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First impressions...

PostPosted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 8:41 am
by giwro
First of all, let me say how much I appreciate the $99 crossgrade from Finale - while I have no desire to get rid of Finale at this point (having used it for 15 years, I'm far too set in my ways!) those of us who upgrade Finale regularly have plenty of eligible discs to send in :mrgreen:

I've used/tried a LOT of software for scoring over the years, and let me say that this was one of the easiest workflows to get accustomed to very quickly. I spent a LOT of hours with the program yesterday, and was able to come up with some really realistic sounding music. I also have been very pleased with the XML import - I tried exporting 2 different Finale scores, both of which came into Notion 3 flawlessly. From there it was a simple matter to adjust the mixer and some dynamics, then shortly a finished sound was available - no clicking to assign sounds!

There are some limitations and wishes I have for Notion, but I think this will be a valuable addition to my "arsenal". Since I work more quickly in Finale, I can easily crank out a score there and then import if I wish. I do think that a very necessary addition will be the feature to edit CC and other midi on a straight (non-imported) Notion file. I'm going to experiment with some imported files this week to see how well that works, and how easily one can edit those.

I've been spoiled by Finale's Human playback, and I think there are some things it does that are more convenient for a quick render, but so far I can get a similar interpretation from Notion with a little more work. I'm thinking specifically of things like the Fermatas, accel and ritards which are more automatic in Finale...

I have waited until now to order Notion, and I think with V3 it is finally a mature product that will give Finale and Sibelius a run for their money - certainly this year I've chosen to spend my $99 on it instead of another Finale upgrade - I really did not see enough new features in F2010 to warrant it, and the 10gb of new sounds alone was hard to pass up! :D

Kudos, Notion team - I think you got it right!

- Jonathan

Re: First impressions...

PostPosted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 2:30 pm
by astinov
Thank you Jonathan this is great ! Hey, by the way, you know you can tweak all aspects of fermata, ritardandos, accelerandos and any other tempo mark right? Just double click those and enter a value.

But if you want your performance to REALLY shine and feel like a human performed it - dig into NTempo and especially read the chapter about recording and editing a performance. There is nothing than can be more "Human", than a real human performing the piece right :) NOTION gives you great tools to do that!

I'm very happy you like the software! We'll keep improving it!

Lubo Astinov

Re: First impressions...

PostPosted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 10:45 am
by giwro
Hi Lubo,

Yes, I know I can "tweak" - that is a double-edged sword, though... :D

What it means to me is that I have to work a little harder to get an interpretation... something I really
hate to do <chuckle>

But you are right - NTempo is a great way to get the interpretation one wants - I'll have to learn more about it in the coming days.

Just for fun, I spent some hours tweaking and came up with this first minute or so of Henri Dallier's Symphonie 1:
http://www.evensongmusic.net/audio/notion/dalliersym1-1.mp3

Now, I realize I picked a HUGE orchestra, and complex score, but I wanted something that would challenge me and the software
right away.. I had to do a lot of positioning of the orchestra to get the sound I wanted, and the reverb is a custom impulse in SIR.
Normally I would do an individual impulse for each section, but this was to be a "quick" test (and I had so much fun I spent several
HOURS at it, much of which was just learning how to use Notion and the interface)

I'd be pleased to hear your reactions... later today I will post another piece that was mostly an import from Finale via XML. Some
things had to be edited and tweaked for balance, but it was a fairly fast process - I am impressed!

Best wishes,

- Jonathan


astinov wrote:Thank you Jonathan this is great ! Hey, by the way, you know you can tweak all aspects of fermata, ritardandos, accelerandos and any other tempo mark right? Just double click those and enter a value.

But if you want your performance to REALLY shine and feel like a human performed it - dig into NTempo and especially read the chapter about recording and editing a performance. There is nothing than can be more "Human", than a real human performing the piece right :) NOTION gives you great tools to do that!

I'm very happy you like the software! We'll keep improving it!

Lubo Astinov

Re: First impressions...

PostPosted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:46 am
by fabiolcati
Hi giwro,
your performance in this symphonic excerpt is really impressing. Bravo.
Are the sounds all N3 (aside from SIR reverb)?
If so, I think this is a very good showcase for what we can expect from N3 (some skill needed...) ;)

PS. Dallier was totally unknown to me. I'll look to deepen my knowledge about his music. Thank you.

Re: First impressions...

PostPosted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:55 am
by giwro
Hi Fabio,

Yes, all N3 sounds....

Really, all I did was enter the dynamic markings and score markings (articulations).
This opening part really didn't need much extra work on the tempo alterations, obviously
a longer, more complete version would have more opportunities for ritards, accel and other
variations.

Dallier was one of those Forgotten Frenchies <chuckle> :o
Too bad, since what I've heard of his music is very nice. IIRC he also wrote a fair bit of
chamber music as well as organ music.

Cheers,

- J

fabiolcati wrote:Hi giwro,
your performance in this symphonic excerpt is really impressing. Bravo.
Are the sounds all N3 (aside from SIR reverb)?
If so, I think this is a very good showcase for what we can expect from N3 (some skill needed...) ;)

PS. Dallier was totally unknown to me. I'll look to deepen my knowledge about his music. Thank you.

Re: First impressions...

PostPosted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 3:43 pm
by astinov
Great stuff guys, I'm sure as you dig deeper you'll find many more hours of fun with N3!

Definitely try the Performance mode, Ntempo, saving your performance, conducting specific rhythms on your NTempo staff so you can move with the melodies etc., etc.!

Have fun!

Re: First impressions...

PostPosted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 3:54 am
by fabiolcati
Hi giwro,
thank you for your answer.

1.
Since mr. astinov is reading to us, I wish to express my dissapointment for the poor timbre of the "tutti" at the beginning: it sounds like a reed organ to my ears.
I've got the same impression listening to some of the tiny demos on Notion's site.
Does any professor in the LSO entered this cheapy instrument in the studio and played it for a joke? :D
Yes, we can go for an external sound library, but a little tweakening in the programming will be welcome.

Hats off to the bassoon throghout the counter melody: it's very musical!

2.
I think we could agree about French music: it's a basket full of forgotten jewels, and its role in defining the shape of early contemporary music (or I have to say "modern"?) is mostly underrated.
So now go for Alberic Magnard!

Have a nice day

Re: First impressions...

PostPosted: Tue Oct 13, 2009 8:03 pm
by likecmposr
Hi Jonathan,

I liked your piece a lot. Check your Private Messages when you get a chance.

Bill

giwro wrote:Hi Lubo,

Yes, I know I can "tweak" - that is a double-edged sword, though... :D

What it means to me is that I have to work a little harder to get an interpretation... something I really
hate to do <chuckle>

But you are right - NTempo is a great way to get the interpretation one wants - I'll have to learn more about it in the coming days.

Just for fun, I spent some hours tweaking and came up with this first minute or so of Henri Dallier's Symphonie 1:
http://www.evensongmusic.net/audio/notion/dalliersym1-1.mp3

Now, I realize I picked a HUGE orchestra, and complex score, but I wanted something that would challenge me and the software
right away.. I had to do a lot of positioning of the orchestra to get the sound I wanted, and the reverb is a custom impulse in SIR.
Normally I would do an individual impulse for each section, but this was to be a "quick" test (and I had so much fun I spent several
HOURS at it, much of which was just learning how to use Notion and the interface)

I'd be pleased to hear your reactions... later today I will post another piece that was mostly an import from Finale via XML. Some
things had to be edited and tweaked for balance, but it was a fairly fast process - I am impressed!

Best wishes,

- Jonathan


astinov wrote:Thank you Jonathan this is great ! Hey, by the way, you know you can tweak all aspects of fermata, ritardandos, accelerandos and any other tempo mark right? Just double click those and enter a value.

But if you want your performance to REALLY shine and feel like a human performed it - dig into NTempo and especially read the chapter about recording and editing a performance. There is nothing than can be more "Human", than a real human performing the piece right :) NOTION gives you great tools to do that!

I'm very happy you like the software! We'll keep improving it!

Lubo Astinov

Re: First impressions...

PostPosted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 5:04 am
by fandango
So glad there are people out there who still appreciate the French composers! Though I have to admit, Henri Dallier was a new discovery for me. I'd been very into the works of Guilmant, Franck and Poulenc and can now add another quiver to the bow!

Re: First impressions...

PostPosted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 6:27 am
by Steph08
Well for me first impression lasts
by the way I'm Steph a newbie
in this forum and I'm very happy to
be here if you have any questions
or tips just post me a rely thanks

-Steph

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