Overture 5: An alternative to Finale & Sibelius?

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stubbsonic
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Overture 5: An alternative to Finale & Sibelius?

Post by stubbsonic »

I just downloaded a demo of Overture 5 by Sonic Scores, and wanted to start a separate thread where anyone who was willing and interested would add their two cents about how this program might work in tandem with DP to fill in where DP lacks.

I've mostly done notation in DP and never developed any familiarity (much less facility) with either Sibelius or Finale. I also confess that I never tried very hard, either. I would hit a snag, struggle with it for about two hours and give up-- usually because of a time-crunch.

The fact remains that I really do NEED a good notation program. But my limited knowledge with any of them makes me somewhat unfit to judge whether a program is worth the time investment. Finale has always bugged me-- but I know folks have gotten great results with it.

I'd be doing small ensemble arrangements, piano arrangements, composition and various education worksheets and reference materials.

I spent about 20 minutes with Overture and realized I'd need to invest some significant time to try to understand why it works the way it does (as with the two biggies).

Would love to hear any opinions & first impressions if anyone has tried the demo.
M1 MBP; OS 12, FF800, DP 11.3, Kontakt 7, Reaktor 6, PC3K7, K2661S, iPad6, Godin XTSA, Two Ibanez 5 string basses (1 fretted, 1 fretless), FM3, SY-1000, etc.

http://www.jonstubbsmusic.com
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mikehalloran
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Re: Overture 5: An alternative to Finale & Sibelius?

Post by mikehalloran »

Here are the patches that Don posted yesterday.

For those who are brave here is the new release.
This has many new fixes and a few new features:

I don't have the time right now to list all the fixes, so you're on your own.
If you read the recent posts where I state that I have fixed the bug, the fix is in this release.
I'll post an official release tomorrow. You'll need to replace your existing version, so make a copy mfirst.

Win: https://sonicscores.com/ovfiles/Overture%205.exe
Mac: https://sonicscores.com/ovfiles/Overture%205.app.zip


His release date announcements tend to be wishful thinking but Overture 5 is to the point where I felt comfortable purchasing a crossgrade.

The demo is fully functional for the first 30 days. Afterward, saving and printing is disabled as you'd expect.
DP 11.31; 828mkII FW, micro lite, M4, MTP/AV USB Firmware 2.0.1
2023 Mac Studio M2 8TB, 192GB RAM, OS Sonoma 14.4, USB4 8TB external, M-Audio AIR 192|14, Mackie ProFxv3 6/10/12; 2012 MBPs Catalina, Mojave
IK-NI-Izotope-PSP-Garritan-Antares, LogicPro X, Finale 27.4, Dorico 5.2, Notion 6, Overture 5, TwistedWave, DSP-Q 5, SmartScore64 Pro, Toast 20 Pro
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mikehalloran
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Re: Overture 5: An alternative to Finale & Sibelius?

Post by mikehalloran »

To your OP...

I'm a longtime Finale and Encore user. If I want a score to open in DP, I export MIDI. When I compose or arrange, I do it in notation, never DP. I suppose that, if I composed from a keyboard, I might try it the other way.

Don wrote the original version of Encore as well as Opcode Overture. There's a workflow that I like and am used to.

Encore is extremely limited—which was ok for my needs as I exported to Finale if I needed advanced features such as control over layout. It is long overdue for an update, however. That it only supports MusicXML 1.3 means that lyrics and most expressions can neither be imported nor exported. Time to look elsewhere. Finale works fine for my needs but Encore is faster... that's what drew me to Overture 5.

It's possible that Overture 5 will replace Finale for me—too soon to tell. I have current licenses for both and Encore still works. I'm in no hurry and my projects will determine what works out going forward.

For those who compose in DP, you can export as MusicXML 3.0 or MIDI to be opened in any notation app that supports it. According to Michael Good (inventor of MusicXML) there are a couple of DAWs that can import MusicXML but all reports are that it doesn't work very well in those apps. If MOTU can add that functionality to DP, it would be huge for me.

Overture 5 adds a Video window for AV and film scoring but I've not had a need for it. It would be nice to know how well that works.

The user guide is not online but readily available from within the app. The search function works.
DP 11.31; 828mkII FW, micro lite, M4, MTP/AV USB Firmware 2.0.1
2023 Mac Studio M2 8TB, 192GB RAM, OS Sonoma 14.4, USB4 8TB external, M-Audio AIR 192|14, Mackie ProFxv3 6/10/12; 2012 MBPs Catalina, Mojave
IK-NI-Izotope-PSP-Garritan-Antares, LogicPro X, Finale 27.4, Dorico 5.2, Notion 6, Overture 5, TwistedWave, DSP-Q 5, SmartScore64 Pro, Toast 20 Pro
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stubbsonic
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Re: Overture 5: An alternative to Finale & Sibelius?

Post by stubbsonic »

Thanks, Mike. I've been following your posts on the Finale thread very carefully, and appreciate your opinions.

My two workflows are:
1. Start on paper and then work in DP 2nd-- making that notation as close as I can get it, pencilling in slurs and dynamics as needed.
2. Start in DP with improv or basic ideas, then edit compulsively until I like it (or at least stop hating it).

For making arrangements, I could see working within the notation software-- especially if I don't care much about making a proper demo or rehearsal recording. But I just need to get a feel for how well that works.

Right now, I've encountered some counter-intuitive behavior in Overture and I can't tell if it is an oversight in the program or just how it is supposed to work.
M1 MBP; OS 12, FF800, DP 11.3, Kontakt 7, Reaktor 6, PC3K7, K2661S, iPad6, Godin XTSA, Two Ibanez 5 string basses (1 fretted, 1 fretless), FM3, SY-1000, etc.

http://www.jonstubbsmusic.com
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mikehalloran
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Re: Overture 5: An alternative to Finale & Sibelius?

Post by mikehalloran »

stubbsonic wrote:Thanks, Mike. I've been following your posts on the Finale thread very carefully, and appreciate your opinions.

Right now, I've encountered some counter-intuitive behavior in Overture and I can't tell if it is an oversight in the program or just how it is supposed to work.
Some of it does take getting used to and, especially with lyrics, it can seem strange (true of all notation, actually) but, once you get the basic workflow down, things do make sense.

Some programs are much better than others.

Play with it some more and, if necessary, you can call me and we can look at it together. This afternoon is no good for me but I can make some time tomorrow or Saturday if you'd like. Send me a message.
DP 11.31; 828mkII FW, micro lite, M4, MTP/AV USB Firmware 2.0.1
2023 Mac Studio M2 8TB, 192GB RAM, OS Sonoma 14.4, USB4 8TB external, M-Audio AIR 192|14, Mackie ProFxv3 6/10/12; 2012 MBPs Catalina, Mojave
IK-NI-Izotope-PSP-Garritan-Antares, LogicPro X, Finale 27.4, Dorico 5.2, Notion 6, Overture 5, TwistedWave, DSP-Q 5, SmartScore64 Pro, Toast 20 Pro
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mikehalloran
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Re: Overture 5: An alternative to Finale & Sibelius?

Post by mikehalloran »

5.1.2 is on the site now. The download links work as of yesterday.
DP 11.31; 828mkII FW, micro lite, M4, MTP/AV USB Firmware 2.0.1
2023 Mac Studio M2 8TB, 192GB RAM, OS Sonoma 14.4, USB4 8TB external, M-Audio AIR 192|14, Mackie ProFxv3 6/10/12; 2012 MBPs Catalina, Mojave
IK-NI-Izotope-PSP-Garritan-Antares, LogicPro X, Finale 27.4, Dorico 5.2, Notion 6, Overture 5, TwistedWave, DSP-Q 5, SmartScore64 Pro, Toast 20 Pro
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stubbsonic
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Re: Overture 5: An alternative to Finale & Sibelius?

Post by stubbsonic »

Thanks for the heads up. I tried logging in, and it didn't let me. I tried registering and it didn't do anything. Last week I tried contacting the developer and that function was not working either. Not installing much confidence there. I'll give it another try tomorrow. Spirits a little depleted at the moment.
M1 MBP; OS 12, FF800, DP 11.3, Kontakt 7, Reaktor 6, PC3K7, K2661S, iPad6, Godin XTSA, Two Ibanez 5 string basses (1 fretted, 1 fretless), FM3, SY-1000, etc.

http://www.jonstubbsmusic.com
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