BlueNotes (SMuFL) Fonts

Description

[MacOS & Windows]

Handwritten SMuFL Jazz Fonts for Dorico, Finale & MuseScore

BlueNotes is a professional family of handwritten SMuFL music and text fonts for Dorico, Finale v27+ and MuseScore 4.6+, designed for jazz charts, Broadway-style scores and hand-copied notation. Nothing else will get you as close to the look and feel of the classic Broadway scores in the style of West Coast copyists. With its extensive library of over 1400 music symbols and RussMusic-like design, BlueNotes presents itself as a potential alternative to fonts such as Bravura, Petaluma, Finale Maestro, Finale Jazz, and Finale Broadway.

PDF Samples

• BlueNotes
• BlueNotes II
• BlueNotes IIb
• BlueNotes III
• BlueNotes IIIb
  
• BlueNotes IIIc
• BlueNotes IV
• BlueNotes – REMOTE CONTROL
• Full score – BlueNotes Rhythm Section
• Jazz Guitar – BlueNotes Rhythm Section
• Piano – BlueNotes Rhythm Section
• Acoustic Bass – BlueNotes Rhythm Section
• Drum Set – BlueNotes Rhythm Section

Boxed Texts

It’s possible to make awesome text boxing in Dorico and Finale v27. In Dorico by setting  by typing text combinations (These character combinations work on both operating systems: macOS and Windows.)

Text combination: {M—e—d—i—u—m— —S—w—i—n—g}

Text combination: [M_e_d_i_u_m_ _S_w_i_n_g]

Text combination: ≤M\e\d\i\u\m\ \S\w\i\n\g≥

Bonus: 4 Different Treble Clefs

BlueNotes fonts feature 4 different treble clefs that you can access through Library/Music Symbols… in Dorico or through Document Options/Clefs/Clef Designer in Finale v27.

INSTALLING BLUENOTES FONTS

 It’s easy to install BlueNotes fonts since they come with 3 installers, 1 for macOS and 2 for Windows.

Note for macOS users:

During installation, you may encounter a popup stating, “…pkg can’t be opened because Apple cannot verify it for malicious software.” To bypass this message, right-click or control-click on the *.pkg file and select “Open” from the context menu. You’ll be presented with a similar message, but this time, you’ll have the option to ignore the warning by clicking the “Open” button. If the message persists, proceed to System Settings > Privacy and Security > Security. Here, you’ll find an “Open anyway” option for the pkg installer displayed.

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APPLYING BLUENOTES FONTS IN DORICO™ PRO

When running Dorico, it will find the new metadata file and will make an entry for the font in its list of available music fonts. However, to use the BlueNotes font:

• • • Open a Dorico score,
    • Go to Engrave mode (Ctrl+3 or Cmd+3), click on the Engrave > Music Font menu option,
    • In the dialog window that appears, click on the name of the font in the list, then click the button “Change Music Font” and select BlueNotes or BlueNotes II to apply the font to your open score project;
    • You can optionally check or uncheck the box to use the recommended engraving options; click “OK”, and you’ll notice that your score project is taking effect of the changes with the newly selected BlueNotes font.

• • • You might also want to change the ‘Default text’ style in Engrave > Paragraph Styles but also the ‘Default text font’ font style in Engrave > Font Styles to BlueNotes Alpha font and Engrave > Character Styles set Music Text to BlueNotes Text font. 

Note: You can choose ‘BlueNotes II’ font for a different treble clef.

Changing the Music Font in Finale v27

Go to Document > Set Default Music Font… select BlueNotes or BlueNotes II font and click OK.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Stems connections can be misaligned after converting the default music font to a SMuFL-based font, for more info on how to fix this issue click here.