Encore back from the dead

Recommendations concerning notation and publishing software in a non-partisan environment.
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benwiggy
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Joined: 11 Apr 2016, 19:42

Encore back from the dead

Post by benwiggy »

Don Williams seems to have bought back the rights to Encore, and will be releasing a new version in the Autumn.

https://passportmusic.com

I'm not sure what that means for Overture, his other notation app.

We've discussed previously how the number of notation apps currently in development is surprisingly large. In a crowded market, I wonder what the 'USP' is, other than for a subset of existing/prior Encore users with legacy documents. It's always been marketed as 'user friendly', but that's hardly unique.
JJP
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Re: Encore back from the dead

Post by JJP »

Wow, that's interesting.

It seems like many people are aware that the available notation software isn't meeting everyone's needs. However, I agree with you that there is a question of where the market is for most of these programs. Those seeking fully-featured, professional tools and willing to pay for them are a relatively small market for so much development effort.

Interesting times may be ahead.
There is no computer problem so complex that it cannot be solved by a sledge hammer.

Symbols of Sound - music preparation and consulting
benwiggy
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Re: Encore back from the dead

Post by benwiggy »

JJP wrote: 19 Jul 2022, 21:58 It seems like many people are aware that the available notation software isn't meeting everyone's needs.
Many people? What do you base that on?

I doubt that any software (of any kind) meets everyone's needs. There's a balance between the needs it fulfils, and the needs it doesn't. I may be willing to forgive a rare failing, if my daily needs are met. Conversely, I may look elsewhere if the failings are too annoying and too common.

(There's the oft-quoted maxim of Pareto's Law, which states that people will use 20% of the features, 80% of the time. Trying to nail down every possible need is a diminishing return.)

Encore may meet some users' needs, and if that's a sufficient number to give Don a living, that's great. I remain curious: is it meeting a widespread need that's not addressed by other apps? Does that outweigh whatever annoyances and limitations there may be?

The (admittedly sparse) information on the website lists "Multiple Undo" as a headline feature. That might have been a feature in 1990, but these days, it's entirely expected.

However, my biggest concern, if I were to consider using it, would be: In the event of anything untoward happening to Don Williams, is there a succession in place to carry on his work?
Last edited by benwiggy on 20 Jul 2022, 08:28, edited 1 time in total.
NorFonts
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Joined: 08 Jan 2021, 18:55

Re: Encore back from the dead

Post by NorFonts »

Please read more here: http://sonicscores.com/forum/viewtopic. ... 978#p77978

— Old font designer @GVOX here by the way ;-) — I'm not sure if they will be using my old EncoreNorMusic V2 font or not. Still didn't get any email from passportdesign/gvox
Nor Eddine Bahha
https://norfonts.ma
Jazz pianist, composer/arranger, author and Type Designer
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benwiggy
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Re: Encore back from the dead

Post by benwiggy »

Overture uses a SMuFL-ised Sonata, called AloisenU. I'd expect a new version of Encore to use a SMuFL font; though transitioning legacy documents would require significant work.
NorFonts
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Re: Encore back from the dead

Post by NorFonts »

Ben, I also excpected the same thing.

Being an old Overture user, sometimes Don won't reply to many emails or messages on geniesoft/sonicscores forum, and sometimes he could ban a user just because of reporting -many times- an issue with the program that it hadn't been fixed since a long time, even many users would excepted it to be fixed...

I've already SMuFLized my old NorMusic V2 fonts which I renamed in 2009 to NorPen for use with Sibelius and Finale. So, I hope that he'd be aware of the licenses I was selling to gvox since 2005 till 2010.

But, frankly, I don't see the idea of migrating to Encore v6 while he could only make Overture (5.6.1.1) - (a version dating back to Dec 2, 2019) to load old Encore files, as the program did years ago. Encore v6 in my opinion would be close to the light version of Overture which is ScoreWriter. Because, many of Encore users have migrated to Overture when Encore 5 got no more chance to be improved anymore. Maybe making a revival of the old Encore. who knows...
Nor Eddine Bahha
https://norfonts.ma
Jazz pianist, composer/arranger, author and Type Designer
JAZZOLOGY Book: https://www.halleonard.com/product/311167/jazzology
NorFonts
Posts: 86
Joined: 08 Jan 2021, 18:55

Re: Encore back from the dead

Post by NorFonts »

NorFonts wrote: 20 Jul 2022, 08:19 Please read more here: http://sonicscores.com/forum/viewtopic. ... 978#p77978

— .... I'm not sure if they will be using my old EncoreNorMusic V2 font or not. Still didn't get any email from passportdesign/gvox

There is no telling how this might play out. The entire field of battle is populated with zombies!
Nor Eddine Bahha
https://norfonts.ma
Jazz pianist, composer/arranger, author and Type Designer
JAZZOLOGY Book: https://www.halleonard.com/product/311167/jazzology
JJP
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Re: Encore back from the dead

Post by JJP »

benwiggy wrote: 20 Jul 2022, 07:08
JJP wrote: 19 Jul 2022, 21:58 It seems like many people are aware that the available notation software isn't meeting everyone's needs.
I doubt that any software (of any kind) meets everyone's needs. There's a balance between the needs it fulfils, and the needs it doesn't. I may be willing to forgive a rare failing, if my daily needs are met. Conversely, I may look elsewhere if the failings are too annoying and too common.
I think we are in complete agreement. No software can meet everyone's needs, and I'm happy to see someone attempting to revive software that was once beloved by a number of people. I did have the same concerns you mention about succession of development.

It seems the internet has given voice to a large number of amateurs clamoring for some different approach to notation software. While I question whether many of those people have any idea what they really want, it appears that there are a number of development projects seeking to meet that demand because of appearance of a possible ready market. (I don't put Encore in the amateur category.)

My point was that it's going to be interesting to see which of these products actually make it to market, which are actually tools usable by a professional, and then which of them find a significant enough user base, professional or other, to maintain their further support and development. There are a lot of avenues, and I do not know which ones will lead to success.
There is no computer problem so complex that it cannot be solved by a sledge hammer.

Symbols of Sound - music preparation and consulting
dtoub
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Joined: 02 Jan 2022, 05:07

Re: Encore back from the dead

Post by dtoub »

Based on the one image on their home page, it makes other existing notation UI's look really sleek. Just saying.

From a business perspective, unless this addresses a real need or does 1-2 things so much better than Finale/Sibelius/Dorico etc, it's hard for me to understand the use case for it. As someone who just writes music, self-publishes and deals with performers directly I'm not seeing that it would fulfill a need for me personally.
Finale 27.x; macOS 12.x; Ensoniq KS-32 synth; M-Audio Keystation 88; Reason 10
I’m a gynecologic surgeon and a minimalist composer who gives away my music (scores and audio) at http://dbtmusic.wordpress.com
NorFonts
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Re: Encore back from the dead

Post by NorFonts »

dtoub wrote: 25 Jul 2022, 18:07 .... As someone who just writes music, self-publishes, and deals with performers directly I'm not seeing that it would fulfill a need for me personally.
Maybe there are still many old Encore users who wish to load back and convert their old .enc files for further use...in my opinion, it might be the only reason behind making a revival of such software...who knows!
Nor Eddine Bahha
https://norfonts.ma
Jazz pianist, composer/arranger, author and Type Designer
JAZZOLOGY Book: https://www.halleonard.com/product/311167/jazzology
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