Introduction > What's New in previous versions

The following is the history of "what's new" in previous versions.

Notation Composer 4 - What's New

•New - SmartMode – automatic mode switching and cursors so you can see at a glance which tool you’re using, making the interface more intuitive. Now, rather than having to manually toggle between Add and Select mode (though you can still do that, too), Composer "knows" what you want to do and shows you an "add"-ready cursor, or intelligently lets you select a score element that you mouse over and click.

•New - Virtual Piano Keyboard for adding notes to the score in a Step-time fashion.

•New - The internal Notation Software Synth now reads the patch names for instruments from all banks of the loaded soundfont

•New - Full DPI awareness for high-resolution screens and high resolution support

•New - Newsletter on splash screen to keep you up-to-date

•New - 64 bit application for the latest operating systems -Windows 7 x64 through Windows 11 x64, Mac OSX El Capitan to macOS Catalina, Ubuntu LTS 18.04, LTS 20.04, other Linux distributions on request

•New - Fresh and flexible look with selectable fonts for the interface.

•New - Microsoft Print to PDF capability

•New technology - New Prof-UIS, TinyXML-2, and fluidsynth libraries for enhanced performance of the interface, MusicXML handling, and sound for the Notation Software Synth.

•The Band-in-a-Box®* plugin for Notation Composer is easier than ever to use.

•And of course, many bug fixes, including some big improvements to Step-Time Recording.

Notation Composer 3 - What's New

The following new features and improvements are included in Notation Composer version 3.

MusicXML Import and Improved Export Support

•MusicXML import (File/Open) and export (File/Export) is now supported for filetypes .xml, .musicxml, and .mxl (compressed MusicXML). Please note that due to the dynamic nature of the MusicXML protocol, not all features for score annotations are available as yet, but we will continue to work on these different aspects of the MusicXML protocol set as they are solidified in the MusicXML community. See the section on MusicXML for details. Composer has the fastest and cleanest MusicXML import and export of any music notation software product with this feature set.

Sound Enhancements

•Notation Software Synth - an internal sound synth using a General MIDI (GM) soundfont to guarantee sound on any machine. Composer allows you to select the GM soundfont you would like to use for your sounds, and now includes SF2 and SF3 capability.

•Export Audio files as .WAV, .MP3, .OGG, or .FLAC - lets you export an audio version of your arrangements and compositions to share with others.

•ASIO driver support, eliminates latency (delay) issues. Selecting the ASIO driver and the Notation Software Synth for playback and recording assures you of good sound and no latency for more accurate recording and transcription.

•Sounds of original imported MIDI files supported, especially useful for devices that use specific extended bank voices.

•Recovers "select" sound sets from original MIDI files created using device-specific banks and instrument patches. If you have a Yamaha (or other keyboard/synthesizer/library) that generates files with special sound sets, Notation Composer can now find and preserve those special sounds, even from older saved .not files, and put them back in so that your songs sound great when you play them, or when you export a MIDI (.mid) file to play on your keyboard or other device.

Band in a Box® plugin

•A plugin for Band in a Box® is available as an additional license purchase for notation composer. The plugin will automatically generate accompaniment for your song using the chord names in the song, allows multiple "takes", and integrates them with tools already available in notation composer. The trial version has 25 styles; the fully purchased version has 150 styles, as well as the capability to use styles you may already have or acquire.

Direct Image Export

•Specific pages or the entire score can be exported as High Resolution image files for use in other documents. BMP, PNG, JPG, and GIF export are supported (.gif is not available yet for Mac and Ubuntu systems).

Direct PDF Export

•Notation music sheets can be exported directly using our High Resolution PDF Export for crisp notation sheets.

More Language Versions

•Now available in German and Spanish versions.

•QuickStart Guides available for each language version.

•German version uses German style notation.

•A German version of the website is also in place to support German-speaking/reading customers.

•A flexible upgrade path to switch the language variant of the software when upgrading your product.

New platforms supported

•Mac - Founded on the Wine HQ environment, the latest version is enhanced to provide the best experience on Apple MACs. See our MAC installation guide at www.notation.com/MAC.php

•Linux's Ubuntu and openSUSE are now supported, also founded on the WineHQ environment. See our Ubuntu installation guide at www.notation.com/Ubuntu.php

Detection of Modern Keyboards

•Modern keyboards today have a certain structure through their USB interface. Version 3.0.2 and later detects those accurately.

Improved User Interface

•More stream-lined user interface for fast and effective work with the software

•Better feedback for correcting musical problems with song files

•Enhanced color scheme

Yamaha XF Chord Format Support

•Full implementation of Yamaha's XF format for chord names, both for importing from .mid files and exporting to .mid files.

Chord Name Enhancements

•Chord names are compared to the underlying notation and checked for validity. Chord names that are "suspect" are marked for easy correction using the Chord Name tools.

•MusicXML export of chord names

•Verification of chord name compatibility with different MIDI export filetypes and for the Band in a Box® plugin.

MIDI Device Configuration Manager (DCM) Enhancements

•Improved interface for easier access and use

•New folder structure for saving and restoring backup configuration files

MIDI Enhancements

•GraphOverNotes - better integration with Staff Setup

Quality and Security Initiative

•Many bugs corrected in Version 3

•Security enhancements to protect users who purchase a license

•Easy installation procedure with "Readme" guides

•Easy update process for free updates

•Easy restoration later if a problem should occur requiring reinstallation of the software.

•Improved service support with real-time logging and fault diagnosis for better customer service

•Backup installation is saved in a zip folder for easy user storage and recovery.

Technology

•Enhanced User Interface libraries from Microsoft, Inc. and FOSS Software, Inc.

•New user-friendly grids using the modern grid technology of Ultimate Grid

•Version 3 has been developed with Microsoft's modern development environment to provide support for future operating systems

•ASIO integration for better visual and sound experience.

Tutorial Videos

•Tutorial videos are available on the website to help you get going fast