Notion Mobile v3 took mobile music creation to the next level with support for iOS, Android, Windows and macOS. Now v3.2 adds many enhancements and fixes, as well as being available in a brand new app store, the Samsung Galaxy Store, for the very first time.

Notion Mobile is free, and all add-ons are included in a Studio One+ membership or available through the Feature Bundle in-app purchase. Download from your preferred App Store now

Top 5 New Features

1. Studio One+

Notion Mobile is now part of Studio One+, the new name for PreSonus Sphere. Unlock Notion Mobile across all platforms with one easy sign-in, plus get Notion 6 Desktop, Studio One 6 Professional, All add-ons and expansion sounds, exclusive training materials and online collaboration. Find out more here

2. Samsung Galaxy Store

Notion Mobile’s Android version can now be found in the Samsung Galaxy App Store. This makes Notion available for free in 6 App Stores and in 9 languages!

https://galaxy.store/notion

3. Chord, tablature and lead sheet improvements

It is now even easier to create leadsheets and tab with improvements in 3.2

Add slides and gliss lines to grace notes	The most frequently added feature for writing for guitar – you can now add slides both between and to/from grace notes
More types of harmonics	Additional common harmonic types (pinch, tap and harp) are now available to enter into the score
Fill with rhythm slash	You can now make a selection and automatically fill with rhythm slashes. You can still convert existing individual notes into rhythmic slashes as before, but with this new tool a whole range of empty measures can be filled with rhythmic slashes with one tap – by default the slash takes the common denominator of the time signature for its duration.
Paste lyrics from external source	You can now paste lyrics text that has been copied from another application (i.e. from the system clipboard). Use the lyrics tool to select the first note, then just paste! If there are hyphens or underscores then Notion will treat these for syllables and melisma respectively. Select text in another application and copy. Go back to Notion and use the Lyrics tool to click under the note you want to paste from. Then long press (or right click) and select ‘Paste’, or use the shortcut Ctrl+V (or Cmd+V)

4. Notation improvements

Mid-staff Instrument Change	You can now change instrument mid-staff with Notion Mobile and even have different instrument sounds in each voice. Though this has long been possible with Notion 6 desktop, this is the first time this feature has been available for Notion Mobile.  This is for situations where a single player needs to swap instruments within the same piece of music, for example: a flautist changing to piccolo; a clarinettist switching between ‘A’ and ‘Bb’ instruments; a pianist changing to celesta. In musical theatre, woodwind players can swap between many instruments in a single song – from saxophone to flute to clarinet and back again! If the change involves a transposing instrument (such as cor anglais) then a change of key signature is automatically added: In the Tools Grid select the new Instrument Change icon, or use the shortcut Shift+I: Then tap wherever in the score you wish to change the instrument. Select the instrument, and optionally, which voice you want to change
Add multiple fingering numbers to chords	You can now stack multiple fingerings vertically for chords, as well as the ability to add finger substitutions (to change finger during a note) Select the finger number you want from the Fingering palette in the Tools Grid: Then tap it onto the note you wish to apply to it. To enter a finger substitution, hold ‘Shift’ as you enter the number.  If you’ve dragged any fingerings out of line, you can straighten them up by selecting a passage, then go to the context menu>Tools>Align Fingerings
Entering tuplets with different durations	It’s now much easier to create tuplets that contain different durations, both in touch, and in step time entry. Instead of having to create the base tuplet first (and then change the existing durations), you can now add the durations as they come. In this example, you select and enter the first triplet quarter note, then simply select and enter the triplet eighth notes. Notion will calculate and position them together.

5. Transpose Input

It is now possible to elect whether your attached MIDI, Bluetooth MIDI, or onscreen instrument, transposes automatically on input. While this feature has long been possible in Notion 6 desktop, this is brand new to Notion Mobile, and allows a user to easily input already transposed music into Notion (“as is”). In the Application Menu, go to Record Options then ‘Transpose Input’

All Changes in Notion Mobile 3.2

Notion Mobile v3 took mobile music creation to the next level with support for iOS, Android, Windows and macOS. Now v3.1 adds over 100 enhancements and fixes, leading with its innovative new lasso selection that intelligently swaps between handwriting and selection mode before selecting all objects within the drawn area.

Notion Mobile is free, and all add-ons are included in a PreSonus Sphere membership or available through the Feature Bundle in-app purchase. Download from your preferred App Store now

Top 5 New Features

1. Lasso select

One of the most requested features for Notion is now here – the ability to freely draw around objects thereby selecting them. Once the handwriting recognition is engaged (available via the Feature Bundle in-app purchase) a user can select a number of different types of object in one go – from notes and articulations to dynamics and slurs. Notion will also intelligently switch between handwriting notes and creating a lasso selection – this means a user can remain in a single mode.

2. Chord improvements

It is now even easier to create leadsheets with improvements to chord entry for 3.1. 

Add multiple chords to empty measures	Now there’s no need to attach chords to hidden rests/notes to add more than one chord per empty measure. Notion will now attach chords to the nearest rhythmic position over an empty measure.
More chord extensions available	Additional common chord types are now available to combine in the chord picker
Chord placement improvement	Chords will now automatically go beneath repeat brackets
More chord diagrams	Further diagrams have been added for common chords for guitar and ukulele

3. Demo Files

A long requested feature for Notion on mobile devices – ten new demo scores help new users see and hear what’s possible with Notion Mobile. Choose from Tchaikovsky to modern rock – download Notion’s soundsets first to listen. Go to: Create new score>Demo Scores.  

• Acoustic Guitar – The Root
• Bach – Brandenburg Concerto No.4 Allegro
• Chopin – Raindrop Prelude
• Dad Rock
• Jazz Trio Meet me after 5
• MF Blues
• Mozart – Clarinet Concerto Adagio
• Saint-Saëns – Septuor, Gavotte et Final
• Tchaikovsky – Nutcracker Overture
• Tchaikovsky – Romeo And Juliet

4. Note entry playback improvements

Playback of selected staff	Notion is now able to play just the selected staves – make a selection of one or more instrument staves and hit play. The selection will automatically be solo-ed.   Get feedback on your orchestration fast – just select a chord for example across the instruments you’ve scored it for, and hit play. No need to dive into the mixer to manually solo/mute.
Automatically add new measures to end during step-time or real-time record	Notion will now add extra measures to the end of your score if you continue adding notes in either real-time or step-time record. In real-time, the metronome will continue and once you have stopped, Notion will analyse your performance and add the bars. In step-time, bars will be added as you go.
Note entry preview dynamics set at mf	When entering notes, Notion sounds a preview of the pitch to be entered – this is now set at a consistent dynamic making it easier to hear and compare when entering notes for different instruments

5. Part handling improvements

From improvements to multi-measure rests to quickly toggling between score and part views, Notion 3.1 has a number of features to ease the preparation of parts for your players.

Toggle between score/part	If you want to quickly check the part layout of an instrument, select the instrument in the full score, then just hit F5 with an attached keyboard. Press F5 again to return to the full score. If you don’t have a keyboard attached, then go to Score Setup and tap the part/full score toggle button
Show / hide instrument key signature	A long standing request for Notion! Now you can hide key signatures for selected instruments – nowadays most commonly required for French horns, but also in older scores for trumpets too. Horns generally do not have a key signature, rather, their parts show accidentals for each note.
Part title improvements	Now part titles are populated automatically from the full score, if they are initially set. You can still have different titles between score and part if you wish – it’s just they are now set by default.   Part names (in the top left hand corner of a part) also now show the instrument key by default, e.g. “Clarinet in A” making it easier for players to see the key of their part at a glance

All Changes in Notion Mobile 3.1

Brody Tullier (aka Zeno) is a 17 year-old composer based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana who has been composing and arranging original music for the past four years.

His main style of composition is often through complex midi-mapping and programming, although he is also a studying pianist and vocalist.

Delving into advanced audio production more and more in recent years, his music has become the lively, energetic, and polished arrangements that you can hear in his recent Bandcamp releases here.

Brody’s preferred style of compositions lean heavily towards video-game inspired tracks and he aspires to one day seek a career in the video game music industry.

We wish him great success in his ongoing growth as a musician, composer and producer!

Follow Brody’s path in discovering the creative power of Studio One, Notion and the PreSonus software add-ons available.

Join PreSonus Sphere today!

Only $14.95 per month for Studio One Professional, Notion, and so much more.

Want to capture the sound of other industry professionals? How about collaborate with a Grammy nominated artist?

With Exchange, you’re able to use presets and sounds from select PreSonus Artists in your own projects. Under the “Browse” section, you’ll also find thousands of downloadable assets from other Sphere Members, and the ability to upload your own unique sounds.

In this last episode, Jacob takes a look at the PreSonus Sphere Exchange tab and demonstrates how to import an Artist’s sound into your Studio One song session.

Join PreSonus Sphere today! Only $14.95 per month for Studio One Professional, Notion, and so much more.

Follow Jacob on Instagram

When you join PreSonus Sphere your membership comes with Studio One Professional, Notion plus the native software instruments, effects and plug-ins that PreSonus offers.

Studio One Professional is a powerful and intuitive DAW that works for you – made only more powerful by the full catalog of plugins – while Notion is an easy way to create full scores, sheet music for individual instruments, or guitar tabs and chord charts. Sphere members can also enjoy ongoing software upgrades when new versions are released.

In this Sphere episode, Jacob takes us through a demo of the “Products” tab, and all that is included.

Join PreSonus Sphere today! Only $14.95 per month for Studio One Professional, Notion, and so much more.

Follow Jacob on Instagram

With a PreSonus Sphere membership you get access to exclusive masterclasses in the “Learn” section.

Here you can dive into practical recording topics from industry professionals, covering recording tips, manipulating compression, perfecting EQ on a track, general mixing/mastering techniques, and more! Beyond the recording side, you can explore PreSonus Sphere product-specific videos like dialing in your guitar tone with Ampire, navigating Studio One and learning Notion.

In this episode, Jacob shows us the layout of the “Learn” tab, and how to navigate this “one stop shop” of classes.

Join PreSonus Sphere today! Only $14.95 per month for Studio One Professional, Notion, and so much more.

Follow Jacob on Instagram

Home For The Holidays is a free virtual concert featuring holiday music by some of New Orleans’ favorite musicians including Jon Batiste, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Irma Thomas, Kermit Ruffins, John Boutte, and others.

(click photo for NOCCA event details)

The performances by Irma Thomas, John Boutte, and Kermit Ruffins were recently tracked live at the New Orleans Center For Creative Arts (NOCCA) by professional recording engineer and faculty member, Steve Himelfarb using the PreSonus StudioLive 32S digital mixer and Studio One DAW software.

Let’s get to know him a bit better and hear what he has to say about integrating Studio One and StudioLive for use in live recordings!

Steve began working in recording studios around Los Angeles when he was about 18, doing the midnight til 9:00 a.m. cleanup shift at Cherokee Studios. As a result, he had priceless experiences including meeting Mötley Crüe (still one of the loudest he has ever heard to this day) when Roy Thomas Baker was mixing their debut record. Another fond memory was that of Ray Manzarek producing X’s Wild Gift during the heyday of the 80s music scene.

“Cherokee was super rock & roll, yet they were very strict with what they wanted from their cleanup people. I was taught how to conduct myself as a young would-be recording engineer,” Steve fondly recalls.

At 19, Steve began working for Capitol Records in the famed Capitol Studios building putting in a solid five years of work. Some of his album credits include Sheila E’s first album, Crowded House’s Crowded House, Bob Seager’s Like a Rock, Dwight Yoakum’s GTRs Cadillacs and Tori Amos’ Y Kant Tori Read. (Fun Fact: Tori and Steve have been friends since high school.)

Steve moved to New Orleans at the age of 25, and the first record he engineered in town was Buckwheat Zydeco’s On A Night Like This, which was produced by Chris Blackwell and nominated for a Grammy. He subsequently bought the studio that he worked at in the late 80s and rebuilt it with a Neve console and Studer tape machine. In 1993, Steve sold that studio and took a couple years off, sort of. To date, he has worked on 15 gold and platinum records and has five Grammy-nominated record credits to his name.

Teaching himself to bake, Steve decided to open a small restaurant in the French Quarter of New Orleans called Cake Café, and became affectionately known as “The Cake Man” in the Marigny district. After 13 years of business (fast-forwarding past Hurricane Katrina to about four months ago), he sold the restaurant and wrote a cookbook.

Incidentally, around three years ago (after encouragement from Tori Amos) he started getting back into recording again and dove headfirst into the world of digital recording using Studio One.

Here are some thoughts by Steve, in his own words:

I really like the workflow of Studio One. It feels like I am working on a console and not a computer. The drag-and-drop integration is such a great feature. The plug-ins are very musical. Lately, my go-to has been the VT-1 on the stereo bus.

Using the StudioLive 32S in a live recording situation is wonderful. In all honesty, this type of setup used to be such an involved task with a mobile recording truck and countless hours of set up. The StudioLive 32S, along with the NSB digital stage box, is such a game-changer. Total set-up time takes about an hour. The sound is clean. I like the Fat Channel limiters. They are kinda my safety net against clipping in dynamic situations. I have used the StudioLive 32S on about eight projects over the past year, and it is truly a sturdy piece of equipment for such demanding situations. In live recording situations, you just need to count on your equipment and the StudioLive has always performed excellently.

I really like how the company has developed the workflow of the recording studio in the current digital age. I could see how, about six years ago, PreSonus was ahead of the pack in their development of studio ecosystems.  Now everyone is building small-format consoles and integrated systems. 

Developing young artists has always been a large part of the work I have done. Teaching at New Orleans Creative Center For The Arts (NOCCA) is a natural extension of the work I love.

To learn more about this historic pre-professional arts training center for high school students in Louisiana, please visit and support them at: https://noccainstitute.com/ and https://www.nocca.com/

PreSonus is supporting schools and students in many ways, and now is the perfect time to check out our music education solutions at musiced.presonus.com.

Any student who plays an instrument, from beginner to college, can benefit from listening to recordings of their own performances. In fact, any professional musician will tell you that this is the best way to improve! We’ve put together a tutorial series called “Step up Your Practice” to demonstrate the benefits of recorded practice using our AudioBox Studio or Music Creation Suite. Check it out at musiced.presonus.com/stepup.

We’d also like you to consider Studio One and Notion for any of your recording or composition courses. Both offer highly intuitive ease-of-use that doesn’t get in the way of the most important thing—learning. Furthermore, we offer educational discounts and/or multi-seat licensing, and plenty of tutorials. For full music labs, the Music Creation Suite provides everything you need for recording, including software, recording interface, microphone, MIDI controller keyboard, and cables—and to top it off, we offer a complete school curriculum to help you get started.

Coming off the world record-setting win of the Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps, our marching band audio system is now stronger than ever. We partnered with our friends at Audio-Technica to provide a turnkey solution to support field audio—read all about it at musiced.presonus.com/fieldaudio.

PreSonus is the leader in music education technology presentations. As such we are excited to participate in top national and state music conferences. Check out of list of upcoming conferences and come say hello!

If you’re interested in either school or student discounts on PreSonus gear, please contact one of our education retailers at musiced.presonus.com/buy.

John Mlynczak, PreSonus Education Market Manager, is is the kind of guy who leads by example. He recently produced this incredible nine-part video series focusing on using the AudioBox Studio, AudioBox Stereo, or AudioBox Music Creation Suite with a pair of Eris studio monitors to make practicing at home more efficient. Consider these tips “best practices” for your practices. Feel free to share your success or any new ideas!

While John’s videos were designed for music educators, fact is these tips are applicable to darn near anyone who wants to get some music made. If you’re a kid just starting out, or a home-recording vet just looking to dust off the rudiments, chances are you’ll find something of value here.

For more in PreSonus in music education, visit http://musiced.presonus.com

• To learn more about the Music Creation Suite, click here.
• To find a dealer in the USA, click here.
• To find a distributor outside the USA, click here.
• To buy PreSonus software online, click here.

PreSonus Education Market Manager John Mlynczak spoke at PreSonuSphere 2013, detailing the best ways to leverage PreSonus technologies in the classroom.

For more on PreSonus’ involvement in music education, click here: http://musiced.presonus.com/