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Discover Pizzicato at the Frankfurt Music Exhibition, March 24-27, 2010

Discover Pizzicato
at the music exhibition
MusikMesse 2010
Frankfurt, Germany
Booth D58, Hall 5.1
March 24 to 27
Click here for more information...

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Philip Thomas, music editor (United States) - "Pizzicato has powerful and comprehensive features. But what really sets Pizzicato apart is its vast array of compostion tools which are simple to use yet profound in scope and depth."
=>Read more...


Michel Buffier, Trombone (France) - "I found in music a blossoming that I did not expect and Pizzicato gave me a great additional satisfaction."
=> Read more...

Laurent Calomne, Author-Composer (Belgium) - "I use Pizzicato intensively to write the scores of the music I compose"
=>
Read more...

Pizzicato Writes Your Music Sheets

A text processor helps you write letters and print them.

Pizzicato helps you write your music sheets and print them. Pizzicato is a music notation software. It is as simple as that.

And also to initiate yourself into music composition practicing and teaching or to improve yourself in these matters.

Whether you start from:

  • handwritten scores,
  • exercises to copy,
  • scores to transpose,
  • or your own musical ideas,...

... you will quickly be able to easily print your music on paper in a professional quality. To choose its final shape, you will be able to listen to the result on each stage and to make slight changes as you like it.

At home and without preliminary knowledge of computers.

If you read these pages, you already have the main component: a computer (Mac or PC).

You can probably use the mouse quite correctly.

If you have a printer, Pizzicato will help you to put it all together "in music" and on paper. You do not need anything else!

Using the letters and figures of the computer keyboard, a text processor helps you to write letters.

"Indeed, I use this program more and more and I find that it is terribly well done! It should be said that since its purchase, I have enjoyed this software very much, as well for its easy use as for its advanced functions. Well done for the follow-up and the evolution of this excellent software."

Johann S.

Yes, but what about filling in your notes and rhythms on the score?

Good question...


Your Music Notes

On the Pizzicato screen, you see the empty staff to fill:

Musical range

To add notes and rhythms, you will use a graphic palette with the values of notes and rests, such as for example:

Tools

See all symbols...

To add a note, click on the symbol and then click on the staff, at the desired position.

The note appears.

Pizzicato automatically adjusts the positions and with a few clicks you get:

Warning : if you do not know
what is a music note or a staff,
Click here to learn music!
Otherwise, go on...

Simple, isn't it?

Yes... but what about the clef, the key signature, the time signature,...?


You Decide!

As for notes and rests, Pizzicato provides symbols to select the clef, the key signature and the time signature. With a few clicks, you get:

Download

You may change the time signature, the key signature and the clef anywhere in the score.

You decide, Pizzicato draws!

"I thank you for the assistance you bring to musicians and other music lovers by the way of a complete and instructive program."

Françoise B.

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All right. But there is better...

Customize Your Measure

Do you want more space in the measure, or do you want to narrow it?

Do you wish to modify the stems of some notes, lengthen them, reverse them?

Would you like to slightly move two rhythmic voices in order to increase readability?

Do you expect to group or separate the note beams in an unusual way?

Do you need to reduce or modify a note head?

Yes, you can do all this with Pizzicato.

Easily and with a few clicks. The result is a structured measure, nice to see and easy to transform.

Here is an illustration:

Example of measurement

But what is still missing in your measure...?


Decorate Your Measure

Nuances, accents, staccato, tempo, slurs, accidentals...

For each one of these, Pizzicato provides a graphic tool that only waits for your instructions.

Here are some examples:

Order Pizzicato!

See all symbols...

With the same facility, you will also be able to add:

  • Text blocks, titles and comments,
  • Measure numbers and page numbers,
  • Up to 8 lines of lyrics automatically aligned under the notes,
  • Chord symbols,
  • Repeats and special bar lines,
  • etc.

One picture is better than a thousand words...

Fortunately, all measures are not so complex.

But this gives you an outline of the graphic and musical power at your disposal.

"I am very satisfied with your Pizzicato software. Many achievements were possible thanks to its flexibility and its simple and effective logics."

Laurent Pigeolet - Professor at the Music Academy of Ottignies (Belgium)

Create and print your scores yourself.
Order Pizzicato now by clicking here!

So you know how to write a measure and to customize it in thousands different ways.

But what about building a full score, with several instruments, many pages, staves and systems?

Yes, with Pizzicato, you also master this aspect.

How?

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Master The Page Layout

What is page layout?

It is the control you have on:

  • The number of measures per staff (may be different for each staff)
  • Spacing between staves and systems (a system is a set of staves played together)
  • The number of staves or systems per page
  • The Margins of the score
  • The printing size (printing zoom)

Two powerful and simple Pizzicato dialog boxes help you to master these aspects and give you total control on the score.

"The Pizzicato software surprised me as well for its easy use as by the power of its functions."

Marc L.

Structure your measures as you want!


Ok. But before all this, how will you specify the number of instruments, the number of measures...?

Create Your Score

To start your score, you can simply use the score creation assistant.

This dialog box asks you all essential information such as the number of measures, the number of instruments, clefs, transposition, key and time signature...

The assistant then creates a custom page layout and you can start to write your notes!

But you can also start from one of the numerous prepared templates (270) provided by Pizzicato for various instruments, groups and orchestras, with various page layouts.

You customize the number of measures you want and the score is ready!

You know now how to structure your score and to fill in the measures. There is only one missing step...


Print your score

And here it is!

Pizzicato prints your own score, clearly, with a professional quality. In the comfort of your environment. On your printer. As promised !

"I have much pleasure in legibly copying scores for our choir."

Edmond S.

And if the score contains several instruments, you can of course extract parts, i.e. print the individual scores for each member of your group or orchestra.

With Pizzicato, you will also be able to :

  • Easily transpose one or more mesures: you specify the scale or transposition interval and Pizzicato does it, including accidentals!
  • Transcribe the chord symbols into notes on the staff
  • Export a graphic image to your text processor (very practical to write a music course or handbook)
  • Manage and write percussion instruments (including the sound performance, see below...)
  • Work with the zoom on the screen
  • Optimize the orchestral scores (if an instrument plays solo during 50 measures, it is useless to print the 20 other instruments on the conductor score)
  • Copy/paste measures or repeated sections (the Ravel Bolero particularly appreciates this function...)
  • And a lot of other things as well.

In short...


Publish your scores yourself with Pizzicato !

Imagine...

You have a new musical idea on a Sunday morning. Tomorrow, you play with your band.

Yes, yes, this musical idea seems very promising! It would be absolutely fabulous if you could quickly put it in music, at least to have a first outline of it.

You write the theme with Pizzicato, you fill in the score, the chords. A second voice here, a nice bass there...

Later, your printer is put to work.

And the next day, you give your scores in a professional design to your musicians!

Or maybe you are a music teacher and it would be quite useful to create customized exercises for your students...

Or perhaps you are a composer and to register your productions, it is necessary to print them... Above all, the smart modules in Professional Pizzicato would save you hours of tedious page layout.

Or maybe you play in a choir or a band and you would simply like to create clear copies of the scores or transpose them...

... but you certainly think of other personal scenarios where Pizzicato could help you, because...


Pizzicato Was Designed Specifically For You

Pizzicato will quickly become your favourite companion for musical work and it will help you to emphasize your musical abilities.

It will give you the freedom to write your musical ideas on paper and to communicate them to others with a professional looking design.

"This program already allowed me to compose and transcribe a large number of pieces, and I think it is very complete and well conceived."

Arnaud C.

Discover Pizzicato now:

Publish your own scores!
Order Pizzicato today
Click here. You will appreciate it!

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So what...? You have not ordered yet...?

In fact, there are still many things to discover about Pizzicato.

And not the least.

A paper score is fine. But you will tell me that it is not the ultimate goal of music!

Exact, because music is first of all another dimension. A dimension you expect, you appreciate...


Listen To Your Score!

Your multimedia PC or Mac contains everything Pizzicato needs to play your score.

Even without external musical device.

Indeed, the sound cards of multimedia computers contain a musical synthesizer that Pizzicato will exploit to give you the sound result of your score.

Yes, but how can you specify the sounds you want, the volume of each one? How will Pizzicato transform the graphism of your score into audible musical notes?


A special window helps you to select the sound for each staff of your score.

Similarly, the adjustments of volume, balance, vibrato, tempo... give you full control over the sound produced.

By analyzing the graphism of each measure, Pizzicato will calculate the notes to play with the correct rhythms and will send the result to your sound card.

Conclusion: you listen to your score!

At any moment, simply hit the space bar of the computer keyboard and Pizzicato plays instantaneously the contents of the current measures.

Moreover, while you add or move the notes, you hear them immediately.

Very practical to check the cohesion of the score!

Or to test several possible choices in a measure.

Or to train yourself to correctly sing your music lessons.

Or to help you understand and play a difficult rhythm.

In short, the applications are numerous and you will be able to exploit them all.

However, a computer is said to be cold, mechanical and without emotion, which is against the heart of the musician, isn't it?

So how to make it play in a more human and expressive way ?


You Are The Conductor!

What causes the expressive, emotional and human side of a musical performance?

It does not matter how you answer this question, the ultimate answer is... the human being himself!

Good, this is reassuring!

Your computer will therefore not replace your musical emotions.

To help you to fully assume your role (you are the conductor, do not forget it), Pizzicato will perform all the symbols you place on the score.

You add a double forte, a decrescendo, an accelerando?

Pizzicato performs them by playing loudly, by decreasing the force and finally by accelerating.

You add an accent to a note, a staccato section or a legato?

Pizzicato accentuates the note, detaches it or ties it.

All this independently for each instrument.

Without any other action then adding these symbols on the score.

Pizzicato will also allow you:

  • To play and perform the repeated sections
  • To adapt the effect of each symbol (for example, the accent of this measure 3rd note must be a little stronger, or the crescendo must be more pronounced here...)
  • To add a random side to the performance of the score, so as to make it more human (indeed, the human performer does not play with the precision of a computer, but this precisely makes music more pleasant and sensitive)
  • To adjust separately the playing of each note to refine with precision a musical effect (these 3 notes should be played a bit earlier, this other passage must be played as if the notes were trailing...)
  • To add various special effects (glissando, appoggiaturas,"swing" effect,...)
  • To create new graphic symbols and to assign them to sound effects integrated into your tool palettes.

All this on your multimedia computer.

Without external musical device.

You Orchestrate, Pizzicato Performs!

"Therefore, Pizzicato will let you write music, as on a sheet of paper. Here, the pencil is replaced by the mouse. Connected to a sound module, the computer will play the score, performing the nuances, the tempos wanted by the composer, without him doing anything else than writing them. It is a real musical home studio that the musician, professional or beginner, will discover without difficulty."

Newspaper La Meuse - February 28, 1998

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But an important word is missing in this site...


What About MIDI ?

You probably already heard about MIDI.

This term is inseparable from computer aided music.

It is the universally recognized language allowing computers, sound cards, softwares and synthesizers to communicate together.

Click here to learn more about MIDI...

Pizzicato uses the MIDI language to communicate with the sound card located in your computer and to make it perform your music.

As you perhaps noticed up to now, the technical knowledge of MIDI is not necessary to transform you into a conductor.

Indeed, you are first a musician and not a studio technician, are you ?

Pizzicato automatically handles most technical MIDI issues so that you can quietly concentrate on your musical creativity and score.

Note: if you like to handle MIDI by yourself, Pizzicato will not disappoint you: you have direct access to all MIDI parameters!

And what if you have an external musical device (synthesizer, MIDI keyboard, electronic organ...)?


Connect Your Musical Keyboard To Pizzicato

If you have a musical synthesizer or a MIDI keyboard, or if you plan to buy one, you will be able to connect it to your computer and to exploit it with Pizzicato.

Click here to know how to connect
your synthesizer to your computer...

Once your synthesizer is connected to Pizzicato, you will be able to use it in two ways.

The first way is to ask Pizzicato to play your score directly on your synthesizer. If you have a good quality device, sounds will probably be better than with a simple sound card. You will therefore gain in realism and sound effects.

The second way is so important that it deserves a special section...


Introduce Your Notes Directly From The Musical Keyboard!

Yes, you can play a melody on your musical keyboard, and Pizzicato will transcribe it in notes on the screen.

Pizzicato plays one measure free with a metronome and then you play your melody following the rhythm given by the metronome. Pizzicato transcribes it in musical notation. You can do it at the tempo of your choice, as slow as needed.

Then you can use all the tools previously explained to correct, adjust or modify your notes and rests, add nuances, etc.

If you are not yet mastering the musical keyboard, you can also use the introduction of notes step by step. It is a fast and precise method.

A cursor is blinking in the measure where you fill in the notes (the MIDI cursor):

Hold a chord (or a simple note) on your musical keyboard and press for example on the "3" key of the computer keyboard. The chord appears on the staff, with a rhythmic value of a quarter note (code "3"):

Press on "3" again, without holding a musical keyboard note and the equivalent rest value appears (quarter rest):

Easy, isn't it?

"I have been a relentless user of Pizzicato since 1996. I think that this software is very performing and above all it meets the needs of professional musicians."

Alain Pierre – Guitarist and composer

Create your own music and arrangements.
Order Pizzicato today
Click here, you will appreciate it!

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Any hesitations?

You wonder if you will be able to use Pizzicato?

You wonder if all advantages presented here are really accessible to everyone, even whithout computer knowledge?

And what if you have problems after buying Pizzicato? Who will help you?

You probably asks yourself what is the price of Pizzicato. If Pizzicato has all the above functions, it surely must be quite expensive...

Do not worry.

You Will Easily Use Pizzicato

This is frequently mentioned in the comments spontaneously received from users.

"I personally want to congratulate you for the beautiful program you conceived, namely Pizzicato. It directly appealed to me by its simplicity of use and its possibilities "

Bruno R.

Why is Pizzicato unanimously recognized as a program easy to use?

Because before even creating Pizzicato the first purpose has always been:

To make music
accessible to
everyone and
to bring users to
more musical creativity.

On the basis of many opinions and comments from people who, just like you, wished to approach or look further into computer aided music, Pizzicato was conceived in this state of mind from the beginning.

We have understood the basic rule that many of our competitors have still do not yet understood today:

Musician does not always rhyme
with
computer specialist or technician

Therefore, the instruction manual has been the subject of a considerable work to make all aspects of computer assisted music understandable to everyone, even (s)he:

  • has no musical knowledge
  • has no experience in computer and software

"I am extremely satisfied with your software which is really powerful. Your manual is very well-designed, even for ignorant in computers like me. Indeed, up to now I had never had the opportunity to touch a computer."

Sister Marcelle

The instruction manual of Pizzicato literally takes you by the hand and guides you step by step in the discovery of Pizzicato.

It is a sequence of lessons, each lesson explaining in full details an aspect of Pizzicato.

Including practical and illustrated examples, Pizzicato suggests that you execute each example yourself, step by step, in a didactic way.

"The accompanying manual is - once is not always! - well and clearly written. You can follow the method step by step, without any risks to be mislead."

"Le Mot" Journal - March 1996

Conclusion:

You can
read and
understand English,
you will be able
to use Pizzicato.

It is as simple as that.

Now, if you master computers and/or music, the way in which the manual is designed will allow you to ignore all useless lessons and go directly to the essential.

"The very detailed instruction manual guides the apprentice musician step by step to learn music and computer at the same time. But if you are already acquainted to it, if music does not have secrets any secrets any more for you and if your goal is to write or hear your scores (Gregorian to contemporary, classical to hard rock), the design of the important manual allows everybody to navigate throught it according to his/her needs, from the beginner to the professional."

Crescendo - April 1996
Publication on musical and discographic life

The full manual is accessible on the screen; the paper manual, according to the version, contains the main lessons. All lessons may be printed if you want.

Yes, but...


What If You Have Questions After Having Bought Pizzicato?

Who is going to help you?

As your satisfaction is our first goal, we provide you access to the technical support of Pizzicato.

Most questions are answered within 24 hours during working days and you receive a customized answer to your specific request.

As many times as needed.

And this without any time limit.

If we can guarantee this service to you, it is because Pizzicato is a user-friendly program easy to use.

If Pizzicato would have been complex and difficult to use, our support department would be overloaded and we could not offer you such a service.

"Congratulations for the quality and the presentation of your wonderful product. I am very satisfied to have chosen Pizzicato. Never did I receive such a fast response with a clear and full explanation."

Willi M.

Do you want to test us?

Send us your question by clicking on our email address:

support@arpegemusic.com

What Is The Price Of Pizzicato?

Pizzicato exists in various versions, depending on the functions you want. Prices goes from about $US 20 to $US 450 . See details on the order page.

In the professional version 3, you receive all functionalities explained up to now.

If you order a package, you will receive your software by post mail, with the user manual and DVD. If you select the cheaper electronic version, you get the software with the same functions and you download it from the Internet.

Pizzicato Professional offers the best quality/price ratio on the market.

But you should of course not believe us because we say so...

What distinguishes Pizzicato from its competitors is the combination of:

  • A really powerful software, allowing you to write your scores easily
  • A particularly user-friendly and natural approach to musical notation
  • A didactic approach, accessible to everyone: you do not need to be an expert in computers to use it
  • A direct contact with the software publisher: you can make the product evolve according to your comments. We have been listening to you since 1992.
  • Functions which innovate and evolve musical software.

Pizzicato has been designed for you.

Order Pizzicato now, you will be able to contemplate and listen to your first scores very soon!

Click here to order Pizzicato now

If you estimate that Pizzicato Professional does much more than what you currently really need, you may order Pizzicato Beginner.

Of course it does not contain all the features of the Professional version.

Click here to see the list of differences...

On the other hand, if your goal is to print scores, we do not advise you to buy Pizzicato Light, which is intended to learn music and to make your first steps in computer aided music. It is too limited in functions for customized score editing.

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Summary

If you have read this page in full, you have now a quite precise outline of what Pizzicato may help you to do in music.

It is not accidental. It is the result of thirteen years invested in research and development of tools adapted to the needs of musicians, for both beginners and professionals.

It is a lot of musical power at your disposal.

It is up to you to decide if you want to use it.

"Congratulations and thanks for giving us a very good working tool which has already been of great help to me and will continue to be, I am sure. What is the most interesting is to bel able to directly communicate with the publisher of Pizzicato."

Laurent Haye - Music teacher
at the Academy of Brussels

Make the step!

Order Pizzicato today by clicking here

Welcome in the
Pizzicato user's community !

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All right. You want more?

Yes, it is true that Pizzicato Professional 3 has other functions we have not explained yet.

They relate to another subject: music composition.

How can Pizzicato Professional help you to compose music?

Discover it by clicking here...

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