Music notation software for Ubuntu
The top music notation software are:
- MidiEditor Graphical interface to edit, play, and record Midi data. Last Update: 2018-06-05
MuseScore is a Graphical WYSIWYG music score typesetter. It has following features:
- Unlimited number of staves
- Up to four voices per staff
- Notes can be entered with mouse, keyboard or via midi
- Can import/export MusicXml and SMF files
To install MuseScore, run the following commands from the terminal:
sudo apt install musescore
NoteEdit is a KDE editor. It supports an unlimited number and length of staffs, polyphony, a MIDI playback of written notes, chord markings, lyrics, a number of import and export filters to many formats like MIDI, MusicXML, ABC Music, MUP, PMX, MusiXTeX, LilyPond, ...
Canorus is a free cross-platform music score editor. It supports an unlimited number and length of staffs, polyphony, a MIDI playback of notes, chord markings, lyrics, import/export filters to formats like MIDI, MusicXML, ABC Music, MusiXTeX and LilyPond.
For Ubuntu 13.10 and prior versions, you can install Canorus by running the commands given below from terminal:
sudo apt install canorus
For Ubuntu 14.04 and later versions, download Canorus from here and install it.
Denemo is a GTK frontend to Lilypond. Download Denemo from here and install it!
Lilypond aims to print music as if it were engraved by hand. It is used to produce musical scores that are engraved with traditional layout rules.
To install Lilypond, run the commands given below from terminal:
Note: LilyPond is a text-based music engraver; it is more similar to a programming language than a graphical score editing program.
So better install one of the frontends like: Frescobaldi:
sudo apt install frescobaldi
Rosegarden is a music composition and editing environment based around a MIDI sequencer that features a rich understanding of music notation and includes basic support for digital audio.
To install Rosegarden, run the commands given below from terminal:
sudo apt install rosegarden
TuxGuitar is a multitrack guitar tablature editor and player written in Java-SWT. It can open GuitarPro, PowerTab and TablEdit files.
To install TuxGuitar, run the commands given below from terminal:
sudo apt install tuxguitar
Helpful links
- UbuntuStudio/Notation
- 8 Best Free Linux Music Notation Software
Engraving:
http://lilypond.org/ - sudo apt-get install lilypond
- Designed primarily for music notation
- Optical font scaling
- Special ledger line handling
- Proportional spacing
- Inspired by Rosegarden (below)
http://www.rosegardenmusic.com/ - sudo apt-get install rosegarden
- Music Notation
- Editing
- MIDI support
- Audio Mixing
- JACK Support
- Based on the Rosegarden project was started in 1993 at the University of Bath
https://musescore.org/ - sudo apt-get install musescore
- Large range of supported filetypes (incl. Guitar Pro)
- Online Score Sharing
- Export to images and/or audio
- WYSIWYG Support
http://www.denemo.org/ - Download Here
- WYSIWYG Support
- Primarily for notation
- Accepts MIDI input
- JACK client
Guitar Tab:
http://www.tuxguitar.com.ar/ - sudo apt-get install tuxguitar
- Tab editor
- Supports Guitar Pro import & export
- Midi Editor
- Written in Java
Editing:
http://frescobaldi.org/ sudo apt-get install frescobaldi
- An editor for Lilypond music files (above)
- Text editor with syntax highlighting
- MIDI Player
- Score wizard
- Snippet manager
Hope that helps!
What about trying Rosegarden - it is in the repositories, so a simple sudo apt-get install rosegarden
does the trick.
I am not certain it's the best alternative, but Rosegarden
exists for more than 8yrs and is in active development.