Anything else you want to share?

Notion is tightly integrated with Studio One. Sometimes, the classical musician in me wants to compose in Notion, then send the score to Studio One (I simply click “Send to Studio One”), where I can then use Studio One to produce tracks around my score. Other times, I’d prefer to write a song on guitar and vocals, and then “Send to Notion” so I can write scoring around my song.

Notion is available at a discounted price for Studio One owners: $49 for Studio One Professional users and $99 for Studio One Artist users.

Click here for more info and to purchase Notion!

Notion iOS Update (2.0.183), June 2017.

What’s New:

• Slur control points – now when a slur is selected, you can drag its control points to adjust the start and end points, its placement, and even the curve itself.

Fixes:

• Fix not being able to import files from email or other apps
• Fix issue introduced by iOS10.3 that meant the cursor would occasionally jump on note entry
• Fix an issue that was occasionally resulting in notes not sounding during note entry until pressing play
• Update remaining old font selection dialogs
• Fix not being able to edit score text on double tap
• Fix occasional crash when selecting/resizing text boxes
• Fix not being able to drag text boxes

To get this free update, go to ‘Updates’ in the App Store on your device and look for Notion.

Notion iOS update (2.0.171), April 2017

What’s New

• New Notion “Widget” to quickly access recent scores, or to quickly setup a simple score. To add,  just swipe right over your device’s Home screen, Lock screen, or Notification Centre, tap ‘Edit’ and select Notion.
• New “Send To…” feature, to share exported files from Notion with other apps on the same device or to use AirDrop with nearby devices via Bluetooth. Go to export, select required file format, and then tap “Send To…”
• New “Open in” button on Help pdf, allowing the Notion Help Guide to be opened with other pdf readers on the same device (and thereby allowing search, export etc)
• Updated Chorus and Organ sounds – go to ‘Sounds’ and swipe left to remove the old versions. Then re-download the sound by tapping on the cloud icon.
• New button to engage Step Entry when using an external MIDI instrument
• New option in Instrument Setup to show circles around half/whole notes in tablature
• When importing or exporting drum parts via MIDI, Notion now maps the notes to its standard GM drum mapping
• Notion now draws drumset cymbals and hi-hats with cross-head noteheads by default, when importing drum parts via MIDI or using onscreen drum pad
• Scroll in Playback option added to View Options

Fixes:

• Handwriting
• Fix to adding extra ledger lines to previously entered notes
• When handwriting where part contains existing tab notes, for any notes that are not changing, preserve the existing tab strings.
• When handwriting into a part that is linked to tablature, use the same tab logic as for standard note entry
• Fix for when handwriting into a measure that already has an existing dotted chord, the dotted chord would become double-dotted.
• Fix for when adding a note with handwriting to a measure that contained a chord with multiple ledger lines, the chord would change
• Fix for handwriting over more than one measure at a time in the handwriting window
• Fix for when handwriting over more than one system

General

• Dynamic Parts now show in score order
• Glissandi between two close chromatic notes now show in the right direction
• Glissandi now centre on noteheads, not attachments
• Fix for not setting some instrument transpositions when importing MusicXML
• When dragging an articulation, the crosshead is centred on the articulation, rather than its notehead
• Fix stems not lining up on cross-staff chords
• Accidental is now not hidden if a note from a chord is sent to the other staff with the cross-staff tool
• Flags now show on unbeamed cross-staff notes
• When in Step Time, Bb and Eb transposing instruments now spell notes as expected
• When importing lyrics from MusicXML, verse number is now correctly set
• Enharmonic tool now works on chords
• Clear special no longer clears harp tuning diagrams or attached rules
• Notes for transposing instruments now spelt better when in remote minor keys
• Measure is now spaced correctly when empty and another staff has a whole rest in the same frame
• Drumset unmeasured tremolo now responds to hairpins
• Stem direction now only affects the selected beam group (rather than the whole measure)
• When exporting as MIDI, articulations (such as staccato altering note lengths) are now taken into account
• Fix up occasional issue with hairpins when exporting MusicXML
• If language is set to Spanish, then load Spanish feedback page.
• Fix for tab notes not being retained, when recording in real-time with the onscreen fretboard
• Reset tab numbers now only resets selected notes, rather than whole measure
• Scores now save whether onscreen virtual instruments (e.g. piano/fretboard are showing or not)
• Fix for adding an extraneous double barline, when an existing double barline is followed by a cut (and linked fix, for a crash when layout handles are shown on the extra double barline)
• Can now type lyrics into left hand of grand staff
• Slides between two close chromatic notes now show in the right direction
• Glissandi now do not collide with note dots or accidentals
• Hide resting staves now does not hide first and second endings, if the top staff is hidden
• Fix for some short sounds causing a crash in playback (e.g. closed hi-hat, high claves, oboe duo)
• Fix for scores jumping when entering notes towards the bottom of the screen
• Fix for occasionally not being able to scroll to the bottom of the score.
• Fix the All Bundle image being used in Score Setup for Piano instead of the Piano image
• General stability improvements

Click here to visit the App Store: http://apple.co/2oFiZoV

All this for nearly half price won’t last, so get it before May 12!

Notion 6.1.1 Maintenance Update—click “Check for updates” in Notion to download and install 6.1.1!

New:

• Notion now recognizes whether touch is finger/capacitive stylus or digitizer stylus (Windows)
  
• Microsoft Surface Pen now brings up context menu with button
• When importing MIDI drum files, Notion uses GM mapping to put the notation in the expected place
• When using the onscreen drum pad, Notion now writes cymbals with cross-head note heads
• Studio One launcher added to the ‘Send to Studio One’ dialog
• Use cursor arrow keys to position articulations (and shift+arrow for fine tuning)
• The enharmonic tool (Shift+E) now also works with attached chord symbols
• Score>Dynamic Parts is now current score order, not order of creation
• End key now navigates to end of score (as Home does, to the start of a score)
• Notion now has the facility for network installs to copy preferences from a system level – this saves a lot of time in the classroom every time a new user logs on to particular machine. For more information about PreSonus’ Unlimited Site Licenses for education, contact musiceducation@presonus.com

Fixes:

Sounds

• Harpsichord sound is now fixed
• Organ and Chorus sounds retuned. (Download the keyboard installer from your my.presonus.com account and install. Restart Notion. You may also need to force Notion to rescan the folder – go to Preferences>Audio>Locate and reselect the sounds folder)
  Release sound working better for short notes (an issue particularly noticeable with organ staccati)
• Drumset with unmeasured tremolo now responds to hairpins

Studio One interop

• Fix when exporting keyswitch data from Notion to Studio One – go to Tools>Use Rules and setup a rule with Keyswitches set to “Automatically send note-offs”
• Studio One launcher has been added to Send to Studio One dialog
• User is prompted to save, if closing after Studio One file transfer and no other changes have been   made
• More space for text in Studio One dialog when in German
• Note durations now reflect articulation (e.g. staccato) when sending note data to Studio One

MIDI / MusicXML

• Verse number is now being properly recognized when importing MusicXML
• Fix occasional issue on MusicXML Export with hairpins
• User is prompted to save, if closing after MusicXML or MIDI file import and no other changes have been made
• Note durations now reflect articulation when exporting as MIDI
• Changing MIDI channel in Change Instrument dialog now works as expected
• Sequencer staff controller data now outputs on expected channel, not just channel 1
• When MIDI recording in with multi channel VSTi’s, sequencer staff now does not reset all events to Channel 1
• MIDI note length and velocity shortcuts now work if sequencer overlay is enabled

Rules Editor

• Fix when using Duration Change in Rules
• Rules Editor dialog size now persistent when closing/reopening (Mac and Win)
• If having issues with smooth playback when using expression on external VSTi’s or MIDI ReWire, choose a different expression channel to the Notion hairpin map in the Rules Editor. For VSTi’s without velocity crossfade, you can also use the hairpin anchor in the Rules Editor – see Hairpin Anchor in the User Guide

Video

• Video window on Mac no longer blank when re-shown
• Fix show/hide video during playback on Mac

Notation

• Bb and Eb instruments now go to the correct enharmonic key if in C#minor
  If Transpose MIDI is checked then Bb and Eb instruments are now spelling as correctly in step time
• Option added to Staff Settings, to show circles around whole/half notes in tablature (default is off)
• Electric Bass now does not convert to treble clef when tab is turned off / standard notation shown again
• Flags now show on unbeamed cross-staff notes
• Fix stems not lining up on cross-staff chords
• Fix accidentals sometimes hiding on cross-staff notes
• When changing stem direction of beamed notes, it now does not affect the entire measure
• Measures now lay out as expected when empty
• Fix adding unwanted 11^th and 13^th notes to chord, when using chord type-in tool

General

• Clear Special now does not now remove Rules sets or harp tuning diagrams
• Adding interval below with Ctrl+Numpad, now fixed on Windows
• Scrolling in continuous view with a Windows tablet now redraws correctly
• Continuous view margin now does not clear when top staff is only partially visible
• Mixer window size now persistent when closing/reopening (Win only)
• Text better formatted and images fixed in MIDI Device Commands window
• More space in Preferences window (Windows only)

February is the month for showing some love for the things you love and we say let’s get Saxy with the Saxophone Bundle for Notion…

Here’s your chance to save 30% on the Classical Saxophone Bundle for Notion—down from the usual price of $29.99 USD to $19.99 USD! This world-class bundle was recorded using London Symphony Orchestra section leaders and players at Abbey Road Studios, London. You get three instruments in the bundle, including:

• Sopranino Sax
• Soprano Sax
• Contrabass Sax

Get Saxy this month–You’ll thank us later.

This offer is available only on shop.presonus.com through the month of February–Click here to get the Saxophone bundle for less—while you still can.

Notion user Michael Josephs is an award-winning American film and television score composer. He has written and conducted musical scores for many notable films and television programs including Wild Kingdom, National Geographic, and many PBS specials. Recent projects include scores for HBO, BBC, PBS, NBC, CBS, ABC, The History Channel, and many others. Michael received a National Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music for his score for the series Thoroughbred. He has received numerous other awards. He received a National Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music in 2001. He has received numerous other awards.

Hello Michael – please tell us a little bit about the kind of work you do?

I compose and conduct music, mainly for long-form documentaries and TV series, and the occasional independent feature film. My first scoring job was doing a brand-new series called America’s Most Wanted for Fox Television. I did that full-time for a few years right at the start of my composing career, which was a great education because it was on the air around 50 episodes per year, so I was always writing and recording. Most shows only run maybe 8-10 episodes a year, so for Fox I was constantly writing and recording every week, which was a great learning experience, especially because I tried to treat every week like a completely unique score instead of just generic “crime music.”

From there I branched out and started to work for other directors and networks and do other shows like “Wild Kingdom”, “National Geographic”, HBO, a lot of PBS stuff, etc.

Briefly, what’s your workflow/process, from the first time seeing the cue, to conducting and recording it?

I rarely have the luxury of seeing something before it’s handed to me to start writing. I do try to take a day or two at the beginning and just work on thematic material at the piano, some of which, and sometimes none of which, will end up in the film, but it gives me a moment at least to close my eyes and think about what kind of score it will be. The deadlines are always very tight so it’s nice to have a little space to imagine before diving into the mechanics of writing.

From there, I put the film up and start writing from the first frame. I tend to write sequentially, so I go cue by cue straight through the film, rather than jumping back and forth to different scenes. Sometimes themes develop as you work, so I’ll jump back some times and incorporate things or hints of where things may lead.

I started my career before computers, recording live directly to 2” tape for many years, so the computer and digital-video still seem like an incredible luxury to me! Some of the sequenced parts stay in, and I write and copy charts for everything that will be played live.

If it’s a smaller score, I do most everything at my own place, including a lot of overdubs, and then I’ll mix here. I’m set up for 5.1 mixing, and it’s very comfortable working in my own space. If it’s a larger ensemble I’ll do some tracking and mixing at a commercial studio because room is just too tight here. I also conduct the sessions too.

When I track somewhere else I’ve started a new thing lately, which is to just use their physical space and microphones and cue-system, but record right into my own portable rig and rack, which saves time and confusion transferring files back and forth.

What’s the relationship with the director/producer/music supervisor – how can it affect what you write?

Most of the time, at least with documentaries, there are no temp scores or preconceived notions. Directors want me to come up with the concept, direction, vibe, really everything. It’s the opposite of people loving a temp-track…there is no guidance at all, so I really try to give each film something completely different and unique.

As far as directors and producers, it really doesn’t matter how much or how little they know about music, but rather what kind of creative spirit and vision they have. I work with people who know absolutely nothing about music and are wonderful and creative to work with, and others who know a lot about music but have bad instincts with it. It’s really all over the place! I don’t feel it’s their job to know a ton about music. If they could compose music, they probably would!

What was it about Notion that attracted you?

Notion is AMAZING! I love it. I own both Finale and Sibelius, but they have to be the most difficult, not-intuitive programs I’ve ever encountered. Just doing some little tweak requires me to pull out the manual, and even then I still can’t figure it out!

How have you found Notion now you are using it day in, day out?

From the day I tried Notion, I was hooked. It is completely intuitive, and I have never looked at the manual. When you want to do something, it is always very obvious how to do it quickly. It can go pretty deep if you need it to, but the basics are right there and not hidden fifteen deep in some hidden sub-menu. For day to day trying to get work done, it is unparalleled. With the budgets I have, I need to do my own orchestration and copying, and the last thing I would want to do is take three days off of precious writing time to do charts. Film music usually has a ton of key, meter and tempo changes, so this further complicates that process.

Any user tips or tricks based on your experience with Notion?

Sure. I do a quick clean-up of the music before I export a midi file from my DAW. I then import that file into Notion. I also open my empty “template” file in Notion that is set up the way I like, add the relevant instruments to the staff, then do a mass copy / paste of the imported midi file into the template. This is great because Notion reads all of the key and meter changes beautifully. From there I quickly add articulations, dynamics, clean stuff up, and extract the parts. It all goes very fluidly with Notion.

Can you tell us what might be coming up for you, or out soon?

I did a really good film recently called Dateline Saigon, which both has a score and also arrangements of period music. I dove right in with Notion on that, and it was fabulous. I compose 99% of the time, so doing arrangements was a little different for me, and Notion made it possible to do the charts and also change them up and re-print them really quickly when there were re-edits of the film.

I also did another terrific IMax film right after that, but it won’t be released until next year… so watch this space!

Where can we find more about you and your music?

http://www.michaeljosephs.com

Notion 6 is here!

Notion 6 Offers Over 50 New Features and Enhancements:

• Side-by-side workflow integration with Studio One 3.3 Artist or Professional
• Cross-platform handwriting recognition, powered by MyScript®
• New layout control and features for professional score output
• Drag to respace measures and systems
• New Instruments: Notion Harpsichord, and Lakeside Pipe Organ and Micro Choir from Soundiron
• MIDI over ReWire for improved integration with other leading digital audio workstations
• New video window controls for faster scoring to picture
• The new Notion Scores library, with over 100 of the greatest works of all time
• Updated Music XML support for seamless transfer with other apps
• MP3 export
• …and more!

• Click here to buy or upgrade from PreSonus‘ online shop
• Click here to find a dealer in the USA
• Click here to find a distributor outside the USA

Click here to purchase!

Here’s a good one–how do you know when a saxophone player is at your door?

They don’t know which key to use or where to enter.

No joke: The Notion Saxophone Bundle is 30% off in August!

Now’s your chance to save 30% on the Classical Saxophone Bundle for Notion—down from the usual price of $29.99. This world-class bundle was recorded using London Symphony Orchestra section leaders and players at Abbey Road Studios, London. You get three instruments in the bundle, including:

• Sopranino Sax
• Soprano Sax
• Contrabass Sax

This offer is available only on shop.presonus.com through the month of August–Click here to get the Saxophone bundle for less—while you still can.

One more thing, did you know you can demo Notion for FREE for 30 days? Learn more about it here.

Only for the month of July 2016, we’re offering 30% off the Acoustic Bundle for Notion directly from the PreSonus Shop!

If you’re looking to add some acoustic instruments to your mix, this bundle has you covered... You get four instruments with this bundle which include banjo, mandolin, acoustic fingerstyle guitar and the ukulele samples recorded by Brad Newell, Neil Zaza, and David Doucet. Also included are additional samples for open strings, hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, and left-hand and right-hand fingering control. This bundle plays nice with  Notion 5.1 or later and Progression 3 or later.

• Click here to purchase!

Not a Notion user? Well Notion 5 is on sale for the month of July 50% off! Click here to learn more about this offer!