So you want to be a song writer. You've got all these tunes in your head and can write just about anything as long as there's a tape recorder around to capture it. But then your publisher says he wants a lead sheet, or worse, a full blown score of your masterpiece. What do you do?

Play Music to the rescue.

If there's a simpler piece of software to use nobody is talking about it. Play Music, by Notation Technologies, makes creating sheet music a breeze. If you have just a basic knowledge of music notation, then this software will do the rest so that your score has the professional look of store bought sheet music.

Play Music handles all the things that you will need in order to create a musical score. It can print every type of note there is from 32nd notes to whole notes. You can put together music in any time signature such as 3/4. 4/4 and even odd time signatures.

But Play Music goes way beyond the basics to all the subtleties of music. You can designate places to retard and accelerate the tempo. You can designate areas to play softer and louder. You can tie notes together. You can set up scores for multiple instruments including piano, violin, brass, just about anything, even voice.

Yes, the music software comes equipped with the ability to print lyrics, each of which can be placed under the corresponding note where they need to be sung, just like in the song books we all love to sing to during the holidays.

But, if all that isn't enough, Play Music goes even farther.

Suppose you have a song that you've recorded on a MIDI recording device and you want to transfer that music to sheet music. No problem. Just copy your MIDI file to a disk, take it over to your computer and copy the disk file into the Play Music software. The software will then read the MIDI file and translate it into the corresponding sheet music, exactly as you played it. So if the music looks a little off, that's because your timing is off. Yes, this software is that exact. And, if you have the ability to hook up your MIDI device to your computer then you can do a straight transfer directly to the Play Music software.

Play Music can also read standard MIDI files that you download off the Internet. This way you can play some of your favorite songs without having to buy the sheet music for it, just as long as the MIDI download itself is done legally. And if you have sheet music that you want to store as a MIDI file, Play Music can do the reverse process as well.

Considering the small price tag that comes with this software, it is probably one of the best bargains you're going to find on the Internet. It isn't as powerful as something like Passport, which costs five times as much, but for most people, Play Music will be all they'll ever need to print sheet music that is good enough for any occasion.