Scorewriter

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MuseScore Forte Encore Different scorewriters

A scorewriter, or music notation program is software for creating, editing and printing sheet music. A scorewriter is to music notation what a word processor is to text, in that they typically provide flexible editing and automatic layout, and produce high-quality printed results.

The very first modern score manipulation program was Mockingbird, written by John Maxwell and Severo Ornstein at Xerox PARC in 1980 on a Dorado computer. It preceded MIDI so an electronic keyboard had to be modified to enable interaction with the program. The program was envisioned as a composer's amanuensis, but as it was an experimental program it never reached beyond PARC, though it influenced commercial programs which soon followed.^{[citation needed]}

Most scorewriters, especially those from the 2000s, can record notes played on a MIDI keyboard (or other MIDI instruments), and play music back via MIDI or virtual instruments. Playback is especially useful for novice composers and music students, and when musicians are not available or affordable. Several free programs are widely used, such as MuseScore. The three main professional-level programs are Finale, Sibelius and Dorico.^[1]