LilyPond

LilyPond is a free and open-source application for macOS that lets you create high-quality music scores. It makes your scores look like they were engraved by hand, giving them a classic touch.

Create Beautiful Sheet Music

With LilyPond, you can enjoy the look of traditionally engraved sheet music right from your computer. It's pretty cool how this software can give you detailed layouts while letting composers, publishers, and transcribers focus on the music instead of stressing over how it looks.

Easy to Use for Musicians

Musicians love using LilyPond because it helps them create elegant sheet music that’s not just easy to read but also nice to look at! The fonts and styles are inspired by some of the best hand-engraved scores out there.

Interactive Features

You can input your text in LilyPond’s main window to describe your score. Plus, you get to change the layout and see how it looks in real-time! If you make a mistake, no worries—the “Undo” feature lets you fix things with just a click!

Version Control Made Simple

LilyPond also has version control. This means you can easily look back at the entire history of changes made to your scores. It’s super handy if you want to track your progress or revert back to earlier versions.

Integrate Music Effortlessly

This software makes it easy for music and text to work together. You can integrate music into LaTeX or HTML documents without any hassle. Plus, if you're picky about how things look, you can tweak the layout settings to match your style!

Multiple Styles for Your Scores

You can keep different versions of the same score in separate files and switch between stylesheets whenever you like. This way, you get two different looks for the same piece!

Advanced Options for Experts

If you're more experienced, there's even a built-in scripting language called Scheme that lets you access LilyPond's layout engine and add your own custom functions.

If you're interested in checking it out, download LilyPond here!