Songwrite is a tablature editor that incorporates Timidity for MIDI playback and Lilypond for printing, making it a great tool for musicians who want to create and share music.
Formerly known as GTablature, Songwrite has undergone significant changes to become a standalone application that can be used on any Linux-based operating system. Although it was previously part of GNOME, the application has been renamed Songwrite due to incompatibilities between GNOME 1 and GNOME 2.
One of the most significant features of Songwrite is that file compatibility is preserved between GTablature and Songwrite. Users can easily switch between these two applications without losing any data. To check out Songwrite, users need to untar the tarball and run the ./songwrite script.
Songwrite now uses Python's DistUtils for installation. Users can install Songwrite by typing (as root): cd Songwrite-XXX python ./setup.py install. Although a warning may appear at the end of installation, users can safely ignore it. After installation, the software can be launched by running the "songwrite" command in a console.
By default, Songwrite is installed in /usr. However, users can modify the setup.cfg file to select another location. To use Songwrite, users need Python 2.2 or higher and EditObj. Additionally, a recent version of GNU Lilypond (at least 2.3.12) is mandatory for printing.
This software has undergone several updates, including the addition of an icon, the use of package graphicx in LaTeX exports, and songbooks now save the song filenames with path relative to the songbook filename. Overall, Songwrite is an excellent tool for musicians looking for a comprehensive tablature editor that supports the latest features and provides compatibility with other popular music software.
Version 0.14: N/A