I found some music notation software for Linux that is actually pretty cool. There is a bit of a learning curve, but once I got into it a bit I found it more consistent and reliable then Finale. Oh, and the best part: it’s about $600 cheaper then Finale (a.k.a. free!).

It is a Linux program called Lilypond. The craziest part about getting used to it is that you input the music in a text file, then run the program and it generates it. I plugged in one of my counterpoint examples I did from a class awhile ago.

The input file looks like this:

#(set-default-paper-size "letter")
\version "2.12.2"
\header {
title = "Holst"
composer = "Jesse Talbot"
tagline = ""
}
info = {
\key ees \major
\time 3/4
\partial 4
}
soprano = \relative c' {\info \clef treble ees4 f2 c'4 bes2 g4 ees f2 d bes4 c2 d4 g f2 aes4 g bes aes c bes ees d2 ees2. }
alto = \relative c' {\info \clef treble bes4 bes2 c8 d ees2 d4 c c2 bes g4 g2 bes4 c c2 c4 bes2 c ees4 aes f2 g2. }
tenor = \relative c {\info \clef bass ees4 d ees f g aes bes8 aes g4 aes g f2 ees4 ees f g ees aes g f d2 ees g4 c bes2 bes2. }
bass = \relative c {\info \clef bass g8 aes bes2 aes4 ees2 g4 c aes2 bes8[ aes] g[ f] ees4 c' bes8 aes g4 c f,2 f4 g2 aes ees'4 aes, bes8[ aes] g[ f] ees2. }
top = {\new Staff < <{ \soprano \bar "|."} \\ {\alto \bar "|."} >> }
bottom = {\new Staff < < {\tenor \bar "|."} \\ {\bass \bar "|."} >> }
\new GrandStaff < < \top \bottom >>


When that is entered into the program this is what I get.

It can also generate midi files, pretty much rendering the need for me to buy any notation software completely moot. Which now means I no longer need Windows.

If you are a musician I highly recommend Ubuntu Studio. It is a version of Ubuntu that comes pre-installed with a lot of software aimed at musicians. Sure it takes a little bit of getting used to, but it is all open source software. No company is going to shove their propriatery rights down your throat, and it doesn’t cost anything.

I’ve upgraded to 9.10 beta, everything seems to be working just fine (I really hate the names they assign the versions, who even thinks those up?).

FOX and NBC both don’t support Ubuntu as of yet, so that means booting into Windows for The Office, The Simpsons and Family Guy. My roommates and I decided that we were just going to get internet and no acutal cable to save money. You can catch 90% of everything on the network’s websites, so I just hook my old Windows PC up to my TV and sound system, and we’ve got a poor-man’s cable box. I’m going to send emails to both of them to see if they have any plans to work with Ubuntu.

The giant nail on the coffin is music notation. By far. There are some great Linux music programs in development, but nothing feels complete and ready for real use.

However, I did find a free program called Solfege for ear training, which is very complete and thorough. I am looking forward to using that as I get ready for grad school.

I have been looking into using Linux for quite some time. I experimented with a few different distributions, but after spending a large amount of time in Knoppix and Fedora and still not having a 100% usable computer I became frustrated and usually installed Windows again. I had experimented with Ubuntu, but I didn’t have the time to spend finding all the software I needed and then configuring everything.

I’ve decided that I want to switch to Linux permanently, so about a week ago I installed Ubuntu on a dual-boot with Windows XP. I would like to be able to get rid of Windows completely, but there a few things I still need it for that aren’t supported in Linux. I have an iPhone so i need iTunes, Netflix instant watch doesn’t work in Linux at all yet (boo…), and neither does NBC.com for episodes of The Office.

There is the option of installing Virtualbox so I can run Windows XP inside of Ubuntu. I plan to do this eventually for iTunes, however I haven’t had any luck with video working out from inside a virtual machine. I think it is simply the age of my laptop I’ve had for 4 years. Once Netflix and NBC get their act together, I will get rid of the dual-boot completely and go just with Ubuntu.

The main kinds of software I need are music notation, recording, video & photo editing. The best part is the standard of open-source software, and that I have several different options, all which are free and usually easy to install.

I am going to be outlining the software I find that I think deserves a mention and detailing how to get a few other things done as well.