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When making an arrangement of a tune or an original composition I use several tools to ease the job. At first I start by finding the right chords of the song and generating a rhythm track with Band In A Box.
For example, this looks like (Samba Cantina):

Band In A Box 8_thumb.jpg (2473 bytes)

This is exported to MIDI-file and read into the sequencer Cakewalk. Most of the job is done with this program. The harmonisations and all the parts are sequenced in to the program. At the end all the parts are ready:

Cakewalk Overview_thumb.jpg (2209 bytes)

The alto part is displayed below (not transposed):

Cakewalk Samba Cantina_thumb.jpg (1451 bytes)

Next the Cakewalk file (Samba Cantina.wrk) is exported to MIDI and imported into the musical desktop publishing program Finale. With this fabulous program it is possible to produce professional looking scores. The opening screen is shown below:

Finale 98_thumb.jpg (2356 bytes)

Also a new version is available:

Finale2000_thumb.jpg (2340 bytes)

When the MIDI file is imported and the extra musical symbols are inserted it looks like:

Samba Cantina_thumb.jpg (2430 bytes)

At last the parts are extracted:

Samba Cantina Alto_thumb.jpg (2586 bytes)

And it is ready for publishing !!!

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Copyright Han Geerligs. All images and files copyrighted
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Last updated: oktober 28, 2003.