Denemo vs LilyPond
Denemo
denemo.orgLilyPond
lilypond.orgSide by side
| Figure | Denemo | LilyPond |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Music notation software | 8.4 (#10) | 8.4 (#9) |
| Deployment | desktop | desktop |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations | Denemo can route MIDI or audio data to other applications, such as JACK, and accepts LilyPond text and commands in the score. | The official features page describes integrating music into LaTeX or HTML and adding it to OpenOffice.org and LibreOffice with the OOoLilyPond extension. |
| License | The download page says Denemo is free of charge, free to use, share, and change, and is licensed under the GPL. | LilyPond is published under the GNU General Public License, and the official Freedom page also identifies the GNU Free Documentation License. |
| MIDI support | Yes | Yes |
| MusicXML support | Yes | Yes |
| Parts extraction | Yes | Yes |
| Purpose | Denemo is a free music notation program for composing, transcribing, arranging, and listening to music. | LilyPond is a music engraving program for producing sheet music. |
| Support | The community page directs users to a mailing list for usage questions and development news, and to email [email protected] because the project abandoned its forum. | The lilypond-user mailing list is the main place for users to discuss the program and help one another; some support is also available on IRC. |
| Tablature support | Yes | Yes |
Plans
In their own words
Denemo
Denemo is a free desktop music-notation program for composing, transcribing, arranging, and listening to music. It runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows, with MusicXML, MIDI, parts extraction, and tablature support. Music can be entered through a computer keyboard, MIDI controller, mouse, or microphone. Denemo opens its own files and imports MIDI, LilyPond, and MusicXML. LilyPond typesets notation in the background while you work, and the program supports figured bass, historical noteheads and barlines, chords, and tablature. It can create exercise sheets, aural-training materials, note-reading exercises, and playing exercises. Scores may be printed or exported as images, MIDI, OGG, or WAV files. MIDI or audio can be routed to other applications such as JACK, and LilyPond text and commands can be included in a score. Denemo is free to use, share, and change under the GPL; the listed plan costs nothing. Version 2.6 is listed as the current stable release, dated March 11, 2022. Some download links still point to version 2.2.
LilyPond
LilyPond is a desktop music-engraving program for producing sheet music, from classical and early music to modern scores, tablature, vocal music, lead sheets, educational materials, and orchestral projects. You enter score information as human-readable text; LilyPond then handles spacing, page and line breaks, clashes among lyrics, notes, and chords, and the shaping of slurs and beams. Layout settings can be changed, with text-based style sheets and functions written in the built-in Scheme language. Programs or scripts can edit or generate input files, and the command-line tool can be called from other applications. The site describes integrations for LaTeX and HTML, plus an extension for OpenOffice.org and LibreOffice. User-developed editors include Frescobaldi, Denemo, and Spontini-Editor; they are separate from LilyPond’s core. The text workflow can be used with speech recognition and screen readers. LilyPond is free software under the GNU General Public License, with GNU/Linux, macOS, and Windows desktop support. Windows binaries do not support Windows 7 or 8; macOS binaries require version 10.15 or later.