Community

I am a newcomer to Overture 5, and I wanted to share my initial impressions.
I own and have used several major notation programs as well as using nearly all versions of a major DAW.

These are my impressions:

- clear and logical GUI
- a shallow learning curve
- very fast load times (I have a fast SSD but compared to my DAW it loads lightning fast)
- low on usage
- intuitive: one of the few programs I have been able to use with minimal recourse to the manual (I will read it in full in due time of course, but so far I have been able to work out most things)
- the way the notation, expression, instruments are all grouped is easy to use and logical
- the integration between notation and MIDI is great
- I love, love, love the CC curve editing - it makes it so much easier to create expressive mock-ups
- the fact you can change existing note values simply by typing their shortcut key - a real time saver
- inputting notes by their position in a bar and letting the software work out the rests
- the way you can control VSTis with CCs and Key Switches is so quick and intuitive
- being able to remap tracks to different instruments is genuinely convenient and fast
- the real-time input is so useful, much quicker than step or manual input.
- continuous development
- rapid response: I had a problem with the click sound for the metronome and it was sorted within a few days.
- a very competitive price
- I also love the Amadeus orchestral library, very playable, fast load times, good sounding, and getting the early discount made it even sweeter

The only downside so far is that the Amadeus templates don't load the instruments and sounds automatically, but I was able to set-up my own working scores really quickly.

Rudi

Found this while thinking of writing the same sort of post.
I agree with every bit of your note, I just love OV5.

I certainly hope that these notes of appreciation inspire Don to carry on with the good fight, to continue innovating, to strive to be just a little bit ahead of the competition and to realize that he has many fiercely loyal supporters. I too use many different products, but the king of them all has to be Overture. For me it is a worthy and dependable workhorse that I have used for many years. Your observations are spot on and very much appreciated by this user.

Having used Overture ever since v.2, I can only agree with everything that has been said. The way it has evolved, the way it works, the way and speed with which Don responds to valid requests and calls for help - in short pretty much everything about it makes it better, more likeable and more easily usable (at least for my purposes) than anything else I've ever tried.
John

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John Fallas
Brussels, Belgium
15" MacBook Pro 2016, 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7, 16GB
OS X 10.14.5 (Mojave) latest update
Overture 4.1.5 & 5 latest, GPO4 and 5

Having just finished a large project, using this newest version – which I held off on using until I thought it might be safe – I have been greatly impressed and generally satisfied with its performance under a deadline. Don has done a great job working slowly to improve this software. Damn!

Though there are bugs, some of which did bite me during this last project, I was able to quickly work around them and still achieve the results needed. I was surprised at how well Overture handled the dreaded Kontakt plug-in. I still pinch myself when I think of how there were no issues using this.

I am going to do a Jazz vocalist's digital CD now, using primarily Overture to flesh out the original songs and arrangements and will take some of the tracks into the studio to record with. This will enable us to do a decent job with a smaller budget since I won't have to hire certain musicians for the recording sessions. I will say that some of these custom sample libraries I'm using cost as much as hiring a session player for a few hours but this works out over time. I still end up using real musicians on subsequent gigs too, who play the charts used for the recording.

I had been using the notation program Encore since the 1980s, but in the last decade or so it had become pretty unusable on modern operating systems. I tried both Finale and Sibelius, but wasn't comfortable with the workflow. You can imagine how happy I was to learn that Overture is in many ways an improved and modernized version of Encore, and that Don is keeping it updated.

That's what brought many of us here, myself included.

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Sillie Con Valley USA
Music Industry Pro
2017 iMac Pro, 128G RAM, 2T SSD, OS 10.14.5
Overture 5.6, DP 10, Logic Pro X, Finale 26.1, Encore 5.0.7, SmartScore X2 Pro, Notion 6
Legacy G4-1K DP: OS 10.4.11, OS 9.2, Overture 1, Encore 5.05 & 4.5.5