handle, very complicated, mainly in the automation section. Moreover I found the notation unit very messy and clumsy (probably due to my ignorance).
Since I work with Notion (notation) and since Notion has been acquired by Presonus, it was obvious that I would work with Studio One Pro. It is a lot easier and they planned at Presonus to integrate it in Studio One. But so far, they haven't. The only cooperation between the two is rewiring from Studio One to Notion (which is not what I would want) and mainly for audio tracks. Importing midi data from Notion is quite tricky as well, but they are aware of this and will tackle it in an updated version.

In my limited experience I noticed that most DAWs are actually designed to work with audio and are not so effecient and user friendly with midi.

I'm still hoping (and I'm definitely not alone) that Presonus one day will fully integrate Notion in its DAW, so that both worlds can live in peace (audio and midi) and that classical composers can produce - if necessary - a decent score and parts.

I remember a fellow composer in the States (Randy Bowser), who composed only with his DAW (I think it was Sonar) and hardly did any writing of parts and scores. Only when absolutely necessary he extracted a notated version of his creativity, but he hated this. (That is quite the opposite, but I can understand it. Without notation, I would be lost in dots and little blocks...)

And I banned my powdered wig and all the candles some weeks ago. Much too hot over here. A cool summer wine is more efficient nowadays... 😉

Max

@Max Hamburg said:

Hi Jerry,

Of course you're right about most DAWs having a scoring unit. I started a couple of years ago with Logic Pro X. It was my first DAW experience and I found it hard to handle, very complicated, mainly in the automation section. Moreover I found the notation unit very messy and clumsy (probably due to my ignorance).
Since I work with Notion (notation) and since Notion has been acquired by Presonus, it was obvious that I would work with Studio One Pro. It is a lot easier and they planned at Presonus to integrate it in Studio One. But so far, they haven't. The only cooperation between the two is rewiring from Studio One to Notion (which is not what I would want) and mainly for audio tracks. Importing midi data from Notion is quite tricky as well, but they are aware of this and will tackle it in an updated version.

In my limited experience I noticed that most DAWs are actually designed to work with audio and are not so effecient and user friendly with midi.

I'm still hoping (and I'm definitely not alone) that Presonus one day will fully integrate Notion in its DAW, so that both worlds can live in peace (audio and midi) and that classical composers can produce - if necessary - a decent score and parts.

I remember a fellow composer in the States (Randy Bowser), who composed only with his DAW (I think it was Sonar) and hardly did any writing of parts and scores. Only when absolutely necessary he extracted a notated version of his creativity, but he hated this. (That is quite the opposite, but I can understand it. Without notation, I would be lost in dots and little blocks...)

And I banned my powdered wig and all the candles some weeks ago. Much too hot over here. A cool summer wine is more efficient nowadays... 😉

Max

I've used Sonar for some 25 years.  The notation editor in a DAW is designed for MIDI input and editing, and, if you accept it as such, it works great for sequencing and composition.  Some people expect a DAW's notation editor to be a publish-quality program, able to generate parts for rehearsals and otherwise be a finished "score".  I think that is too high a bar, Sibelius, Notion, Finale, these are dedicated score programs for those purposes.  All DAW's notation programs work OK, but you have to really dive into them and figure out how to use them efficiently.  Once you do that, they work.  I've produced, so far, 9 symphonies and 14 albums composing directly in Sonar and though I have some complaints, I am able to do what I need to do.

I can only speak for the score editor in Logic. While it is not meant for publishing, it can be used to quickly prepare readable parts for the musicians (including the musicians in an orchestra). A classical music performer will find it quite unprofessional, and most of what is needed in a contemporary/avantgarde score is missing. But it will get the work done, in particular in film music or less academic-inspired fields.

Paolo