NoteEdit is a defunct music scorewriter

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:...

 for Linux

Linux

Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...

 and other Unix-like

Unix-like

A Unix-like operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, while not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification....

 computer 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.

NoteEdit is written in C++

C++

C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...

, uses the Qt toolkit

Qt (toolkit)

Qt is a cross-platform application framework that is widely used for developing application software with a graphical user interface , and also used for developing non-GUI programs such as command-line tools and consoles for servers...

, and is integrated with KDE

KDE

KDE is an international free software community producing an integrated set of cross-platform applications designed to run on Linux, FreeBSD, Microsoft Windows, Solaris and Mac OS X systems...

. Released under the GNU General Public License

GNU General Public License

The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....

, NoteEdit is free software

Free software

Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...

.

Features

NoteEdit, unlike some Linux-based music editors, features a graphical user interface

Gui

Gui or guee is a generic term to refer to grilled dishes in Korean cuisine. These most commonly have meat or fish as their primary ingredient, but may in some cases also comprise grilled vegetables or other vegetarian ingredients. The term derives from the verb, "gupda" in Korean, which literally...

. NoteEdit's design has been praised by ITworld, and Linux Journal praised both the interface and the relatively wide range of features and applications of the program.

It supports an unlimited number and length of staffs, polyphony

Polyphony

In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....

, MIDI playback of written note

Note

In music, the term note has two primary meanings:#A sign used in musical notation to represent the relative duration and pitch of a sound;#A pitched sound itself....

s, chord

Chord (music)

A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...

 markings, lyrics

Lyrics

Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...

, and a number of import and export filters to many formats like MIDI, MusicXML

MusicXML

MusicXML is an open, XML-based music notation file format.It was developed by Recordare LLC, deriving several key concepts from existing academic formats . It is designed for the interchange of scores, particularly between different scorewriters.Version 1.0 was released in January 2004...

, abc

Abc notation

ABC notation is a shorthand form of musical notation that has been in use since at least the 19th century, In basic form it uses the letters A through G to represent the given notes, with other elements used to place added value on these - sharp, flat, the length of the note, key, ornamentation...

, MUP, PMX, MusiXTeX

MusiXTeX

MusiXTeX is a suite of open source music engraving macros and fonts that allow music typesetting in TeX.-History:Macros for typesetting music in TeX first appeared in 1987 and were limited to one-staff systems....

 and LilyPond

GNU LilyPond

GNU LilyPond is a computer program for music engraving. One of LilyPond's major goals is to produce scores that are engraved with traditional layout rules, reflecting the era when scores were engraved by hand....

.

Linux Magazine

Linux Magazine

Linux Magazine is a European professional journal. It addresses itself to readers who work professionally with operating systems based around the Linux kernel. Linux Magazine is published by Linux New Media AG and was born after the great success of Linux-Magazin...

 recommends using NoteEdit with FluidSynth

FluidSynth

FluidSynth, formerly known as iiwusynth, is a free open source software synthesizer which converts MIDI note data into an audio signal using SoundFont technology without need for a SoundFont-compatible soundcard. FluidSynth can act as a virtual MIDI device, capable of receiving MIDI data from any...

, a software synthesizer, to expand NoteEdit's abilities. FluidSynth uses wavetable synthesis

Wavetable synthesis

Wavetable synthesis is used in certain digital music synthesizers to implement a restricted form of real-time additive synthesis. The technique was first developed by Wolfgang Palm of PPG in the late 1970s and published in 1979, and has since been used as the primary synthesis method in...

 to simulate the sound of a NoteEdit score played by live instruments.

Authors

NoteEdit was maintained by Jörg Anders for a long time. Since August 2004, a new development team was formed. Now there are quite a few people behind this software project:

• Reinhard Katzmann, project manager
• Christian Fasshauer, programmer
• Erik Sigra, developer
• David Faure, KDE
  KDE
  KDE is an international free software community producing an integrated set of cross-platform applications designed to run on Linux, FreeBSD, Microsoft Windows, Solaris and Mac OS X systems...
  
   User Interface
• Matt Gerassimoff
• Leon Vinken, MusicXML
• Georg Rudolph, LilyPond interface
• Matevž Jekovec, developer and composer
• Karai Csaba, developer

Although NoteEdit is still maintained, some of the current developers have started a new project, Canorus, to replace it, since the NoteEdit source code

Source code

In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...

has certain limitations that make it difficult to maintain and improve.

The original author Jörg Anders has also started a new WYSIWYG GTK+ musical score editor for Linux called NtEd.

External links

• NoteEdit home page
• Linux.com: Editing music scores with free software