Arranging programs

[Bubbles]

Besides Finale, is there any other programs that I could use to arrange music with? I dont really have the money to buy it, so I was wondering if there was any other free software or if everything had to be done on Finale

[Shadoninja]

There's noteflight and musescore

[Bubbles]

Are they worth the download though? I mean are they too confusing or whatever that theyre not even worth trying

[Shadoninja]

I don't know, I've never used them but other people on this forum swear by them.

[TheZeldaPianist275]

MuseScore is even more intuitive than Finale; it's a great alternative.  It's not quite as high-quality, but it gets the job done with finesse.

[Bubbles]

Do you have to have a MUS file when you create the song? I don't want to spend a lot of time but then not be able to submit it.

[Dudeman]

The only way you could make an MUS off of MuseScore is to save the file as an XML and then re-open it and save it in finale as an MUS. MuseScore doesn't do MUS.

[JDMEK5]

The program I use is called Notation Composer
It's tons cheaper than Finale and can do basically everything that Finale can do.
The one issue is that it can't do anything with MUS files.
It has a few little glitches here and there, but nothing common or serious.

And yes, you do have to pay for it. But there is a 30-day trial.

But other than that, it's great.

EDIT: And it can export MIDI and XML files.

[DonValentino]

Besides Finale, is there any other programs that I could use to arrange music with? I dont really have the money to buy it, so I was wondering if there was any other free software or if everything had to be done on Finale

It's free!

[Bubbles]

Ok I downloaded Finale Notepad, but if they're keeping certain parts of the software away from me to make me buy the full version its not working. If anything it makes me want to stop anything to do with finale Im having so much trouble with it, but i wont 

[TheZeldaPianist275]

Yeah, I'm afraid NotePad is pretty much an advertising scheme.

[Zunawe]

Finale is the most popular, and therefore it'll be the best choice for arranging here. MuseScore is more complete by a longshot compared to NotePad, but the formatting gets screwy when converted to xml and into NotePad. Anything else is going to have that problem with converting as well. However, PDFs and MIDIs should be fine for feedback purposes, if slightly inconvenient for other people.

I would say stick with NotePad for now. If you feel too limited, MuseScore would be next (the differences take a little bit to get used to). You would just have to deal with formatting issues or find some way around it (i.e. find somebody with a better Finale to edit converted sheets to look and work better).

[TheZeldaPianist275]

MuseScore is more complete by a longshot compared to NotePad, but the formatting gets screwy when converted to xml and into NotePad.

Poor Zunawe knows from personal experience.

[Bespinben]

Ok I downloaded Finale Notepad, but if they're keeping certain parts of the software away from me to make me buy the full version its not working. If anything it makes me want to stop anything to do with finale Im having so much trouble with it, but i wont 

Perhaps you should give the full Finale 30-day trial a try. I know it'll only last for so long, but the amount of stress it'll take away from the arranging process is substantial.

[Bubbles]

I'll probably end up doing that when I have a bunch of songs I want to make and plenty of free time. As of right now, I just started, so not yet