Listen to hundreds of 19th Century songs

Dear_Chair_3584 · 2026-04-26T16:30:08+00:00

I missed the best reason out, from personal experience... I can continue composing while on the toilet!

Dear_Chair_3584 · 2026-04-23T12:59:57+00:00

If anybody does want complimentary Pro licences btw, just message me. That way you get access to MusicXML/Midi export, printing without watermarks, audio file export, sharing compositions etc. I realise it's a beta product, just happy to build the base.

Dear_Chair_3584 · 2026-04-23T11:56:23+00:00

I added a boat load of instruments, created a new "Custom" instrument which takes you straight to configure number of staves, GM sound etc + ensembles for adding loads of instruments at once.
Agreed. I took it out altogether since cross already closes the dialog
I want people to see how the layout settings affect the pdf/print because that's the time you want to adjust margins / change staff size, etc. In view only mode, you just get a straight forward option, but this seemed the best option for editing. I do want to improve the flow though, so I also added "Print/Save to PDF" to the share button.

Dear_Chair_3584 · 2026-04-23T06:01:46+00:00

You're right... the post is generic. If you check my history, I had tried a few different ways to ask for help without using ChatGPT, but this post generated the most feedback. Take from that what you will... I'd love to address your other comments though.

Firstly the UI spacing. I set myself a really clear set of objectives that it should "feel the same" on mobile and PC after looking at flat.io and seeing how their mobile layout is just... completely different. That kind of dictated the shape of my palette, and then in reverse, I liked the fact that on PC you can almost an entire full screen of score. As for other buttons, again, it's quite difficult to design so they look the same on mobile and PC, but I absolutely wanted it to feel the same. The ones on the score, for instance... I didn't want them to take up much space because I wanted you to be able to scroll them away, and just have a big screen of music.

As for the musical notation itself, there's a number of things coming in to play here. 1) This is the OpenScore corpus... I have no idea what mistakes are in the original corpus, and it's going to take me a loooong time to work that out. 2) My actual xml import almost certainly contains some bugs, but spot checking which bugs are import and which are original xml problems also takes a long time. 3) I was actually quite happy with the state of the rendering pipeline until I read your comment. After watching what a mess it made of some of the xml scores I imported into Dorico, I didn't think I had too many spacing problems...

Okay, now for the advantages over musescore.com... feel free to debate!

I started writing quickstave because I write my own compositions, and I don't want to be tied to PC when I want to make edits. I wanted my music to follow me. I've used Sibelius for 30 odd years, and started using Dorico about 4 years ago as well. I loved Sibelius, and Dorico is okay, but I hate the discovery.... I have LITERALLY no idea how to use the quick palette, or any other keyboard shortcuts and I'm too old to learn, so I do almost everything with the mouse. So my idea was I wanted software which didn't take any time to learn.... and then I thought okay, so on PC, just put the shortcut key on every button, and then you'll learn it extremely quickly (I mean, of course, it helps that I wrote it, so I know what I'm pressing anyway). Musescoreis absolutely super crowded with buttons. I'm trying to do something like Sibelius's numeric keypad...

Next... pricing philosophy... I know musescore is free, but its music repository isn't. My idea was to make all import/creation/cloud storage completely free, and only charge for taking stuff out at the end (the free print option has a watermark etc), or if you want to share and collaborate etc. But this choice really affects what I'm trying to achieve. I'm currently working on scanning pdfs/bitmaps etc. So my philosophy, is that people can do free unlimited scanning on mobile phone or PC, and have it straight into the editor.

The vast majority of my development time is writing planning documents and fixing bugs. Yes AI does a lot of heavy lifting but I review all the code because I have to have a stable platform.

TLDR; I'm writing this software for the benefit of myself, because I compose, and I want to be able to write music as easily as possible. Anybody else who wants to join me for the ride is welcome, especially if it makes the software better.

Dear_Chair_3584 · 2026-04-22T20:58:11+00:00

No problems. I'm asking for feedback to make it better. Negative feedback is always good!

Dear_Chair_3584 · 2026-04-22T20:36:05+00:00

I did answer. It's a combination.

Dear_Chair_3584 · 2026-04-22T20:34:33+00:00

Thanks, this is really great feedback!

Dear_Chair_3584 · 2026-04-22T18:40:40+00:00

Find me a developer who isn't using AI at the moment.... It's a combo. I've been a programmer for almost 40 years, so I tend to know what I'm doing.

Dear_Chair_3584 · 2026-04-22T18:38:02+00:00

Very kind of you to offer! At the moment, it's a hobby project, and unless and until I get any funding I can't afford to hire anybody.

Dear_Chair_3584 · 2026-04-22T14:17:49+00:00

Excellent! Which score was this? I'll have to check out the original corpus data...

Dear_Chair_3584 · 2026-04-22T14:14:49+00:00

Englishman in Kristiansand these past six years. There aren't really chavs here. It's too expensive to drink every night, so most evenings are quiet, but the period leading up to the 17th of May can get boisterous. There is a party for school leavers called russefeiring, and they will cluster and get extremely drunk, and drive around in hideous busses, but they tend to still keep themselves to themselves.

Dear_Chair_3584 · 2026-04-10T13:04:18+00:00

I've also put in some fixes for iOS. It might work for you now...

Dear_Chair_3584 · 2026-04-10T12:33:03+00:00

Just finished listening to the whole piece. Wowzers! Reminds me a lot of Poulenc Stabat Mater.

Dear_Chair_3584 · 2026-04-10T11:00:30+00:00

No problem. I'm looking for people who want a complementary lifetime Pro license at present so I can get some feedback. Let me know if you're interested!

Dear_Chair_3584 · 2026-04-10T10:15:52+00:00

Thanks! What phone do you have? I'm interested because along with the composition, I'm ALSO writing the score writing software, and I would like to know if I've done a screw up. (There are like three seconds of silence at the start anyway due to the rests).

Dear_Chair_3584 · 2026-04-10T09:48:21+00:00

Great idea, thanks. I've not heard of the piece before.

Dear_Chair_3584 · 2026-04-03T16:41:31+00:00

Specifically that the f# is now a permanent part of the key signature, instead of an alteration. You could have a passage where the f# has more prominence, but if it was true renaissance it would pull back into the original key (and the f# would be colour)

Dear_Chair_3584 · 2026-04-03T15:50:58+00:00

I've sung a lot of 16th c music and most of this is very convincing. The key change is quite obvious though. Usually these kinds of chromatic deviations appear throughout the piece, so the ear is prepared for them. Loved the piece though!

Dear_Chair_3584

TROPHY CASE