This software is designed for typesetting music.
Philip's Music Writer is an amazing program that typesets high-quality music with ease. It takes text files as input and generates PostScript as an output, providing exceptional results. Additionally, this program has the ability to write simple MIDI files for proofreading purposes.
Written in C language, PMW is an independent program and does not require any further processing software. It is also a Linux/Unix version of the program that operated for over a decade on Acorn systems with the name of Philip's Music Scribe.
PMW reads an input file containing an encoded description of the music, which can be constructed using any text editor or word processor. It has a very compact and straightforward music encoding method, which is quick to enter. PMW may not be user-friendly when it comes to inputting music, but it definitely saves time. The usual facilities of a word processor, such as cutting and pasting, can be used to speed up entry, and PMW also has text-based features like macros and included files.
The output of PMW is a PostScript file that can be printed on a PostScript printer or viewed on the screen. It can also be printed on a non-PostScript printer by using GhostScript. PMW comes with a PostScript outline font that contains all the musical shapes like notes, rests, accidentals, bar lines, and clefs.
PMW also comes with a man page for the command line options and a 200-page manual that is distributed as a PDF file. The PMW input encoding is designed to be easy for a musician to remember, making use of as many familiar musical notations as possible within the limitations of the computer's character set. Normally, a human will input it with any available word processor or text editor. However, there is no reason why PMW input should not form the output of some other computer program that captures (or generates) music in another way.
PMW has numerous features that make it possible to print various types of music using standard notation, and these are described in detail in the extensive manual. Overall, Philip's Music Writer is an excellent program that does justice to the art of music notation.
Written in C language, PMW is an independent program and does not require any further processing software. It is also a Linux/Unix version of the program that operated for over a decade on Acorn systems with the name of Philip's Music Scribe.
PMW reads an input file containing an encoded description of the music, which can be constructed using any text editor or word processor. It has a very compact and straightforward music encoding method, which is quick to enter. PMW may not be user-friendly when it comes to inputting music, but it definitely saves time. The usual facilities of a word processor, such as cutting and pasting, can be used to speed up entry, and PMW also has text-based features like macros and included files.
The output of PMW is a PostScript file that can be printed on a PostScript printer or viewed on the screen. It can also be printed on a non-PostScript printer by using GhostScript. PMW comes with a PostScript outline font that contains all the musical shapes like notes, rests, accidentals, bar lines, and clefs.
PMW also comes with a man page for the command line options and a 200-page manual that is distributed as a PDF file. The PMW input encoding is designed to be easy for a musician to remember, making use of as many familiar musical notations as possible within the limitations of the computer's character set. Normally, a human will input it with any available word processor or text editor. However, there is no reason why PMW input should not form the output of some other computer program that captures (or generates) music in another way.
PMW has numerous features that make it possible to print various types of music using standard notation, and these are described in detail in the extensive manual. Overall, Philip's Music Writer is an excellent program that does justice to the art of music notation.
What's New
Version 4.21: N/A