Notion 4+
Compose anywhere
PreSonus Audio Electronics, Inc.
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- Free
- Offers In-App Purchases
Screenshots
Description
With over 10 years in the App Store, Notion Mobile is a free, award-winning music composition tool for iOS, iPadOS®, macOS and more! You’ll effortlessly create dynamic compositions in traditional musical notation or guitar tablature with its intuitive touch-based interface and incredibly broad editing capabilities.
With a user-friendly interface and simple interactive piano keyboard, fretboard, drum pad, and even optional Handwriting Recognition, Notion Mobile makes it easy to get started composing your music. You can also hear your music performed with the most realistic playback possible, using real audio samples recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios.
Notion Mobile is a native cross-platform app, meaning you can write anywhere on any device without requiring a constant Internet connection. And when you’re back online, you’ll be able to sync your work across multiple devices — either through your preferred cloud provider, or through the optional wireless transfer between PreSonus applications on any device. Start your work on one device and finish it on another. Once you are happy with your creation you can share the Notion file, or export as MIDI, MusicXML, PDF or as an audio file.
Compose, edit, and play back your music performed with real piano and orchestral samples recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios — along with outstanding sampled guitar, bass, drums and other popular instruments. And when you’re ready for more sounds, you’ll find the extensive library of Notion Add-on Soundsets to purchase as part of the Feature Bundle. To save space, the initial app download contains just piano — you can then manage which of the bundled Soundsets to have on your device or keep in the cloud, just tap on Sound Installation.
Notion has been featured in various Apple campaigns including the 2014 YourVerse television commercials and has won several awards, including a prestigious music industry NAMM TEC Award for Best Smartphone/Tablet App.
What you get:
Notion Mobile includes unlimited staves, comprehensive editing features and core orchestral and rhythm section Soundsets — all for free. You can optionally register (also for free!) to unlock an additional Soundset (containing Solo Strings, Classical Saxophones and Glockenspiel), the multivoice function that allows writing in up to 4 voices per staff, and access to the friendly Notion Mobile User Forum. Then for the full experience, either sign in with your Studio One+ membership or purchase the Notion Feature Bundle. This unlocks Handwriting Recognition, Layout Controls, all the Expansion Soundsets (including many auxiliary instruments and additional articulations and effects), additional audio export formats (m4a, OPUS, FLAC) and direct file transfer between any PreSonus application running on the same network (including Notion Mobile, Notion Desktop, and Studio One.)
Free:
Unlimited staves
All editing features
Core Soundsets
Export as MIDI, PDF, wav, mp3
Register for free:
Reward Soundset including Solo Strings, Glockenspiel, Classical Saxophones
Access to the new Notion Mobile User Forum
Additionally write for voices 3 and 4 in a single staff
Export as MusicXML, Compressed MusicXML
Feature Bundle (in-app purchase or sign in with Studio One+):
Handwriting Recognition, powered by MyScript
Available on iPhone, iPad and macOS (macOS with supporting graphics tablet or using Sidecar with compatible iPad)
Automatic pen vs. finger recognition to switch between handwriting and edit mode
Pressure-sensitive support for Apple Pencil
Adjustable timer for Handwriting Recognition
Override handwriting timer by double tapping Apple Pencil (2nd Gen)
Layout Control
All Expansion Soundsets
Additional audio export formats (m4a, OPUS, FLAC)
Direct file transfer between any PreSonus application running on the same network (including Notion Mobile, Notion Desktop, and Studio One)
What’s New
Version 3.3.4
Welcome to Notion Mobile 3.3.4 maintenance release. For the full guide, check: https://shorturl.at/Kmpjo
For hints, tips and more help, visit our new Notion Mobile forum at forums.presonus.com
Ratings and Reviews
Usable but glitchy and unintuitive
I did manage to hack out a (very) simple score with this app but it took literally hours! The “undo” function represented by the counter clockwise symbol sometimes fails to erase the highlighted note or chord. The “redo” function, which I assume is the clockwise symbol, never worked! I frequently resorted to cutting the measure contents and reinstalling the notes one by one. Also, it’s unclear how to edit a note in the body of the song without backing up from the end or cutting an entire measure. I wanted to write for guitar and the interactive fretboard is a nice feature but it still rings out like a piano even after a guitar is selected. Not a big problem. The notes work but it would be nice if it sounded like the instrument I selected. Perhaps I missed something. That said, printing the resulting page was a snap! I also appreciate the ability to save to iCloud as well as to the device. If I need to do a more complex piece of music, I don’t know how long it would take! If this has the ability to use the built in mic to transpose the notes it hears, I could not get that feature operational. This really has the potential to be an extremely useful tool for someone like myself who has some basic music education but is a bit sketchy on writing music. Unfortunately the quirky “undo” feature as well as the less than intuitive interface could use some work!
Developer Response ,
Thanks for the feedback. Couple of answers that might help...
'Undo' rolls back the last user action, rather than erase anything selected. 'Redo' then only works if you have 'undone' something.
By default the app downloads with just the piano sample sound to save space on your device - it is then up to you to download additional sounds from the the Sounds menu. If a sound has not been downloaded, then the piano will sound by default.
Notion cannot analyse audio via the microphone - however it does support MIDI input (with a MIDI instrument either connected via a USB cable and the Apple Camera connector kit, or via wireless connection with a MIDI Bluetooth enabled instruemnt)
And there are various other methods of entering notes, from the onscreen fretboard/keyboard/drumpad, to tapping in with a finger (akin to how a mouse would work) to the optional handwriting recognition (an in-app purchase)
Please do join our new Facebook user group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/PreSonusNotionUsers/
A good app for DRAFTing assignments, tabs, etc for a guitar teacher
This app works very well for most of my purposes composing and arranging pieces for my guitar students. I can create alternate tunings, fair quality midi files (not pro sounding), and the click and point system works well with Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil.
However, it needs a few tweaks to be a pro level app for the composer/musician. Only 2 voices are available, and the system easily gets confused with complex rhythm figures like rumba arpeggios that have syncopated sixteenth notes in one voice against longer 8th note grouping in the lower. This means I constantly have to correct measures and erase notes that don’t fit in a measure. Staff spacing gets wonky and spread out when adding “pima” and left hand finger numbers.
The inability to put in a 3rd middle voice is the really frustrating thing. If I’m writing a Sor style piece where I need a middle voice to rest between a treble and bass voice I can’t do it, or if I want to join a treble half note with an up stem to an 8th note grouping with a downstems to show that a high note floats over a flowing arpeggio: it’s impossible to do. I don’t seems to be able to fuse a voice so it can be a unison which is often a function in right hand arpeggios so that unnecessary rests are not required to fill in the 1st beat before the 3-16ths after the beat. This has me eyeing Orchestra Pro etc . . .
Developer Response ,
Hi, thanks for your review and glad you are mostly enjoying the app.
Yes, Notion iOS has two voices per staff, whereas its big brother Notion 6 for Mac/Win supports up to four voices per staff. This is a popular request for a change however.
For community help, tips and support, join our new Facebook user group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/PreSonusNotionUsers/
Great Platform, but a few suggestions
Out of all composition programs I’ve tried, Notion is the best. The instrument recordings from the London Symphony Orchestra are very accurate and come in a wide variety for many different fields of composition. Always will be five stars…However; just like any platform it can always be improved upon. I write music on Notion, then export it as a MP3 file, so sound quality really matters. The horn instrument is not crispy as most orchestral horns. The choirs sounds could be better, but also I would like it if there was an effect where the choir could shout or chant; such as the Skyrim soundtrack. I know this would be an incredible amount of work, but would also be realistic if the lyrics could actually match what the choir sings or chants. Other instruments that would be nice are muted trumpets, solo voices, and an accordion. In the past, I had also requested Japanese instruments. It would also be nice if the copy/paste was improved. Again, this will always be five stars, but it could be better. - This part is an edit as of 7-2-24. I forgot to report an issue that with the latest version, my latest and most intricate and notion file disappeared. Now I have lost my best work and cannot retrieve it.
Sincerely, Sarthurk
Developer Response ,
Hello, thanks for the feedback on samples. To open your previous files if they are not showing in the Recents List, tap the Folder icon to open the Apple file selector. You should then be able to find, open and save your scores. Or you can open the Apple Files app directly which you can also use to search for files saved in cloud providers (such as iCloud or Dropbox). Additionally you can go direct to their website and log in (e.g. at icloud.com) to search.
App Privacy
The developer, PreSonus Audio Electronics, Inc., indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy.
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- PreSonus Audio Electronics, Inc.
- Size
- 159.2 MB
- Category
- Music
- Compatibility
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- iPhone
- Requires iOS 11.4 or later.
- iPad
- Requires iPadOS 11.4 or later.
- iPod touch
- Requires iOS 11.4 or later.
- Apple Vision
- Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
- Languages
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English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish
- Age Rating
- 4+
- Copyright
- © PreSonus Audio Electronics, Inc.
- Price
- Free
- In-App Purchases
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- Handwriting $7.99
- Feature Bundle $14.99
- All Sounds Bundle $29.99
- Classical guitar $0.99
- Harp $0.99
- Jazz Bass $0.99
- Percussion Bundle $4.99
- Marimba $0.99
- Vibraphone $0.99
- Jazz Alto Sax $0.99