If you folks remember from a previous posting of mine I was looking for new music writing software. I received many good suggestions. I ended up buying Cakewalk Music Creator 2002 at Staples.

It is billed as being ideal for singers and songwriters. After spending a few days using it I couldn't figure out how to tie notes together, use 1st and 2nd endings, D.S. al Fine, codas and so on. I decided to email their support.

Cakewalk support told me that the software would not do those things. If I wanted to do that stuff I should buy something else.

I feel that their advertising is false and misleading. I asked for my money back. Cakewalk has not responded.

How can you write music if you can't tie notes together? The ability to tie notes together is a necessary tool that is basic. I have an attorney friend that I may consult. The actual damage is only 30 bucks but punitive damages could be interesting. At least Yamaha is doing something. Cakewalk said too bad so sad. AS my grandpa used to say "Damn a robber that don't have a gun".

Check out their website at www.cakewalk.com. Select music creator 2002 and see if you don't agree that their advertising is false.

Sorry Tom, as soon as I saw you refer to your attorney over a $30 piece of software, I stopped feeling sorry for you. I've never seen a piece of music software that WASN'T billed as being "ideal for singers and songwriters". Cakewalk's Music Creator is a cheap, basic sequencer program that also prints out sheet music, but transcription is not it's primary function. It's primary editing tool is the piano roll editor, which is common to most sequencer programs. The kind of editing you are describing falls more into the category of music notation or transcription software rather than sequencing, and would be more appropriately handled by programs like Finale or Encore. Do yourself a favor and stop buying $30 music programs at Staples... download free demo programs from the web until you find the one that does what you need before purchasing. Or go to a music store and find a knowledgable salesperson who can guide you. Here's a good place to start: http://www.codamusic.com/coda/

Hi Esh,
Excellent reply! Coda's Finale is absolutely unbeatable. Well worth the money spent if you are really serious about building professional looking sheet music. Another thought, Cakewalk products are also excellent, but they are not serious notation products. They are excellent at recording and editing MIDI or audio files and converting the files to burn to CD or MP3 files. The notation capability is a "tag along" in Pro Audio, Home Studio or Sonar because most people are more comfortable working with music in sheet music style than on a piano roll view. Cakewalk's notation products are strictly basic. So, I am with you --- spend the bucks on the appropriate software for your purpose. You get what you pay for, nothing more.

Tom,

I agree with you that the Cakewalk ad is misleading. There are many of the more expensive software packages which will no doubt do excellent job of notation. However, in the software world it is often possible to find products which belie their price (I remember Midi Notator a while back, which was an excellent package for the price[free]). So it is not unreasonable on your part to expect a full-featured product for $30.

While you will not recover any of your money by going to the attorney, I know the desire to get at least some kind of justice after being swindled.

You may want to consider going to a small claims court. Here in AZ it costs $16 to file a suit. Before you do that, you should probably write to Cakewalk (and/or Office Depot) and in writing request your money back, appealing to their sense of customer commitment and mentioning that you are planning to take them to the small claims court. While the whole thing will not make you money, especially considering what your time is worth, it will hopefully make sure that the Cakewalks and Office Depots of this world will be less inclined to swindle their customers with misleading advertisements and hostile product return policies.

Good luck,
Alex

INVESTIGATE BEFORE YOU INVEST ALWAYS!!!!!
There is no reason not to investigate given all the info you could ever digest right under the clicker on your computer mouse.
Bebop

I'm not looking for sympathy over 30 dollar software. Life for me is good. I hate being taken. Small claims court here in Michigan costs about 25 dollars. It would be worth it for the entertainment value alone to file a claim.

I'm not looking to transcribe Handle's Water Music. All I want to do is write lead sheets for my trio and the praise band at my Church. This is basic stuff. I know that the writing/printing portion of Music Creator 2002 was an after thought. I was looking for basic tools. The ability to tie notes together is basic to writing music. It says on their web site "Ideal for singer/songwriters". Lets see anyone on this forum write music without using ties.

Tom: not to belabor the subject but I've written several albums worth of material without using notation software to tie notes together... I just used my sequencer. It's a matter of technique with the tools you have available, that's all. In any piano roll editor, you would select the first note of the two notes you intend to "tie" and extend it's duration into what would be the duration of the second "tied" note, then erase the second note altogether. When the sheet music is displayed, it should show tied notes to indicate the fact that a note has been extended beyond it's measure. Am I missing something?