The right hand pane allows the playback effect of score articulation marks to be edited. In the lower center pane of the workspace, parameters such as note velocities, pitch bend and after-touch can be edited on the selectable scrolling piano roll view or stave view, with an editable graph of the parameter of each note appearing below it. Each track has a mixer-desk style control for volume, panning, mute and solo, and a graphical representation of each measure of music (upper center). Instruments for each track are selected in the Instrument Library pane (left). Data View allows setup of audio playback parameters for the score's tracks and individual notes.
Screenshot of Overture v.5 in Data View mode, running on Mac OS 10.11.
Among other things, it described the advantages and disadvantages of the mouse- and keyboard-driven approaches to notation-interface design, which he exemplified referring to Encore and Finale, respectively, and other software packages. In 1994, Professor Alan Belkin of the University of Montreal published a study of notation software available at the time (dominated by programs for Macintosh).
Encore featured the ability to add notes by simply selecting the note value on a palette and placing it in the required position on a staff most notational elements could also be selected with the mouse, but unlike Finale, at the time, Encore was unable to handle many unconventional notation elements.
Other notation programs with different interfaces were eventually developed, including Encore, which Williams had previously worked on. However, its immense power and flexibility came at the expense of a "complex user interface". It was capable of handling large, complicated scores and non-traditional notation. In the early 1990s, the music notation software market was dominated by the Finale program, published by Coda. Overture 5 and higher supports editing and page navigation, such as pinch-to-zoom, using one's fingers or a stylus on touch screens. Alternatively, MIDI durations and loudness can be edited on the score itself. MIDI data such as note durations and loudness (note velocities) are edited in a piano roll graphical view, which includes a bar graph allowing editing of the parameters such as velocity, of individual notes. Most other editing of notational symbols is performed by selecting the symbols using the mouse, and selecting the appropriate editing command from a menu or by clicking on a palette. Most notational symbols can be repositioned by dragging them with the mouse. Computer keyboard note entry in Overture 5 is performed by typing the letter name of the musical pitches (optionally followed by the Enter key, depending on user settings), followed by the letter "o" or "O" if an octave change upwards or downwards, respectively, is required. For keyboard or mouse step entry, note lengths are selected from a palette or via the numeric keys (for example, pressing 4 selects quarter notes, pressing 8 selects eighth notes). MIDI keyboard note entry may be done by playing pitches singly ("step entry") or by real-time recording. In Overture, input of note data can be done by any of several methods: via an onscreen virtual piano keyboard via the computer keyboard directly onto the staves with the mouse or with a MIDI keyboard. This scrolling MIDI data view can be displayed as a piano roll view or on musical staff lines. The software also enables graphical editing of all MIDI audio playback data for every individual note, either on the score itself, or via a scrolling view in the style of a DAW.
Overture was the first scorewriter to feature full Virtual Studio Technology (VST) hosting, allowing audio playback of the score with virtual instruments, controlled by the program's mixing-desk style interface. Additionally, it has the ability to play film video footage synchronized to the score playback, and to insert precise time markers into the score. While Overture is primarily a scorewriter program, its graphic interface also has the ability to allow editing the score's MIDI audio playback data in the manner of sequencer and digital audio workstation (DAW) software. Visually, the Overture scoring interface resembles Encore, an earlier notation program, on which the same author had previously worked.
Overture is a music notation ( scorewriter) program for Windows and Macintosh platforms, published and developed by Sonic Scores. (Release date of a prior version 5.6.1.1 was December 2, 2019 2 years ago ( ))Įnglish, Chinese, French, Spanish, Norwegian