Can you suggest a decent free app for sheet music composition, or songwriting?

[inexorabletruth]

Back in the day, I used PrintMusic for sheet music composition, and Garage Band for recording and editing my songs. But it's been years... like almost 20 years since I've written or recorded anything, so I'm a bit out of the loop.

However, my D&D group has created a band of travelling mystery solving bards (loosely inspired by Josie and the Pussycats) for our twice monthly live session. And on a whim, I wrote a song about the campaign we were in and performed it at the end of the campaign for bonus XP... which got everyone excited. Now they want me to make that like a regular thing, which I'm okay with. We all play at least one instrument passably well, and most of us can read sheet music. And a simple 45-60 second ditty isn't hard to learn.

But in order to give something for everyone to kind of practice at home, I need some sheet music, or something close, and it would be nice if I can play it back to see how well it comes together. I don't have a computer... just my trusty tablet. So apps are the new way for me to go. And this is really just for this particular gaming group, so I'm not interested in spending money on it. Just a free app will do.

Can anyone make any suggestions?

[Elanasaurus]

Musescore might be good. The sheet music made there is really cool, and some of it is even playable.
:elan:

[inexorabletruth]

Musescore might be good. The sheet music made there is really cool, and some of it is even playable.
:elan:

The sheet music does look pretty good, but they appear to be read only, with no option to create or modify the music. I was hoping to write my own score.

[Elanasaurus]

Well, that's disappointing. I assumed it was possible to write scores using Musescore since the big words on the site's homepage say "Create, play, and print".
What about MIDI? It looks well-established.
:elan:

[Bucky]

Musescore does indeed allow typesetting sheet music. Specific scores might be flagged read-only, though I'm not sure why or how.

[inexorabletruth]

Ah. I see the problem. The freeware is read only. To write and edit, you must pay for the service.

[Bucky]

Ah. I see the problem. The freeware is read only.

The freeware should be able to write as well. I've used the freeware version to draft sheet music before.

[Elanasaurus]

@inexorabletruth: So sorry for wasting your time. I just tried the download on my phone in the toilet and turns out you're right. While there is a free download for Android, the composition can only be done on a laptop or some Apple device. :frown:

@Bucky: Are you sure?


:elan:

Edit: spelling

[Bucky]

While there is a free download for Android, the composition can only be done on a laptop or some Apple device. :frown:

@Bucky: Are you sure?


That explains it; I wasn't using the Android version. I recommend the desktop version.

[inexorabletruth]

I have a tablet, and that's the best I can do with my budget. Hm... I suppose I could write it by hand. It's been a while since I've hand written a composition though.