LilyPond

1.0 stars

"Don't waste time with this, get MuseScore"

September 7, 2011  |   By neilmak

Version: LilyPond 2.12.3-1

Pros

None to speak of

Cons

Data entry is primitive and unwieldy

Summary

Antiquated, out-dated data entry method.

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5.0 stars

"Excellent program for creating sheet music"

September 7, 2010  |   By Greg Lovern

Version: LilyPond 2.12.1-1

Pros

It has a brilliant way of encoding musical notation in text. Reminds me somewhat of Regular Expressions. There is a lot there, so it can sometimes be a challenge to find how to do some detail, but the extensive tutorial is very helpful.

Cons

The interface is extremely primitive. The programmer probably just doesn't know Windows programming.

The documentation, which is absolutely necessary, is not downloaded with the program. You have to go to the web site to download it.

Summary

My 6yo son has been taking a music class and learning to read and play simple sheet music. He's been asking for sheet music for the Beatles' Yellow Submarine, but what I've found online has been too comlex for him. I wanted to write a simple version for him, so I've been looking for a free program to write simple sheet music.Everything else I looked at was worthless. LilyPond was excellent. The scheme for encoding musical notation is brilliant and reminds me of Regular Expressions.

The interface is very primitive. You write your text file in Notepad, save it, and drag & drop it on the icon for the console (character-based) application. Wow. Takes me back to the early 90's. But it's adequate. As with Regular Expressions, all you really need is Notepad and the documentation.

Be sure to go to the website and download the documenation. You won't get anywhere without it.

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3.0 stars

"Am I Being Paranoid?"

August 30, 2010  |   By billbois

Version: LilyPond 2.12.1-1

Pros

I can't really comment about the program itself.

Cons

I can't really comment about the program itself.

Summary

It was easy to install but upon starting, it asked me to save a .PDF file to my desktop and then drag it to the icon it had created there. There was also an open CMD window. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but it struck me as suspicious. Why would a true Windows program have a CMD window and need user interaction to start? So I did neither of those things. I'm in the process of deleting it which also strikes me as suspicious. Has anyone else run this program?

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Posted in: LilyPond