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Songworks 3 Features
(All music images are from the Songworks screen *)
Download Free Songworks Demo
Easy note entry (click a note where you want it to go, or play it on the piano). Use either the tools palette or
the convenient keyboard shortcuts. You can choose to have the program enter bar lines automatically, or enter them yourself where you want them.
Easy viewing. Work in either double-size or normal.
Easy entry of lyrics or other text. Lyric syllables align automatically with notes.
Easy entry of chord symbols. Use the standard names supplied by Songworks, or any chord name you like.
Easily print at any size. Tiny notes or huge notes. If the scaling is set small, more measures fit on the printed page.
Everything's adjustable! Drag note stems to adjust flags and beams, drag bar lines to compress or expand measures (Songworks does not require a fixed number of measures per line). Drag notes up or down to change their pitch. Like this:
Chord symbols are audible! Hear that chord accompaniment play with your melody in your choice of playpattern). Available playpatterns range from Boogie-Woogie to Arpeggios:
Identifies any chord you play! When in the 'chord layer,' Songworks will analyze any chord you play, will show you its name, and will enter the appropriate chord symbol for that chord if you press the Enter key.
Can suggest chords to go with your melody! Listen to the suggestions and then try making changes.
Can automatically convert chord symbols to written piano accompaniment with your choice of accompaniment pattern.
becomes
Invents melody and harmony ideas to stimulate your imagination! These can be very interesting owing to
our unique method of generating melody and harmony.
Flexible input methods. Use the letter keys "piano" or an external MIDI instrument, or the mouse.
The letter keys can act either as a normal (but short!) piano, as below, or as a special keyboard that plays just the notes of the current key
in three octaves. The number keys can simultaneously be used to change the sounding chord, so this is an easy way to improvise melodies.
If you like something you're doing, turn on the "record" feature and play it again so that Songworks can notate it for you.
The > and < keys are used to change the octave when doing a normal piano.
Allows microphone input for pitches (sing in pitches, then tap desired rhythm).
Transpose any staff or the whole score with the click of the mouse - including any chord symbols and their names.
Music edit window displays in a continuous left-right scrolling view Edit music without dealing with line breaks (lines will break automatically when you ask for a page view). As you listen, the music glides leftward - good for playing along.
Listen to any individual staff or combination of staves in a polyphonic composition.
This is particularly useful when combined with Active Listening,™ in which you tap the rhythm* of a chosen part, its pitches
come out automatically, and the other parts play along with you - a great way to learn your part in a chorale, and fun for its own sake.
Extract orchestra or vocal parts from a score.
Supports Shape Notes. (Both 4 and 7-shape systems - and chooses the right shapes for you), percussion note heads, and stick notation. (see video tutorial)
Imports and Exports "partwise" MusicXML files and MIDI files. Imports ABCMusic files.
Online Music Library Direct access to Ars Nova's Online Music Library from within the program.
Make publishable music example images (Mac only) Take a Picture command produces a high-resolution pdf image of any selected portion of music.
Handy composition tools include tonal transposition, inversion, reverse, reverse inversion, etc.
Windows and Mac versions are file-compatible. (You can use the same music files with either). And your purchase lets you use the program on either platform - or both, for you personal use.
Check out the Instructional Movies!
And don't forget the Customer Testimonials...
* Images and sounds taken from the Macintosh OSX version.
* Rhythm tapping depends on a quick sound system. On Macintosh OSX you can use either the built-in sound or an external MIDI device, as you prefer.
If you'd like to do rhythm tapping using built-in sound on a Windows computer we have supplied a special sound driver to replace the relatively slow music synthesizer provided with the system. It will appear in Songworks' sound/midi settings as "Ars Nova Sound."
What's new in version 3? Lots:
Modernized for current computers. Songworks is compatible with . The Mac version is a universal binary, running native on either Intel or PPC Macs.
Improved interpretation of music that you play on a keyboard or import via a MIDI file. Songworks 3 is more forgiving of small errors in input;
inaccurate playing is more likely to come out looking reasonable on the page. If you're importing a MIDI file exported from another
notation program, Songworks 3 will reduce trills and ornaments to simpler forms so that they don't confuse the notation.
Automatic entry of measure lines as you enter notes. Or you can turn off that option and just enter the measure lines where you want them, or have the program enter them automatically later.
Notes sound as they are entered or dragged on the staff. Or not, if you prefer. Dragging notes up or down is a quick way to change pitch.
Imports and exports MusicXML files. MusicXML by Ricordare is a universal notation format. Unlike MIDI files, MusicXML contains full information
about the appearance of a score. Songworks 3 can import and export "partwise" MusicXML files that contain the most important visual elements in a Songworks score. Songworks also imports and exports MIDI files, and imports ABCMusic too.
Exported MIDI files perform all repeats, first/second endings, etc. Though you can choose to turn off that feature if desired.
Macintosh version can export sound files directly. Using exactly the same sounds you're hearing from the computer's synthesizer. Those sound files can be imported into iTunes and burned to a CD. This feature is only on the Mac version because it takes advantage of a capability built into the Mac system. On Windows you can accomplish a similar result by exporting a MIDI file and converting that to a sound file using any of various programs that convert MIDI to sound.
Cue and Grace notes Notes and other symbols can be printed in smaller than usual size as "cue" notes or graces; graces are performed rather than being visual only (your choice of on-the-beat or before).
New keyboard types. One displays moveable-do solfege on each clave of the piano, as appropriate for the chosen key. Another displays the appropriate shape note for each clave, as appropriate in the chosen key.
Independent volume sliders for each staff.
Shape notes now can be used with more than one voice per staff.
Simplified sound choices. The output buttons at the right of the keyboard are just MIDI in and MIDI out. If you're not using MIDI out, the output is the built-in sound on your computer: CoreAudio on the Mac or the internal synthesizer on Windows. If you choose MIDI in but no MIDI out, the program will automatically trigger internal sounds when you play a note on the device.
Dashed slurs and ties option Useful as editorial indications.
The indexed manual is always available from a menu in Songworks and now runs in its own window without opening your browser.
Can be run without installing on computer Songworks 3 no longer requires a music font, and therefore can be carried from one computer to another on a memory stick without ever installing on the computer. Or you can install it in the traditional way.
New keyboard appearance. Just for fun, you can choose a piano frame in ebony, maple, brushed steel, and others.
And more. We've responded to many customer requests in Songworks 3. We think you'll find it even more fun than the original.
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