Best Music Notation Software of 2020 - Dorico

Dorico and NotePerformer are the best music notation software of 2020. At this point in time, they are unstoppable. Normally blogs discuss the “top 10”, “top 5”, or make another list of software. However, I am focusing just on one winner this time: the combination of Dorico and NotePerformer.

I am in no way endorsed, compensated, or otherwise positively or negatively affected by reviewing these programs. These are my honest opinions from using them across dozens of projects.

Dorico and NotePerfomer are the Best Music Notation Software of 2020

What is Dorico?

Dorico is a music notation software product developed by Steinberg, the makers of Cubase. Originally a long shot at becoming a contender with dominating powers Finale (by MakeMusic) and Sibelius (by Avid), it has now become the most innovative and sophisticated program, while being one of the easiest to use. Dorico’s ability to do so many complex functions in an intuitive manner catapulted it to the forefront of music industry discussions once version 1 was released. Now with version 3.5 just released, Dorico has a wealth of features that Finale and Sibelius simply cannot stand up to.

As a result, it is creeping in on their market share. While not accepted as the industry standard quite yet, a title that Finale or Sibelius holds depending on which musician you ask, it is gaining traction as a truly viable alternative to the mainstream–and it is becoming very much the new gold standard.

What is NotePerformer?

NotePerformer boasts an artificial intelligence engine that, without using massive amounts of samples like your traditional sample library, creates very musical, highly realistic renditions of your scores in Dorico, Sibelius, and Finale. It is an amazing piece of software that “just works”. From the moment you create a piece with it to the finished product, you know you are getting a MIDI rendition that doesn’t sound like a computer spitting out MIDI squawks and squeaks.

Why are Dorico and NotePeformer the Best Music Notation Software of 2020?

Dorico lacks amazing sample libraries by default, in my opinion. I am not a fan of their built-in sample HALion product. NotePerformer is only a playback engine; it cannot notate scores for you. But, when combined, Dorico and NotePerformer put artificial intelligence into the score (Dorico) and and artificial intelligence into the audio (NotePerformer), and the combination allows a composer, arranger, orchestrator, educator, etc. to quickly and easily create music, resulting in a better finished product because one can focus on the details of what really matters, instead of navigating clunky menus, troubleshooting bugs, and figuring out how to get the software to do what you want. The results you can create are stunning.

Current features of Dorico

Dorico features automatic functions and a variety of user-reliant functions. Here are just a few big-ticket items, almost all of which I have used personally and can speak to.

Automatic and detailed manual engraving functions – dedicated Engrave mode
Detailed notation functions, from lines to bar numbers to harp pedaling to jazz notation to ossias
Easy-to-use graphic design of pages, and easy printing and PDF-making
Microtonality support
Asynchronous barline support
Amazingly simple part-making process
Intelligent and flexible notation input options – I have never had an easier time inputting music
A playback module that functions very much like a DAW but doesn’t have a high learning curve
When NotePerfomer is installed, automatic playback of traditionally-notated music with high degree of humanism and superb instrumental realism
When writing non-traditional music, the notation options far surpass other programs

Dorico immensely improved a Sibelius project – my experience

I run a small Fiverr account, and one client approached me with a piece that needed some serious cleanup. The composition was a magnificent piece, but Sibelius had messed up the score. The composition was particularly problematic in its collisions, the violin divisi, and the output sounded terrible. I knew that the piece was beautiful, expressive, lyrical, and worth a re-do in Dorico because I heard the score in my head, despite the fact that Sibelius had tarnished the work.

Within 4 hours of importing an XML file from the Sibelius version into Dorico, I easily had a beautiful score, clear and functional divisi, and parts that were 99% ready to go once the score was cleaned up. And, NotePerformer made sure that the piece showed its true beauty. I had imagined that the work sounded great by reading the score in my head, but once in Dorico, NotePerformer generated a humanistic, realistic version worthy of a film score.

I turned in the work well before the 24-hour deadline. The results were impressive and were due mainly to Dorico and NotePerformer. (The original piece is someone else’s work, so I am not posting it here.) That Dorico and NotePerformer could bring out a piece’s true nature in 4 hours astounded me, especially since Sibelius, which is much easier to use than Finale, had had trouble with the score and playback.