StaffPad: The Best Music Notation And Composition App On The Market So Far

There are music-writing apps, and then there’s StaffPad. StaffPad, which was developed for Microsoft Surface, is possibly the most powerful and most sophisticated music-writing and composition-creation tool on the market today. It is beautiful, elegant, and works with the Microsoft Surface rather seamlessly.

The StaffPad was developed as an answer to the gaping void of truly useful music notation and composition apps in the market. It was created by David William Hearn, whose “hats” include being a programmer, composer, as well as an orchestrator. Since he is passionate about both code and music, he was able to create a product that marries both worlds well.

David William Hearn isn’t alone on the venture, though. He had assistance in developing the app, from StaffPad co-founder Matthew Tesch. As they collaborated on the project to bring it into reality, the elegant music composition app was born.

StaffPad does not come cheap, mind you. It comes at a rather steep price, for an app, at $69.99. While most mobile apps average at around $1 to $5, then top off at $10, StaffPad goes way beyond that price. It’s around the price of a Windows Desktop program, but it may prove to be a very valuable, very robust application that has no equal yet in the niche.

StaffPad is best used with a Microsoft Surface tablet and its accompanying stylus, the Surface Pen, though other Windows 8.1 devices can also run the app. It may not work as intuitively, however.

On the whole, StaffPad is an app that makes a musician’s life better. It is a solution in a niche that developers seem to neglect. The only major limitation in the app is that it isn’t available on Android or the iOS. David Hearn has shared his design considerations as to why he chose Windows as the only platform to develop the app on, in this blog post: https://blog.staffpad.net/looking-through-windows/

Platform limitations aside, though, any musician serious about their music would do well to invest in a Microsoft Surface or similarly compatible tablet, and StaffPad. It certainly makes creating music far simpler, easier, and with cloud technology, more enduring.

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StaffPad’s features, on its official website: https://www.staffpad.net/#features

For more about the StaffPad: https://www.sibeliusblog.com/news/staffpad-is-a-music-handwriting-app/?singlepage=1

More on David Willam Hearn: https://www.sibeliusblog.com/people/an-interview-with-david-william-hearn/

StaffPad on the Microsoft Windows App Store: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/apps/staffpad/9wzdncrddkrb

A spreadsheet of the devices compatible with StaffPad: https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?resid=A3E71B4BBE25C114!107&app=Excel&authkey=!AAO1lowxloMJjhM