Music notation programs

[Free For All]

I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I've only just now moved into the "90s" and embraced this particular aspect of technology. And I'm lovin' it.

I held out a long time on converting to the computer notation thing, mostly because I felt it created an anonymous aspect to the music- I've always enjoyed doing scores and parts by hand, and also associating specific manuscript styles with writers (and their copyists, I guess). Recently I've come into in a situation where I need to be fairly productive in a short period of time, so I've finally converted to the Sibelius program that's been sitting idle on my computer for quite awhile. And it was no big deal! I had a student (they've grown up with this stuff) come over to tutor me a bit, and I was surprised that it was not at all difficult to learn, although I do hit a few walls every now and then.

This conversion made sense for me because I change my mind frequently over the course of a chart and the editing process makes this very simple, plus it's very helpful to be able to hear what you write before you commit it to the parts. I should mention that I do mostly big band arrangements and compositions, and if I never have to hand-copy another friggin' part, well, I might be okay with that!

I think there's a lot to discuss regarding this topic.

What's the consensus about Finale vs. Sibelius? I chose Sibelius because fellow arrangers said it was much quicker to learn, although Finale is really the industry standard. A lot of people also use something called Encore.

Discuss. :rsmile:

[Guest]

I get the impression from talking with the heavies that the industry standard is migrating from Finale to Sibelus. I hear it is easier to use and quicker to learn.

I use Finale PrintMusic, which is about $50. It has an inferior scan program vs full Finale and I think is missing some of the midi compatibility, but I don't use it for either. I still hand build my charts, I just do it on my laptop now. It's great cranking out the B-Flat and E-Flat charts without mistakes, just by changing the key. I've talked many of the people I play with into Printmusic as well and it's great to email each other charts. I send something I'm writing to a friend sometimes and ask them to play and suggest something or whatever. Having the charts in a common mailable format has been a great tool.

the Sibelus (sp?) stripped down program seemed to be pretty tageted for guitar with chord illustrations and a guitar tab option, if I remember, so it didn't seem right for me, since that's not what I do. I tried all or most of the $0 - 100 verisions and settled on Finale's. I really like it, although there are some annoyances. If I were going to buy a full version and hadn't talked so many people into Finale for selfish reasons now, I'd probaby consider Sibelus.

[DukeCity]

I've been a Finale user since about '92, and I've grudgingly made various upgrades to currently using the 2005 version. It seems like they've been doing "major" upgrades that they charge $100 for almost every year! I wouldn't call myself a power user; I'm sure I'm just scratching the surface of what the program can do.

I bought Sibelius a couple years ago and tried it a couple of times. It is much simpler to get into than Finale, but my Finale habits made the switch difficult, so I went back. I encourage my students to start on Sibelius.

I like being able to hear playback (being a lame pianist, it's a godsend!), and being able to edit more easily.

But, here's a possibly contentious statement: I think the downside of the whole notation software thing is that it has made it too easy for really lame, half-hearted writers to print out neat and tidy versions of shitty music. With pen and paper the writer had to be committed enough to the project to write out all the parts (or rich enough to get parts done by a copyist). I think that hurdle saved musicians from having to read a whole lot of crap.

Sure, with computers and the internet any idiot can have a webpage and a blog and spew out endless streams of nonsense, but I don't have to sit down with him, read through his babbling, and then try to say something diplomatic. "Yeah, man. That was really...uh...something. And the copywork looks so neat!"

Now, I'm sure that the musical output of the present company is certainly worthy of seeing daylight...

[Guest]

But, here's a possibly contentious statement: I think the downside of the whole notation software thing is that it has made it too easy for really lame, half-hearted writers to print out neat and tidy versions of shitty music.

Why would you want to make it harder on me to write shitty music?

Great post.

[Jim Alfredson]

Finale is endlessly frustrating. I don't use it enough, so every time I do use it, it seems like I have to re-learn it and that wastes a lot of time. I've wanted to try Sibelius, but like Duke City said, the inexpensive verson seems mainly targeted at guitarists and I don't write enough charts to make the full version price worth it.

[7/4]

Sibelius user here. I only used it to notate a string quartet last year, but with in a couple of hours I was making progress.

I tried Finale years ago and found that it was a poorly written program, not easy to use.

Edited December 14, 2005 by 7/4