NOTION Music Forum

Dear Members,

Maybe experienced users with Notion could give some info about the learning curve of Notion 3.
I am newbie with Notion 3 (one week) and had an impressions the learning curve would be a lot easier.
Also never used any of their products.
I made a booklet of the Pdf and i am trying to learn and read as much as possible and ofcourse working and practicing with the program.
Still i'm encountering some problems, i must honestly say techsupport is fast and answering my questions but to email them with every issue i'mn't familiar with doesn't make me feel good.
How long it took you members to get to know Notion 3 and to work creatively with it ?
Normally i'm very fast with Music Programs but this time i feel a little bit behind.

Your opinions highly appreciated.

I feel the same way

...too many options? Which method of notation entry you trying to use?

suggestion: just pick one method that appeals to you and do tiny experiments with each feature of that method one at a time first.

For me, the learning curve was pretty fast. I worked trough the manual from first to last page when I got Notion. It took me a few hours at most on a Saturday. I surely do not remember exactly where to find everything, but I know how to find it and how to get help now. At least, on the second day I had Notion I was able to start playing around with things and actually start working on an actual project.

I worked with some of the competitors products and demos and did not get to a stage where I can compose this quickly.

I guess everybody has a different experience, but for me, the learning curve to use Notion is one of the best aspects. Sure, there are other issues and bugs which I already reported on in this forum.

I also have my difficulties getting along with Notion, but I think this is more a fault of me being used to Sibelius.
i.e. dragging the score with the mouse is something I love in Sibelius, so it is weird to not be able to do this in Notion.
Other things like Note Input are a bit buggy, but Notion is working hard on this, I am sure (actually Lubo confirmed this), so I think we will get along with the app nicely after a few updates.
Give it time. I am looking forward to EWQLSO Gold integration

For me it's not perfectly intuitive either - though I may too used to Sibelius. I spent an hour this week trying to copy and paste two notes - it just wouldn't let me do it. I'll have to spend some more time I guess.

I went through the manual and the tutorials and was up and running in about a day and a half. That's very fast for me! I think the user guide is actually really good if you go from the top down through the bottom without skipping around.

I really enjoy using the keyboard commands. They all make sense to me for some reason and I don't find them hard to memorize. Shift-M for meter, shift-S for slur, command-I for VST interface, etc... Very straight-forward.

I bought Finale a year ago, and never seriously got into it because the programme is so huge and I procrastinated, as I was happy composing with Cubase, although I seriously needed to get my compositions into notation format. When I purchased Notion 3 last week, I found it extremely easy to get into, very user-friendly, and what's more, it gave me the confidence to press on with learning Finale. Now after a few days I feel that I am getting quite proficient with both programmes, even though their methods of operation are a world apart.

I don't think as a notation programme, Notion 3 has a particularly large learning curve. However, I would imagine that for audio purposes, the time to learn the workings of the mixer and CS Reverb (especially) will be considerably more tricky.

I've also noticed a few gremlins in Notion 3, that I'm hoping will be ironed out in future upgrades.

That's all I have to say on the matter.

Cheers,

Simon

Dear patricio,

Have you had a look at the tutorial videos elsewhere on this site? While they don't cover every aspect of Notion, they give you a pretty good idea about how you do certain things.

Have you worked with other notation programs before? How much computer experience do you have in general? And forgive me for asking, but if you can describe where you stand in terms of musicianship and knowledge of notation? Or maybe just explain in general what you want to achieve with Notion, then it becomes easier to help you (no, I don't work for Notion!).

Best wishes,
Thorrild

I bought Finale a year ago, and up until now, I've not used it properly because the size of the learning curve just overwhelmed me (I've been generally composing with the score format of Cubase). So I bought Notion as a fast alternative, and as a quick composition tool that would provide both audio output and sheet output. After ringing up Brian in America (thoroughly nice guy, by the way) a couple of times and getting put in the right direction on a couple of issues, I was away, and haven't really looked back since. I'm finding this programme exceptionally user-friendly (although I will state, there are one or two gremlins in the programme) and not only am I well into the workings of it (still have to master CS Reverb and Amplipeg), but it's also given me the confidence to tackle Finale, of which I'm also getting into now.

So apart from the gremlins that I mentioned, I'm impressed. It's a great little composition tool. Obviously you have a lot more control with a proper sequencer (Cubase, Logic, Pro-tools etc) for audio issues (expression, pitch bend, etc), and a lot more options with a full notation programme (Finale, Sibelius) such as more fonts, smart shape capabilities etc. But as the first combination programme of its kind, and the fact that it's only in its 3rd regeneration at present (I'm sure better things are to come), one can only applaud Notion for its ease of use, quality output and value for money.