Igor Engraver
Encyclopedia
Igor Engraver is a music notation program
, published by the Swedish company NoteHeads, and was produced for the Macintosh
and Windows
operating system
s. It was originally created by Swedish composer Peter Bengtson, who stated on the Igor-Talk mailing list that he named it after the stock character
Igor
who appeared in various horror movies, including the Frankenstein
series, as well as commemorating the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky
.
Despite delays in publishing the first version, it was widely praised by early users and beta-testers on the Igor-Talk mailing list for its unprecedented ease of use and its revolutionary user interface, and for its technique of drawing parts from the full score of a composition, instead of these being created separately. This meant that, if a change was made to the score, this was automatically reflected in the parts. This technique was used earlier in the music notation program Composer's Mosaic; but Igor adopted this technique well before Sibelius and Finale did, and so is very likely one of the earliest adopters of the technique.
Unusually for a program of this type, Igor is written almost entirely in Lisp.
For a short time, the program was made freeware
, with the hope that the on-line sale of scores would finance the program; but this was cancelled after being found unworkable.
The company was later sold to new owners, and in 2002 Peter Bengtson retired from active involvement in the company, which is now owned by Björn Ulvaeus
(formerly of the pop group ABBA
), Christer Sturmark
(a Swedish author, I.T. entrepreneur, and debater on religion and humanism), Per Gessle
(a member of the pop groups Gyllene Tider
and Roxette
), and Cons T. Åhs (a computer science researcher).
The web site at http://www.noteheads.com is still there and have not been maintained for some years, and a new version of the program has not appeared for a similar time; but some time during 2009 an undated notice appeared on the front page of the web site, referring to rumours about NoteHeads which had circulated on the Internet (without saying what the rumours were), and stated that the company had been inactive for a couple of years after the software had been saved from disappearing due to the cancellation of the previous NoteHeads company; it further stated that an upgrade would be issued in the near future (which would be free for current users of version 1.7, the current version), and that all the company owners were still involved with the company.
As of today, in march 2011, it seems like the NoteHeads company has no more activity, and that they have closed down the business.
Scorewriter
A scorewriter, or music notation program, is software used for creating sheet music.A scorewriter is to music notation what a word processor is to text.-Comparison with multitrack sequencer software:...
, published by the Swedish company NoteHeads, and was produced for the Macintosh
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
and Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
s. It was originally created by Swedish composer Peter Bengtson, who stated on the Igor-Talk mailing list that he named it after the stock character
Stock character
A Stock character is a fictional character based on a common literary or social stereotype. Stock characters rely heavily on cultural types or names for their personality, manner of speech, and other characteristics. In their most general form, stock characters are related to literary archetypes,...
Igor
Igor (fictional character)
Igor is the traditional stock character or cliché hunch-backed assistant or butler to many types of villain, such as Count Dracula or a mad scientist, familiar from many horror movies and horror movie parodies, the Frankenstein series and Van Helsing films in particular.-Origins:Dwight Frye's...
who appeared in various horror movies, including the Frankenstein
Frankenstein (1931 film)
Frankenstein is a 1931 Pre-Code Horror Monster film from Universal Pictures directed by James Whale and adapted from the play by Peggy Webling which in turn is based on the novel of the same name by Mary Shelley. The film stars Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles and Boris Karloff, and features...
series, as well as commemorating the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
.
Despite delays in publishing the first version, it was widely praised by early users and beta-testers on the Igor-Talk mailing list for its unprecedented ease of use and its revolutionary user interface, and for its technique of drawing parts from the full score of a composition, instead of these being created separately. This meant that, if a change was made to the score, this was automatically reflected in the parts. This technique was used earlier in the music notation program Composer's Mosaic; but Igor adopted this technique well before Sibelius and Finale did, and so is very likely one of the earliest adopters of the technique.
Unusually for a program of this type, Igor is written almost entirely in Lisp.
For a short time, the program was made freeware
Freeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
, with the hope that the on-line sale of scores would finance the program; but this was cancelled after being found unworkable.
The company was later sold to new owners, and in 2002 Peter Bengtson retired from active involvement in the company, which is now owned by Björn Ulvaeus
Björn Ulvaeus
Björn Kristian Ulvaeus is a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, writer, producer, a former member of the Swedish musical group ABBA , and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!...
(formerly of the pop group ABBA
ABBA
ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
), Christer Sturmark
Christer Sturmark
Nils Gösta Christer Sturmark, born 7 September 1964 in Danderyd, Stockholm County, is a Swedish author, IT-entrepreneur and prominent debater on religion and humanism in Swedish media....
(a Swedish author, I.T. entrepreneur, and debater on religion and humanism), Per Gessle
Per Gessle
Per Håkan Gessle is a Swedish pop singer-songwriter, guitarist, and harmonicist. He is the lead singer of the Swedish pop group Gyllene Tider and formed Roxette with Marie Fredriksson...
(a member of the pop groups Gyllene Tider
Gyllene Tider
Gyllene Tider is a Swedish pop group. The name Gyllene Tider translates as "Golden ages" or "Golden times". Few Scandinavians would not recognize the band's most famous song "Sommartider", often played on the radio during late spring and early summer...
and Roxette
Roxette
Roxette are a Swedish pop music duo, consisting of Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle . Formed in 1986, the duo became an international act from the late 1980s, when they released their breakthrough album Look Sharp!...
), and Cons T. Åhs (a computer science researcher).
The web site at http://www.noteheads.com is still there and have not been maintained for some years, and a new version of the program has not appeared for a similar time; but some time during 2009 an undated notice appeared on the front page of the web site, referring to rumours about NoteHeads which had circulated on the Internet (without saying what the rumours were), and stated that the company had been inactive for a couple of years after the software had been saved from disappearing due to the cancellation of the previous NoteHeads company; it further stated that an upgrade would be issued in the near future (which would be free for current users of version 1.7, the current version), and that all the company owners were still involved with the company.
As of today, in march 2011, it seems like the NoteHeads company has no more activity, and that they have closed down the business.
External links
- http://www.noteheads.com NoteHeads, publisher of Igor Engraver
- http://peterbengtson.com/ Web site of Peter Bengtson, creator of Igor Engraver