Music topics:
- The Bill Denbrock Big Band - info, member bios, schedule, music clips, contact info, and more (goes to the band website)...
- MIDI File Directory - A comprehensive directory of MIDI files that can be used with Notation Composer and Notation Musician to get sheet music you can practice with (lots of tools for that!) and print to take with you.
- "If We Could Talk With The Animals" - A Christmas musical for kids, with songs from the perspective of the animals in the Christmas history.
- Notation Composer - I started using Notation Composer as a beta tester many years ago, and have been using it ever since to create music files to practice with, and get sheet music for favorite songs or my own compositions.
- Notation Software website - Notation Software is the developer for Notation Composer and Notation Musician, a couple of great music learning, teaching, practice, arranging, and composing programs. Check them out!
Notation Composer
Many years ago, when the kids started coming along and life was changing pretty rapidly, I got the urge to start writing songs. I had learned to play guitar by ear, and I typically worked with just a chord chart (lyrics with chord names above the relevant words), from which I could play my guitar and sing along. However, I also could "hear" all this other instrumentation in my head. Fortunately at the time I had some very talented musical friends to whom I could hum those parts, and then they could play along with me. I was spoiled!
However, we then moved away, and I more keenly felt the need to get this music from my head into a more tangible form that others could use with me. I was also in the process of trying to teach myself to read notation by taking up the Irish pennywhistle, and I discovered a program called MidiNotate. This software could take a MIDI file and turn it into sheet music that I could hear and see the notes highlighting - perfect for my "learn by ear" grounding, and my desire to "learn by sight" as well. In the course of using the software, I got to know the developer Mark Walsen. He invited me to become a beta tester for a product he was developing called Notation Composer. Wow!! This software was just what I needed to get my own musical ideas into a form I could hear (to make sure it was what I was hearing in my head) as well as then print out sheet music that other musicians could use to play along with me.
I loved the software so much and became such an ardent user that I ended up working for the company (and still do). I am not a professional musician by training, but just an "everyday musician" who loves music, and had some songs I wanted to get down for my family, friends, and others. Notation Composer has helped me to realize that ambition, and I'm happy to share my experience with anyone else who has the same or simliar goals. Check it out!
Music musings...
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Ever wanted to write a song? I did, and found some really cool software to help me do it.