"Otra" is Spanish for "another one!", what an audience shouts for an encore. That's the whole idea behind this project.

Encore was the notation program musicians loved because it got out of the way: pick a note, click the staff, keep writing. Then the music stopped. Encore 5 doesn't run on current Macs, Encore 6 has been promised since 2022 and still hasn't shipped, and years of scores are stuck in .enc files that few programs can open.

When I polled Encore users, they all said the same thing. They didn't miss a feature. They missed how easy it was.

So Otra has two jobs.

First, give people their music back. Otra Rescue is live today. Drop in a folder of Encore files and it turns them into MusicXML for MuseScore, Dorico and Sibelius, right in your browser, so your scores never leave your computer. Preview every file and convert one for free.

Second, bring back the ease. The Otra editor opens October 31:

• Pick a duration, click anywhere on the staff, and the gaps fill with rests.

• Click the same spot again to build a chord.

• Number keys pick durations, and everything also works with the mouse alone.

• Everything can be undone, so nothing ever asks "are you sure?"

The turning point was deciding that "easy" can't be a feeling. It has to be a test. Every flow in Otra has a test that counts the clicks, so a change that adds a step fails before it ships. From opening Otra to hearing your first note takes five actions or fewer.

I lead the product, the design and the build. Claude helped crack the hardest engineering problems along the way.

Try Rescue or pre-order the editor: rescue.otramusic.com

See the countdown: otramusic.com

Otra is made by sikahaus and isn't connected with or endorsed by the makers of Encore.