Notation Software + DAW Integration

[J19134]

I'm interested in using notation software with a daw, and Dorico seems to have a smooth integration with Cubase however I haven't tried any of them.

Currently, I'm using Ableton and Sibelius, but there's no integration between them at all (correct me if I'm wrong).

I've seen some people say that Max 4 Live has some notation, but I'm sceptical that it can get anywhere near a dedicated notation app. Are there any DAWs that have better integration with notation apps, any notation apps that have better integration with Ableton, or would the best combo be to "learn" Cubase + Dorico?

I'm mainly using it for some hobby composing, film scores for short films and such. Last score I made was solely in Ableton, which, ya know, would prefer to write it on sheet music instead of MIDI. (Could of course do it twice, but that seems like unnecessary work)

Thanks!

[whyterabbyt]

I've seen some people say that Max 4 Live has some notation

Short answer : out of the box, no it doesnt

Longer answer : Max4Live lets folk write new 'extensions' for Live, and over the years, there have been a couple of notation-type extensions. They've not really been commercial projects, so mileages have varied as to features, level of support, how well they're updated etc etc and I'd expect that they're not as fully-featured as some commercial products. Though they have generally been free-to-use.

This is one I found with a quick search, I have no actual experience of using it though.

https://www.computermusicnotation.com/livescore/

edit : this also seems to requires the Java language development kit... see fine print on the download page.

[J19134]

Yeah of course, that's why I was sceptical.

I'll look at it!

[whyterabbyt]

Yeah, maybe it might serve as a useful bridge between Sibelius and Live for you, and it does seem to support some useful playback-side stuff like MPE.

(Interestingly to me, it seems to do some non-traditional graphical-type scoring as well)

[J. Smith]

You could also give Studio One + Notion combo a go. I haven’t personally used them together, but have heard great things from people.

[koalaboy]

You could also give Studio One + Notion combo a go. I haven’t personally used them together, but have heard great things from people.

It used to be, but then Notion seems to be almost abandoned, and Studio One has definitely 'pivoted' under the new Ownership.

Cubase seems the best choice right now, adding in Dorico if you want even more engraving flexibility, but then you lose a lot of the other flexibility from Ableton.

[HTT]

Notation is completely integrated in Logic Pro.

https://support.apple.com/guide/logicp ... 35c066/mac

[davide37]

I feel your frustration! I've downloaded Livescore, but haven't tried it with Live yet, as I'm preferring to use Bitwig Studio at present. There's also Reaper to consider, which does include a notation facility, although there's quite a learning curve.

I composed the following piece using Bitwig with the Spitfire Audio BBC SO library. A notation view would have made the chromatic harmonies an awful lot easier to score.

[Michael L]

Anna Meredith composes in Sibelius, exports midi to Ableton, then works from there. Nice work flow; maybe less “integrated” but Ableton made videos on it, discussions, etc. Google.

[Korg Supporter]

Steinberg has a 40% discount for Launchkey owners until August 4.

[jancivil]

Notation is completely integrated in Logic Pro.

https://support.apple.com/guide/logicp ... 35c066/mac

it's very smart, don't know how they did it but it was a smooth translation to/from notation, eg., Muse Score, and it would take a MIDI that isn't corrected/quantized and nail it. I used it a little bit teaching 'music theory'.

one might get more useful feedback at VI Control regarding Dorioc/Cubase, lots of people write from notation in those parts.

[KBSoundSmith]

I use Cubase/Dorico. FWIW, I have some experience with Ableton/Max for Live (haven't used them in a bit, may eventually update Ableton, old version laying around), I use a full license of Max 9, and I was previously a Finale/Sibelius user.

To the point, you can make do with pretty much any DAW and notation combo, so don't fret about which tools you're using. But with that said, especially if you are interested in a DAW/Notation combo for film, Cubase/Dorico is extremely hard to beat. Dorico, by far, is the nicest notation app I've ever used (free or paid), and Cubase has a lot of nice features which make your life much easier for scoring films -- if I had to use Ableton for film, sure I could do it, but if I can choose Cubase, I'm absolutely doing that instead.

Generally my projects in Cubase/Dorico have been separate affairs, but I worked on the Orchestral Tools short film scoring contest about a month ago as an excuse to explore how to integrate the two apps, so if you have any specific questions, a lot of things are still relatively fresh in my memory. But as a brief overview, I started in Cubase and setup markers/hit points/tempo/time signatures/etc, then exported a MIDI file containing that info to Dorico. Most of the writing was done in Dorico. Then I exported completed MIDI parts back into Cubase, did CC automation there, and then added any additional sounds as I thought necessary. Then of course mixing and final output were in Cubase. Overall, pretty simple process.