A few days back I wrote that I recently purchased Sibelius 5.
I just realised that notating music, especially piano parts, is EXTREMELY hard work.
Being able to play it is one thing, but once you actually sit down and seriously notate every note and rest and accidental, you’d start to find that it’s not as easy as you thought it would be.
For vocal lines, it’s quite straightforward. Flute lines are not a problem too.
But then it comes to piano arrangements, that’s where things start to get tricky.
I mean, I can play out my arrangements on the piano, no problem. They’re all in my head.
But when I start to put pen to paper (well, hand to mouse actually), I find myself going “Now what was it that I played?”
Then I will tap my fingers on an imaginary (piano) keyboard next to my (computer) keyboard to run through what notes I actually played. (Muscle memory, you see.)
Then if I’m still stuck, I’ll have to run to the piano to actually play it out and go “Oh, so that’s what I’ve been playing!”…then run back to my Sibelius and key those notes in.
It’s tough, I tell you.
It’s tough to accurately notate out what you subconsciously play on the piano, because I find that the way I play my piano accompaniments doesn’t necessarily follow a strict neat pattern or formula.
Now I’m starting to understand why when you buy those sheet music scores of pop songs, it tends not to be entirely accurate.
And also, now you know why no one ever notates jazz pianists note-for-note.
It’s almost impossible.
Isn’t there a keyboard thing sold by Creative that notates whatever you play on it into the computer? If I’m not wrong, that’s what it does and makes everything a whole lot easier.
Hey, I thought Sibelius would capture what you played on the keyboard and notates it for you?
If that isn’t the case then I’m greatly surprised/disappointed.
Hmm not sure if this helps… you could play on your keyboard in Garageband then use the score that the programme generates as a reference when you notate in Sibelius.
Jeremy: Hello! Nice name. Yup, I think it’s the Prodikeys or something like that which you are referring to. Thanks for the suggestion.
B: Yeah, you’re right. It does have that function, whereby it will automatically capture whatever you play on a MIDI keyboard. I’ve tried it once, and while it was quite good, it wasn’t perfect. (But then again, I think it’s really difficult to truly capture whatever is being played 100%.) At the end of the day, I still prefer manual input (the way all the composers like Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff did it!).
Good point about the GarageBand integration. I’ve yet to try it. But it’s a great idea.
Yup, think a MIDI keyboard or an electronic piano can be plugged in to help you notate.
You can play & then edit I guess. Will that be easier?
Yeah, you’re right about that. I’m thinking of doing that from now on. I’ll play the part on piano, then just edit those portions that didn’t turn out correctly. It should be easier, especially for those complex piano pieces!
Yeah Jeremy is a nice name, haha!
But at the same time, there’s something so unspeakably nice (for want of a better word) about looking at a handwritten manuscript, know what I’m saying? =)
Yep, I would definitely agree with that!