Symphony – Music Notation

Category

Description of App

Symphony is a music composition tool made to work perfectly with your iPhone!

Our app is designed to be the most intuitive environment possible for writing down your musical ideas on a handheld device, as well as for creating anything from sheet music to large orchestrations while on the go.

To add notes, tap the Pencil icon, then tap anywhere inside a measure to write a new melody or chord progression. You can quickly edit note properties before or after placing notes. By switching to Select mode with one touch, you can also transpose, erase, cut, and paste multiple notes anywhere in the score.

When you’re done composing, Symphony allows you to print your score with AirPrint, or share it as a PDF, MIDI, MusicXML, or audio file to DropBox, iCloud Drive, and email.

More Features:

• 100+ acoustic instruments available for live, multi-track performance
• Efficient, ergonomic design for your iPhone 5, 6, or 6+ device
• Create formatted chord charts & lead sheets with the Chord Symbol and Lyric tools.
• Create scores in standard music notation or tablature
• Enter notes with touch input, an on-screen instrument, a MIDI input device, or even a QWERTY keyboard
• Dozens of shortcuts & gestures to edit & navigate.
• Print the score from your iPad with AirPrint
• Up to 15 instruments, 45 staves, 4 voices/layers per score
• Record MIDI to notation in real-time using a click track
• Backup & sync scores with iCloud
• Import MusicXML, MIDI, MXL, or Symphony files
• Export as a PDF, MusicXML, MIDI, AAC, or Symphony file
• Large selection of articulations & dynamics in the Expressions menu
• Multi-measure rests for parts
• Grace notes
• Edit multiple notes and rests by selection, toggle, and note groupings.
• Copy/Paste function can select multiple measures & staves, and cut single or multiple voices/layers
• Unlimited undo and redo
• Customizable stem directions & note beaming
• Transposing instruments & concert pitch options
• Change tempo or clef at any point in the score
• Stream audio or share your screen wirelessly with AirPlay
• Advanced document management support
• Customizable part groupings for SATB and instrument families
• Customizable chord symbol, lyric, and annotation font
• Loop playback between a range of measures
• Auto-save

For more info, please visit:

• Product overview: http://symphonypro.net/iphone
• Ask support questions by visiting forums.symphonypro.net
• Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/symphonyapp

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* Symphony is now free-to-download, meaning that without upgrading, your installation will have the following limitations:

(1) A maximum of 6 user-created scores
(2) A maximum of 2 exported scores/day.

* Purchase to the Full Edition IAP directly from the app in order to:

- Enable unlimited saving & exporting

However, if you already purchased this app before it became "Freemium", you can instantly register your earlier purchase to unlock the Full Edition upgrade. Just look under Help > Full Edition, then click on the first option listed

Version

4.4.4

Free or Paid

Free

Apple Watch Support

No

Device(s) App Was Tested On

iPhone

iOS Version

10.2.1

Accessibility Comments

With the exception of the fretboard instrument, this app has so far proven to be complete accessible. The developers have made it possible to operate the app using QWERTY keyboard shortcuts, and the documentation for this interface option even has a section specific to VoiceOver users that includes things like a key combination to have Voiceover announce your current location within the open project.

VoiceOver Performance

VoiceOver reads most page elements.

Button Labeling

All buttons are clearly labeled.

Usability

There are some minor accessibility issues with this app, but they are easy to deal with.

Other Comments

I rated the app as totally accessible despite the lack of access to the fretboard instrument because the developers did such an outstanding job implementing true VoiceOver accessibility across the rest of the app. The on-screen keyboard instrument, which is a piano keyboard and not a QWERTY keyboard, makes up for the present lack of fretboard instrument access. I chose to overlook this issue since the developers of Symphony have managed to create, in an app for the iPhone and iPad, the sort of notation editor software that is so rare for those of us who cannot see: a full-featured piece of software that works for everyone, regardless of sight, out of the box and with native accessibility. I honestly never thought I would find an accessible notation editor that was so affordable and doesn't require additional layers of software or workarounds to make it work half as well as its developers intended. This is a notation editor that is accessible to everyone just as it is.

Developer's Twitter Username

@symphonyapp

Recommendations

2 people have recommended this app

Most recently recommended by Amanda M 2 years 6 months ago

Options

Comments

By peter on Thursday, April 6, 2017 - 01:56

Just wondering if one wanted to unlock the capabilities of this app, how much is that?

Thanks.

--Pete

By KE7ZUM on Thursday, April 6, 2017 - 01:56

Wow sounds good. I might get this and see how good it really is. I'm a bit worried about notes overlapping and stuff. I would want the score to look professional. Wiht no mistakes.

By Joseph on Thursday, April 6, 2017 - 01:56

to unlock the full version, it costs about $5.00 USD.

By KE7ZUM on Thursday, April 6, 2017 - 01:56

Loving the app, but I see some problems.
I can't easily change each note, that is, I have to change each note to be in this case eighths. I wish there were a faster way to do this such as step like I choose 8th and until I change it then I can change to a quarter for some other notes etc etc. Over all though it is looking promising.

By KE7ZUM on Thursday, April 6, 2017 - 01:56

Ok, in playing wiht the piece adding tempo markigns is so far a mess, but this might just be me still learning the ropes. I'm still working on this piece which I actually hope to have printed and sung by this year, if I can find some folks to sing it. Lol.! I can't. Here is the sample. This is the piano part only. I've had this piece for 5 years in my head so much of this is easy to note down.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/drni7z63g9vep24/Oh%20come%20emanual%203.m4a?dl=1

By Amanda M on Thursday, April 6, 2017 - 01:56

I've found the help section to be very useful for learning how to use the app correctly. When adding notes, you can choose between two methods, which seem to work slightly differently. I haven't had a lot of time to play with the app, and I haven't printed anything to see how it looks to a person who is sighted, so maybe there are some drawbacks. To do step recording, you define the value of a note whenever you want to change note values. So if you want a string of eighths, just select eighth note and enter the pitches with the on-screen keyboard instrument. When you want to use another value, like half notes or dotted quarters, etc., make that selection with the on-screen icons or the QWERTY shortcuts, then enter the pitches as before.

By KE7ZUM on Thursday, April 6, 2017 - 01:56

I read the help section but I need to figure out how I'm going to remove the 5 tempo markings I put in at the piece, they don't seem to indicate they are there when I curser, at least I have not seen them yet. Still though this is progress. I can't wait to get the piano part written then the SSAA parts written. They also mention about dragging staves to look like a professional score. I don't yet know how to add those brackets, so far though I'm making faster progress with this than alda.

By LadyMunch on Wednesday, March 6, 2019 - 01:56

Hi
just looked at this ap in the UK store. It is no longer free, but now costs £5 .
A question: how does this app compare to garage band or music memos? Thank you

By Feline Lover on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 01:56

I don’t have a quality keyboard right now, or at least, not one that is Bluetooth anyway. I can probably connect it via the Camera connect adapter that I have, though.
Anyway, I recently joined a chorus that is willing to provide me with music XML sheet music to meet my accommodations. I am wanting to figure out how to isolate a certain track so I can either hear the accompaniment plus my part, or just my part alone.
When I tried to solo or mute a specific track, voiceover tended to lose focus or interrupted speech by moving me to a bar that I didn’t want to go to. Is this something I have to use with the keyboard rather than swiping on the screen?
Thanks!

By KE7ZUM on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 01:56

Anyone know how to do those 6 mote triplets. I have a piece I've ben working on for 10 years now where let's say you start on e 2 in the left hand, arpeggiate all the way up to b4 in the right hand and go back down to e2 in the left hand or something like that. How would I do that, bracket the 6 notes? If so how do I indicate the sextuplet?

By peter on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 01:56

You should contact the developer through the support e-mail given in the app. He is quite responsive to accessibility concerns and questions. If something is not working for you or you would like to see a feature to improve accessibility, just let him know. That is the only way most developers learn about accessibility issues and they are usually eager to address them.

--Pete

By Bingo Little on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 01:56

Re comment number 9, I would be really interested to hear how this app is meant to help you learn voice parts. I am also a member of a choir and currently use various companies such as www.choraline.co.uk or www.choraltracks.com, or the excellent www.johnfletchermusic.org all of which i would recommend to any of you who are choral singers. However, they don't always have what I need, so it would be really useful if this app could help me learn.

By KE7ZUM on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 01:56

In my last comment I asked how to do the 6 notes in bracket, I meant 12. The question still stands and I cannot find how to do this, but maybe I missed it somewhare. Also this thig starts in the left hand then the right hand. Someone jut suggested to me to just do the 12 notes in brackets and the player will understand how to do it.

By Sabrina on Wednesday, November 6, 2019 - 01:56

How do I change instrument?

By KE7ZUM on Wednesday, November 6, 2019 - 01:56

In reply to by Sabrina

There should be a drop down somewhare of of your instruments. It's ben 2 years since I last used the program, so I can't really be of much if any help. I need to go over the keyboard layout again.

By peter on Wednesday, November 6, 2019 - 01:56

There have been a lot of changes to this app since it first came out and many new accessibility features and fixes. One should read all of the documentation for the app on the web, especially about use with Voiceover and a bluetooth keyboard. There are many new hotkeys available.

Also, the developer is fairly receptive to suggestions about making the app more accessible. Don't hesitate to contact him with comments, questions, and suggestions about accessibility. Developers can only make these apps more accessible for us if we let them know about the issues we run into and how they might be fixed.

--Pete

By KE7ZUM on Wednesday, November 6, 2019 - 01:56

Nice. I mighht retry the app and hopefully get this arangement done that has ben kicking around in myhead for 10 years now. The ast time I used it was in 2016 so yeah it has ben a while.