Pizzicato User Forum

Hi, Dominique, and thanks for your email.

I was able to install the demo - thanks for asking. I was once a fairly trained musician and haven't done anything at all with music for around 20 years. I'm looking for software that will help me get back to composing and maybe a little music theory also.

So this connects to my first question: I have also looked at Finale Software products and am wondering how Pizzicato is the same and different from the different Finale applications. Is there something you can tell me or something I can read to compare the different options?

Also, a few more questions:
1) Can I export to mp3 and wav files from the software?
2) I have scores in PDF format. Would the software be able to import the PDF version into something I could edit?
3) For music I have already recorded but not scored, can the software transcribe from the recorded version?
4) I'm guessing that any midi keyboard would work with the software, but please let me know if there are any special requirements.
5) Finally, I don't have a fast/new computer. Is the software ok with a computer running XP and 128 meg RA or will it run fairly slowly.

many thanks for all your time in responding -
Alison

Hello Alison,

1) Yes you can export to WAV files with Pizzicato 3.3
2) Not in PDF. You will need a converter from PDF to MIDI or scanning software.
3) If the music is recorded in MIDI files, yes you can, but not from an audio file.
4) There is no particular specification, any MIDI connexion that is recognized by Windows should work.
5) Pizzicato for music notation and MIDI does not need a lot of power, so your computer is OK on that.

Regarding Finale and Pizzicato (Professional 3.3), the approach is quite different.
There are many real composition tools in Pizzicato, quite specific to the act of
composing music. I suggest you watch some of the videos concerning the
music composition tools at :

www.arpegemusic.com/videos.htm

Regarding the notation aspects, both software can do a lot, but the approach
of the user interface is quite different. The Pizzicato manuals are written
to be understandable by anybody, even with no knowledge of music or
computer theory. You can also watch the videos on the above page, for
music notation aspects.

Dominique - ARPEGE, Belgium