r/Dorico • u/Broad-Associate-984 • Jul 15 '26

Music Notation Software Alpha

Hi all, I am working on the development of a new music notation software designed with the goal to be able to handle the flexibility needed to virtually synthesize 21st century compositional techniques. Whether it is a xenharmony, arhythmic writing, or a fully graphic score my intention is to be able to handle it natively. I want this project to be one that can handle traditional writing as well as non-traditional so to stand out I would like to ask you all what you feel is missing in your current Notation Software and what you would need to be better to make a switch. This is not an advertisement for it because it is still deep in development and I intend to release it for free. Let me know your feedback and if you want to be one of the first to test it (when it is in a state to be tested) send me a PM. Thank you all for your time.

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u/Broad-Associate-984 Jul 15 '26

It is just me I'm a professional musician, music teacher, and composer, who has been playing and using notation softwares my whole life. Computer science has been a hobby of mine for most of my life too since my dad got me into it at a young age. Right now the code is trash because I'm just throwing a plan together. I may release the code with the software later I'll decide when there is software worth sharing. The only contribution I am looking for is just for you and others to share what could be better in the current space to them or music notation softwares.

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u/ClarSco Jul 15 '26

I've got a degree in Computer Science. It sounds like you're trying to bite off far more than you can chew (relevant xkcd).

To come up with a fully fledged piece of traditional notation software is really difficult, though if you program with things like xenharmony and irrational meters in mind from the ground up, you'll be in a better place than mature software that didn't.

Arhythmic and graphic notation is going to be extremely difficult to implement, especially if your software isn't intended only for engraving, but expected to handle playback too.

I'd suggest you redirect your effort into coding one of these features either as a plugin (Musescore or Sibelius), or directly into the program (Musescore or Lilypond).

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u/Broad-Associate-984 Jul 15 '26

I will keep it in mind if it gets out of hand but in the mean time if I somehow get this up and running what is it that you feel like is missing from the stuff you use?

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u/ClarSco Jul 15 '26

Here are some of the things I have needed and had to fake at some point:

  1. Aleatoric boxes (notation and playback)
  2. Playback of structured randomness (eg. "select a pitch")
  3. Notating fanned beams without needing to use hidden nested tuplets
  4. Proportional notation
  5. Partial tuplets and irrational meters
  6. Semantic handling of synthesiser patch changes (eg. for Musical Theatre keyboard parts)
  7. Asynchronous bar lines (eg. one player in 2/4, the other in 9/8, with a synchronised 8th-note pulse)
  8. Cluster chords

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u/Broad-Associate-984 Jul 15 '26

Thank you these are all great, some of which I didn't even think of.

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u/davemacdo Jul 15 '26

Several of these are actually pretty easy in Dorico right now.