The release of the iPad Pro 2018 edition presents some truly astonishing hardware that has the potential to replace a lot of what composers, performers, educators, and librarians are doing with notated music. Just don’t throw out your laptops yet.

The release of the iPad Pro 2018 edition presents some truly astonishing hardware that has the potential to replace a lot of what composers, performers, educators, and librarians are doing with notated music. Just don’t throw out your laptops yet.
MakeMusic has announced its intention to release version 26 of Finale, its flagship music notation software, focusing on “smarter default engraving, performance enhancements, new features, bug fixes, and refinements to included resources such as templates and libraries,” according to the company. This will be a paid upgrade. No specific date or features were revealed at this time, but a release before the end of 2018 is likely, and MakeMusic will be previewing features to the public in advance of the release.
Here’s a quick take on a few developments of late regarding the upcoming free Sibelius First software, and two keypad apps for iOS that offer notation software support: Sibelius KeyPad for Mac and NumPad.
We round up the latest music and technology news from near and far about the W3C Music Notation Community Group, a new iPad sheet music app from Henle, and Apple’s new Music Memos for iOS.
Use your iPad as a second display with Duet, an app designed by former Apple engineers.
A little-noticed feature in Logic Pro X allows for the use of the Bravura music font in the sequencer’s notation view.