Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Sibelius Opinions
Do any of you have any positive or negative experiences with the
score/part-writing program Sibelius? I have an ancient version of Finale, complete with its user interface designed to be highly intuitive to Martians. I've heard that Sibelius produces nearly equal-quality results but is designed for Earthlings. |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Sibelius Opinions
"Gary Morrison" wrote ...
Do any of you have any positive or negative experiences with the score/part-writing program Sibelius? I have an ancient version of Finale, complete with its user interface designed to be highly intuitive to Martians. I've heard that Sibelius produces nearly equal-quality results but is designed for Earthlings. I have been using Sibelius for several years. While I don't have any direct experience with Finale, I do know that compared to other music notation/engraving software I've seen/used, Sibelius is MUCH easier to use, more flexible, and more complete. IMHO Sibelius is the pro-quality SW by which all the others are measured. It seems to be the standard with everyone I know, and there are some glowing testimonials from big names in music. I'm certainly sold. |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Sibelius Opinions
I have an ancient version of Finale, complete with its user interface
designed to be highly intuitive to Martians. I've heard that Sibelius produces nearly equal-quality results but is designed for Earthlings. Friends & clients of mine who do score preparation for Hollywood sound track sessions tell me that although Finale is still the de facto standard, many are migrating to Sibelius. Those who use both tell me Sibelius is WAY easier to learn & use. Scott Fraser |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Sibelius Opinions
Finale: still the de facto standard among pros and the most often accepted
electronic format for many publishers. Can do nearly *anything* notationally. Still very tool-based, which is most of what makes it hard to use. Takes some relatively high-maintenance tweaking of details after extraction. Obnoxious copy-protection is reportedly returning in the next version. Sibelius: almost monolithically accepted as easiest to use. Object-oriented rather than tool-based. Best-suited for traditional notation, but can do some weird stuff with some pretty heavy-duty tweaking. Default auto-formatting usually gets pretty close on both scores and extracted parts. Scorch internet publishing plug-in is pretty cool. Obnoxious copy-protection is present, but it really only gets in the way whenever you must reinstall it. --Eric "Peter KERR" wrote in message ... In article , Gary Morrison wrote: Do any of you have any positive or negative experiences with the score/part-writing program Sibelius? I have an ancient version of Finale, complete with its user interface designed to be highly intuitive to Martians. I've heard that Sibelius produces nearly equal-quality results but is designed for Earthlings. Sibelius is now being pushed in the edu market because it is so easy to use, but for a while there they didn't have an edu price. FWIW many of the academics touting Sibelius to their students, still cling to Finale because it's better for the esoteric stuf, ethnomusicology, electro-acoustic notation, plainchant, ... Finale also seems to have stronger (if more obtuse :-( graphics/print export options, and parts management for big scores. |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Sibelius Opinions
Sibelius: ... Obnoxious copy-protection is present, but it really only gets
in the way whenever you must reinstall it. What is the nature of its copy-protection scheme? |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Sibelius Opinions
I used Finale and always would curse at the editing procedure. I used it
because I had to for scoring or writing purposes but then my trumpet player told me about Sibelius. He knew Finale inside and out and could always help when I was stuck. I gave it a try and never looked back. For me, the interface is much easier to use. As far as it being useful for esoteric tunings and scales, can't say for sure. Why not download the demo and take it for a test spin. "Gary Morrison" wrote in message ... Peter KERR wrote: ... still cling to Finale because it's better for the esoteric stuf ... Ah, that's an interesting point. I seem to vaguely recall that Finale lets you define your own cyclic (or not) scale patterns, which could be useful for microtonal tunings - a topic I'm interested in. |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Sibelius Opinions
Sibelius is a very good program that still has a few bugs. It is
moderately easier to use, but some things are not explained and have to be tracked down on the website, which is fairly easy to do but time consuming. It really depends on what you want it for. The Tablature interface is pretty useful in that you can specify scordatura, but not too many people would use that feature. You can write violin tab, for example, which is useful for transnotating some of the more esoteric repertory. Some of the keyboard notation bits are really good and well thought out. You can write or modify the plugins, and the program comes with some good ones. Like many mainstream code bloat programs, there are some things it WON'T do, which is annoying, but this is true for finale as well. (Nota Bene will do things that Microsoft Word cannot.) Part extraction even for large scores is a breeze, and the program will find a good page turn if you ask it nicely. Figured bass input is superior to all other programs if you care for such things. Subjectively, the magnetic slurs work and look better than other programs, but have a few bugs. Lyric inputting and spacing algorithms are easy and excellent The out of the box page format is better than finale, IMHO, and if you like NOT to tweak the look that is a factor. After tweaking, there is only a slight difference in the elegance of the fonts; in this regard, Sibelius has more of an engraver look and Finale a computer look. You can use scanfont and other programs to incorporate your own music fonts. The "light" version of Photoscore actually works fairly well. Those with good keyboard skills can play in the notes with one hand and the rhythms with the other hand, it can be done with blinding speed. Real time is less accurate but good nonetheless. You can also type in the notes from the Qwerty and/or keypad. Net publishing is well integrated. Mannerist notation is a royal pain, as are contemporary pieces in multiple time signatures. Very, very large scores (the fifty pounders) work OK, which is a good thing, and the very very long hairpins are possible and look good on my printer. I can print these on poster paper. Is it better than Finale? Yes. Is it easy to learn--sort of. Will it do everything? No. Does it look good? Yes indeed. Does it crash? Of course! For the odd tough tasks, I use Score, which is a real program. For everything else, Sibelius is fine. jj |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Sibelius Opinions
Those are good thoughts. Thanks.
It really depends on what you want it for. The main purpose I have in mind is for writing out scores and parts for compositions that I'm not performing entirely on MIDI instruments, which I expect to be doing more of in the future. Historically, when I've written for "real" instruments, I've mostly done that by hand onto paper. So in short, I want it for writing out parts and scores from a MIDI-composed work, writing them out in high enough quality that a performer won't freak out. Logic Audio isn't too terribly far off in this regard, if you use it cleverly. Of course it's not exactly full-featured in this regard, since it's fundamentally a MIDI/Audio performance program. The main annoyance in what it does do is that everytime you enter a new hierarchical fragment from the layout view of the music, it pops up an extraneous clef. Figured bass input is superior to all other programs if you care for such things. Figured bass, eh? Does it in some sense play back figured bass? Those with good keyboard skills can play in the notes with one hand and the rhythms with the other hand, it can be done with blinding speed. I'm more of a woodwind and string dude, but that sounds interesting nevertheless. You can also type in the notes from the Qwerty and/or keypad. That sounds interesting when you want to just quickly jot something down. |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Sibelius Opinions
"Gary Morrison" wrote ...
Likely an in-situ checksum based on hard drive (much like the one for WinXP, etc.) and then a corresponding key calculated by Sibelius and stored in the registry. Registry... As in on-line? Do you have to be currently "plugged in" to the internet to use it? No, the Windows registry. Internal to your computer... http://www.winguides.com/article.php...guide=registry The Sibelius "key" is likely one of those "encoded" ones with a 128-bit hexadecimal "name". |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Sibelius Opinions
Richard Crowley wrote:
No, the Windows registry. Internal to your computer... Ah. I'm a Mac-hack, so that's why that term didn't register. I suspect that that's somewhat analogous with MacOS9's desktop file. |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
Sibelius Opinions
Gary Morrison wrote:
Richard Crowley wrote: No, the Windows registry. Internal to your computer... Ah. I'm a Mac-hack, so that's why that term didn't register. I suspect that that's somewhat analogous with MacOS9's desktop file. Be glad that you're not even close. OS9's desktop file is a simple database, easily reconstructed. The windoze Registry is an enormous chasm where there be monsters. It stores *everything* windoze needs to know and if it gets hosed, windoze can be completely and unrecoverably destroyed. I've edited it a *lot* (successfully) and I've see Norton destroy it, making windoze unbootable. It's one of windoze' many serious weak points. |
#12
|
|||
|
|||
Sibelius Opinions
Took a grad. course with Doug Hicks this summer at Vandercook in
Chicago... Half the class on finale and the other on sib. Finale (i am a long time user) i write an exercise or pages every now and then... completely forget and have to relearn the program every time.. too complicated - no retention. sib. intuitive easy simple ---- BUT BUT BUT Finale has seen the writing on the wall... They have incorporated the speedy note entry idea from sib. NOW in the newest version of finale coming next month. (oct.) SUPER SIMPLE - you want a 'A' note in the score, push down the 'A' key --- a simple but brilliant idea from sib. NOW IN BOTH sib. and fin. (you hold down a number key to assign the rhythmic value) 90% or more of your entry will be this way call me if you want more info -Michael Droste 630-690-8692 |
#13
|
|||
|
|||
Sibelius Opinions
Michael Droste wrote:
SUPER SIMPLE - you want a 'A' note in the score, push down the 'A' key --- a simple but brilliant idea from sib. NOW IN BOTH sib. and fin. (you hold down a number key to assign the rhythmic value) Reminds me of Band in a Box. g -- ha |
#14
|
|||
|
|||
Sibelius Opinions
Steve O'Neill wrote:
OS9's desktop file is a simple database, easily reconstructed. The windoze Registry is an enormous chasm where there be monsters. Ah. I speculated that because I've seen some copy protection schemes work by adding stuff to the desktop file, the result being that you have to reinstall everytime you rebuild the desktop file, or something implicitly requires that portion of it to be reconstructed. Anyway, this sounds different, from what you said. |
#15
|
|||
|
|||
Sibelius Opinions
"Steve O'Neill" wrote ...
Be glad that you're not even close. OS9's desktop file is a simple database, easily reconstructed. The windoze Registry is an enormous chasm where there be monsters. It stores *everything* windoze needs to know and if it gets hosed, windoze can be completely and unrecoverably destroyed. Nah. Just log on as another user and it creates you a fresh, new registry! Happens dozens of times a day in all my classrooms. |
#16
|
|||
|
|||
Sibelius Opinions
Richard Crowley wrote:
"Steve O'Neill" wrote ... easily reconstructed. The windoze Registry is an enormous chasm where windoze can be completely and unrecoverably destroyed. Nah. Just log on as another user and it creates you a fresh, new registry! Happens dozens of times a day in all my classrooms. I hadn't heard that. I don't think it's true...and it would only be for HKCU, the current user profile, if so. |
#17
|
|||
|
|||
Sibelius Opinions
Richard Crowley wrote:
Nah. Just log on as another user and it creates you a fresh, new registry! Happens dozens of times a day in all my classrooms. "Steve O'Neill" wrote ... I hadn't heard that. I don't think it's true... Works for me. I customize all sorts of things by manipulating the registry file in the "All Users" and "Default User" folders. Only way I found to defeat the default "power down after 60 minuites" profile. Can't apply patches remotely to 100s of computers when they keep powering down! |
Reply |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
XM OR Sirius Digital Radio For Car. Opinions, Please ? | Audio Opinions | |||
Wharfdale Opinions | Audio Opinions | |||
Opinions on Sub | Car Audio | |||
Opinions wanted on Hifonics Brutus 1500D | Car Audio | |||
Opinions on M&K 5.1 monitors | Pro Audio |