From Editor's Choice, December 1998

Autoscore Deluxe 2.0 - Overall Rating: A

By John M. Catron

Wildcat Canyon Software's Autoscore Deluxe 2.0 may cause daydreaming! You may wish that this program had been around when you were young. Did you ever rationalize something like this? "I could create songs as good as John Lennon, if only I could get my music down on paper."

Fortunately, Autoscore is available now for any would be musician or vocalist who wants to produce quality musical notation, midi samples or multitrack versions of their own musical creations.

Autoscore Deluxe 2.0 is easy to install, and user friendly. In a very short time you will have a good idea of what Autoscore can accomplish for you. Like any tool, it will take time to master this program, but within minutes of installation you will be seeing results scrolling across you monitor, notation that you can printout. In Wildcat Canyon Software's Advertisement Brochure the first sentence states, "Autoscore is the amazing new software that lets even novice musicians compose and print out music quickly and easily." This statement is not advertising hype, Autoscore delivers as advertised.

All of the claims that the producers of Autoscore make can be accomplished by a novice who wants to create music, vocal or instrumental. Here are a few uses that other than composition you might use this program for. Autoscore can be learning tool. It can be used to practice true pitch and tuning. By using the TruTrack Mode, and the Step Entry, you can practice and see results of scale intervals, octave jumps, and other voice or instrument practice. Autoscore Deluxe can be used for practicing vocal scales, intervals and note duration. It can also be used for practicing and mastering instrumental solos.

So, this program can be useful to more than 'would be composers and songwriters'.

The program comes with a simple yet adequate manual. Once you follow the directions as given, Autoscore has the potential to become the best tool for your serious compositions. There are numerous notation programs in use today, but this is the only one that allows a user to see what is being sung in REAL TIME.

The key to success with Autoscore is this; careful reading and diligent following of the given directions. In a rush to "see what the program will do", some new user's might be intimidated by the things things this program might get wrong. But if the manual is followed, you will be amazed at what the program can do both quickly and accurately.

Since Autoscore uses Standard MIDI support, Autoscore can communicate with a long list of MIDI devices and music software programs. But, other hardware or software is not needed, since Autoscore can stand alone in recognition, sequencing, and recording and printing of music. The included Recording Session 4.0 by Midisoft Corp., is a good beginning music processor.

Some of the other features that are easily edited are, key, pitch, and the duration of each note. Adding or removing notes is easy, as well as transposing to different keys. The editing tools are easy to master and easy to access.

The time spent in setting up Autoscore for your unique voice or instrument in rewarding. Once you master this program you will save a lot of time in music notation, so Autoscore is a good investment in both dollars and hours. It also requires no expensive MIDI hardware, because a microphone is included with the software.

It is a great program for the beginner who has only a little music knowledge. As the beginner uses the program, the scrolling display of actual notation can be a great help in teaching the fundamentals of notation.

We predict great success for this program, and recommend it to other musicians, vocalists and composers, as will as music hobbyists and anyone who wants to learn music notation.

back