From Electronic Musician, March 1999

CAKEWALK OVERTURE 2 (MAC/WIN):
An old standby receives a major face-lift.

By Thomas Wells

Features: 4 (5 point scale)
Ease of Use: 4.5
Documentation: 4.5
Value: 4.5

Pros: Intuitive, easy-to-use interface. Stable operation. Powerful page-layout capabilities. Very good MIDI-editing capabilities. Excellent documentation.

Cons: Doesn't play back articulations. PC version's MIDI editing is not as developed as Mac version. Mac version lacks multiple undo. PC version cannot import/export graphic files.

In the arena of music-notation software, it's hard to find a single program that can be all things to all people. One program might be well suited for lead sheets and horn parts, while another might work best for complex, modern notation. CompanyShortName Overture 2 stands out from its competitors in its power and versatility, its thoughtfully designed and easy-to-use interface, and its high-quality printed output. It also offers features that are useful for many different musical applications.

Originally developed for the Macintosh and marketed by Opcode Systems (see the review of Overture 1.0 in the April 1995 issue of EM), Overture was later licensed to Cakewalk, which has taken great pains to bring the program to the Windows world. With a few exceptions, the Mac and PC versions are remarkably similar so much so that a single 795-page manual (with differences clearly indicated) works quite well for both platforms.

AT A GLANCE
Among the first things I noticed about Overture was the microscopic control it provides over the look and placement of symbols. After a short time, I also noticed an increase in my productivity and speed when copying music and doing MIDI orchestrations. Overall, Overture can competently handle every detail, from copying and pasting pages of orchestral systems to notating complex nested tuplets. The Mac version is also adept at saving notation as EPS or PICT files for importing into graphics programs or combining with text files, and it can also import external graphics files for creating custom symbols. Both versions include a Graphics palette for creating your own symbols.

The program lets users assign different fonts to various score elements, such as lyrics, bar numbers, track names, tempo indications, and rehearsal numbers. It would be helpful, however, to have more flexibility in the low-level manipulation of symbols and fonts, such as changing the size and shape of accents. (The PC version already has an edge over the Mac in this area.) The quality of Overture's printed output is high, and its Aloisen music font is attractive and looks professional.

Screen redraw in the program is so quick that I didn't even notice it on the machines that I used for this review: a 233 MHz PC and a 132 MHz Power Mac. The Mac version has a special feature called Speedy Scrolling, which loads the entire contents of the page into RAM so the program doesn't have to redraw the screen from scratch each time you scroll the window.

Although I don't recommend using Overture without reading the manual, it is possible for the average user to get around in the program pretty well without first getting lost in the documentation. Try that with some other high-end programs and you won't get very far.

IN YOUR FACE
From the moment you launch it, Overture is the epitome of the "what you see is what you get" interface.

As with many notation programs, the interface divides its functions between menu commands and tool actions. Although many of the menu and submenu commands have keyboard shortcuts, many do not, which makes a good macro editor (such as CE Software's QuicKeys) a wise investment for serious Mac users. (The Windows version offers greatly improved keyboard shortcut access.)

The toolbar is divided into five groups of buttons that control specific types of actions: the Arrow, Erase, and Scale cursors; Notes, Groups, Ornaments, Articulations, Noteheads, Tablature, Guitar, and 'Jazz buttons; Dynamics, Text, Expressions, and Graphics buttons; Clefs, Staves, and Barlines buttons; and the Transcription Quantize Amount button. You can orient the toolbar and any of its tear-off menus vertically or horizontally, and the Windows version lets you arbitrarily resize the toolbar palette.

READY, SET, ENTER
As with any good notation program, Overture lets you import Standard MIDI Files or enter notes by step-entry, mouse-entry, or real-time performance (with 480 ppqn resolution). You can't, however, freely enter music to your own beat (and have the barlines end up in the right places), which may disappoint some users. However, Overture makes up for this deficiency in many ways. For example, it doesn't complain when you put too many beats in a measure (although the program's Show Incorrect Rhythms command can check for bars with too few or too many beats). It's also interesting to note that the Macintosh version of Overture can still import Opcode Vision files.

The step-enter function is easy to use and nicely enhanced with keyboard shortcuts, so you can keep one hand on the MIDI keyboard and one on the computer keyboard, with few side trips to the mouse. The keyboard shortcuts for note durations are logical, although there's no shortcut for 64th notes.

Overture provides automatic, as well as manual, transcription capabilities. Recorded or imported note data first appears onscreen as what Overture calls "raw" data. It's a kind of "time notation" in which noteheads are extended in proportion to their duration. (Notes can also be printed in this form for contemporary music scores.) Manually quantizing the raw data is a simple matter of selecting a region with the mouse, clicking the Quantization button, and entering the desired resolution when prompted. You can also specify the quantization resolution when importing files (or before using real-time recording), which provides automatic transcription.

Furthermore, Overture lets you import score setups, or templates, which simplifies the task of importing MIDI files. CompanyShortName supplies a large assortment of ready-to-use templates on the Overture 2 CD-ROM.

Overture offers several attractive features in the areas of note entry and symbol manipulation. The Make Invisible command (which hides all currently selected notes and symbols) is a terrific feature, and you can apply it to any symbol on the page. It will be especially appreciated by those who write multiple parts in different voices on a single staff. Overture also lets you specifically assign tip to eight independent voices per staff with individual control over such things as stem direction and playback parameters.

The Scale button lets you resize almost any symbol on the page (such as staves, clefs, dynamics, and notes with associated articulations and ornaments) from 25 to 250 percent by selecting a region and specifying the percentage change. The Display on Previous Staff and Display on Next Staff commands are extremely handy, particularly for piano notation. They allow you to move a note or group of notes from one staff to another. (These commands don't move the data to another MIDI track, however; separate Move to Next Track and Move to Previous Track commands do that.) Another important time-saver that Overture provides is the ability to apply an articulation marking to a range of notes simply by selecting the notes and choosing the appropriate marking. That feature can really improve efficiency and boost productivity.

Chord specification is another area in which Overture excels. Its repertoire of chord types is extensive and well thought out. You can enter something as outrageous as C7(b9/#9/b13), and Overture will handle it without a problem. User-defined chords can be stored in libraries and imported into an Overture session. The program also provides great tools for jazz notation: the jazz Articulations palette comes complete with flips, doits, plops, lifts, slides, falloffs, shakes, and smears.

FREE ASSOCIATION
When you're working with notation software, associating symbols with certain staves can be frustrating, especially at part-extraction time when you're up against a deadline. The ability to attach symbols to the proper staves is crucial to the usefulness of any notation program. If you have to spend hours chasing down articulations that have mistakenly glommed onto the wrong staff, you might as well copy the parts by hand in the first place.

With Overture, when you place a symbol with the cursor, its position is shown by a cross within the five-line staff region. As you move the cursor down, the top of' the cross grows a small arrow that points toward the staff. Move out of the staff-capture region, and the arrow appears at the bottom of the cross, pointing toward the system below. The process is similar for above-the-staff operation. In either case, you can always verify that symbols and markings are being associated with the proper staves as you work with them.

Positioning symbols is equally simple: click on the symbol and move it with the cursor, or nudge it with the arrow keys. When you've made your fine adjustments to accidentals (in a big chord, for example). Overture lets you lock that measure to prevent a global justification from undoing your work. Fine editing is facilitated by Overture's ability to zoom in by up to 800 percent.

HAVE IT YOUR WAY
You can control the overall appearance of your finished notation in Overture in several ways. You can globally, change the space occupied by different note values in an Allotment Table. Different Allotment Tables can be stored and called up for different notational tasks. For adjusting the spacing of notes within individual measures, Overture includes a Beat Chart, which provides a series of small handles that appear above the measures, enabling you to position notes at the metrical and submetrical levels.

Overture's Recalc Layout command adjusts material based on measures-per-system settings. In practice, I use this command sparingly because Recalc Layout can lead to some surprising changes in otherwise carefully tweaked measures that you've forgotten to lockdown. (Unlike the current Mac version, the PC version provides multiple undo capability, which can help you recover an earlier layout if necessary.) Measures-per-system settings are most easily adjusted at the local level, using the Wrap Left and Wrap Right commands. These commands are particularly helpful for preparing parts where the placement of rests is critical for page turns.

The tools for setting the space between staves, naming and hiding staves, and setting the space between groups of staves and systems are always intuitive and easily accessible in Overture. The implementation of these functions differs in the Mac and PC versions, but the capabilities are equivalent, for the most part. The PC, however, has a slight edge over the Mac when it comes to making microadjustments on such things as the thickness of barlines, beams, staff lines, stems, and related items. These are all specified in the Engraver Settings window.

You'll find it easy to drag individual staves around with the mouse until you get them where you want them. For precisely positioning staves and other score elements, mouse movement is constrained to the first detected direction. That's handy when you're working with complex page layouts.

Flipping symbols above or below the notehead¾ a nail-biting experience in some programs¾ is a simple matter in Overture. The same is true for placing cautionary accidentals. Overture allows you to override the usual settings and add these extra sharps, flats, and naturals directly from the Accidentals palette in the toolbar.

Part preparation with Overture is straightforward. You specify instrument transpositions along with instrument names and abbreviations. They are then applied automatically during the part extraction process. You call specify minimum and maximum lengths of multibar rests, as well. Parts can also be extracted together into multiple-staff systems to create, for example, an orchestral percussion score or an instrumental part with cues.

MAD ABOUT MIDI
Overture's ability, to edit and massage MIDI data is a feature that really sets it apart from the competition. The Mac version has an advantage here because it has access to OMS, with its patch name management tool. The PC version. However, provides a Name Manager, which is used to assign MIDI instrument definitions to available ports and channels. Each of the eight voices per staff can be assigned to a different MIDI device.

The Graphic Window, where you can edit MIDI data in a piano-roll display, is the area of the program where the Mac and PC capabilities most differ. The Mac version has much of the sequencer like look and editing capabilities of Opcode's Vision, while the PC version looks identical to Pro Audio's Piano Roll.

FINAL CUE
Overture is a terrific and stable piece of software that provides complete professional music typography and page layout with a user-friendly and intuitive interface. It's a breath of fresh air amidst other high-end programs that are burdened with overwindowed and overkeystroked interfaces. The documentation is clear and well presented and offers plenty of examples. A separate 104-page Overture 2 Encyclopedia is also provided as a quick reference.

Overture 2 shows that a professional-level notation program can be powerful without being cumbersome to use. The program clearly points the way, to the next generation of music-notation applications.

Thomas Wells is a composer, author, and professor at Ohio State University and has been involved with electronic music and audio production for more than 25 years.