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#909649 - 03/20/03 11:41 PM
Music Notation Software--any experiences?
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Full Member
Registered: 02/06/03
Posts: 44
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I write a lot of piano music and I'm thinking of getting a music notation software program. Does anyone have experience with any of the many programs that are available out there?
Thanks
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#909650 - 03/21/03 12:29 AM
Re: Music Notation Software--any experiences?
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500 Post Club Member
Registered: 05/29/01
Posts: 512
Loc: Sterling Heights, Michigan
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Sibelius is the best I've used---expensive, but you get what you pay for.
You can find a demo on their site if you do a google search.
Mat D.
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#909651 - 03/21/03 01:14 AM
Re: Music Notation Software--any experiences?
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Full Member
Registered: 12/25/02
Posts: 56
Loc: Mountain View, CA
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I, too, recommend Sibelius. I use it quite a bit for orchestrations and found that it allows me to notate the music in an easy manner. If you have a child in school (or you are in education) you can get an educational discount from this place: http://www.academicsuperstore.com/ While the educational discount is still expensive ($220), it is much better than the list price of $500 or so. You can also get an educational discount for use for a church. Evan
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#909652 - 03/21/03 04:46 AM
Re: Music Notation Software--any experiences?
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Junior Member
Registered: 07/09/02
Posts: 5
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Another Sibelius user here! I have used it for three years and have been very happy with it. The program is easy to learn and to use. I have done orchestrations, parts, and piano and vocal books with it.
Dolly
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#909653 - 03/21/03 08:40 AM
Re: Music Notation Software--any experiences?
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1000 Post Club Member
Registered: 11/06/01
Posts: 1820
Loc: NJ
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I used to do a fair amount of music editing for print, so I have Finale and Sibelius. I prefer Sibelius as I find it more intuitive. As for the price, I remember the days when Finale was $695, so today's prices don't seem so bad to me...
_________________________
PianoWorld disclaimer: musician, producer, arranger, author, clinician, consultant, PS2 aficionado, secret agent...
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#909655 - 03/21/03 04:02 PM
Re: Music Notation Software--any experiences?
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1000 Post Club Member
Registered: 11/06/01
Posts: 1820
Loc: NJ
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Both Finale and Sibelius are extremely powerful musical tools. They both come with a bit of a learning curve (especially Finale), but both can yield excellent results.
_________________________
PianoWorld disclaimer: musician, producer, arranger, author, clinician, consultant, PS2 aficionado, secret agent...
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#909656 - 03/21/03 04:50 PM
Re: Music Notation Software--any experiences?
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4000 Post Club Member
Registered: 09/23/01
Posts: 4271
Loc: Olympia, WA
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We have both Finale and Sibelius. Both are excellent, and both are continually making upgrades -- one will jump ahead with a feature, and then the other will leapfrog over it.
Daughter the composer marginally prefers Sibelius, though the copy function in Finale is much easier to use. I think Sibelius makes nicer pages when there is full orchestration. (not a problem for piano stuff.)
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#909657 - 03/21/03 04:50 PM
Re: Music Notation Software--any experiences?
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Junior Member
Registered: 07/09/02
Posts: 5
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Sibelius has a demo that you can download from their site. Only the print and save functions are disabled. Here is the address: http://sibelius.com/download/
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#909659 - 03/21/03 06:12 PM
Re: Music Notation Software--any experiences?
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Full Member
Registered: 11/27/02
Posts: 29
Loc: Illinois
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I have used Noteworthy Composer, however I use it mostly to get music in MIDI format. It seems to have quite a few features and it's pretty easy to enter from sheet music I have (with one or two exceptions) You can give it a free try here Noteworthy Composer and it's not that expensive to buy if you like it (around $40 if I remember). Brian
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#909660 - 03/21/03 09:41 PM
Re: Music Notation Software--any experiences?
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500 Post Club Member
Registered: 08/08/02
Posts: 947
Loc: Texas
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After having the Finale 3.1 and the 98 version, I will NOT buy another version of Finale. I have too many frustrations with it and will buy Sebelius the next time.
RickG
_________________________
RickG
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#909663 - 03/23/03 12:13 AM
Re: Music Notation Software--any experiences?
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Junior Member
Registered: 03/09/03
Posts: 3
Loc: southern california
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i prefer the look of sibelius's printed music better. i also think it runs better and more smoothly than finale. to compare it to henle...i couldn't really say as you can also change the noteheads in sibelius...but, i think the layout, interface, and typset of sibelius (overall) is much better than finale's.
hope this helps,
paul
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#909664 - 03/23/03 01:47 AM
Re: Music Notation Software--any experiences?
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1000 Post Club Member
Registered: 11/06/01
Posts: 1820
Loc: NJ
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More published music is done with Finale than any other program. I've rarely been asked to edit files in any other format.
_________________________
PianoWorld disclaimer: musician, producer, arranger, author, clinician, consultant, PS2 aficionado, secret agent...
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#909665 - 03/24/03 05:22 PM
Re: Music Notation Software--any experiences?
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Full Member
Registered: 12/25/02
Posts: 56
Loc: Mountain View, CA
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Originally posted by David Burton:  I am interested in knowing two things; which program, Finale or Sibelius 1) makes a better looking piece of printed sheet music, especially piano. I like the way CF Peters or Henle scores look best, and 2) has better playback characteristics especially through a sampoling synthesizer? [/b] I have not used Finale for printing (just eval) so I personally do not know the printing output quality difference. However, musicians have been able to tell what application I used by just looking at the output. I was told that was "a good thing". Concerning the playback, that is up to the MIDI support on your computer. Evan
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#909666 - 03/24/03 05:24 PM
Re: Music Notation Software--any experiences?
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Full Member
Registered: 12/25/02
Posts: 56
Loc: Mountain View, CA
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Originally posted by Dan: Question for you advanced users. I tried out the Finale Notepad a year or two ago (that's the free version of Finale, I think). I found that if I knew exactly what I wanted to put down BEFORE I started placing any notes, it was fine. But, heaven forbid that I need to "erase" anything or insert a measure or change a note value. Does Sibelius and the more expensive Finale software solve this problem? I freely admit to being a very casual composer (i.e. I don't compose much, and I do it only for my own enjoyment), but the Finale Notepad was such a nightmare for editing that I eventually just gave it up and went to pen and paper. Do either of these full programs have a 30 day free trial or anything? Or is massive editing not a normal thing for most composers? Dan[/b] Changing or erasing notes is very easy with Sibelius. Sibelius has a 5 day full featured demo. After that some functions have been disabled (printing). Evan
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#909667 - 03/24/03 05:34 PM
Re: Music Notation Software--any experiences?
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Full Member
Registered: 03/22/03
Posts: 269
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USE FINALE!
I use PrintMusic 2001 which is really good considering the price. (about 30 dollars.) It has everything you need, it's easy to use and I absolutely love it!
You should definately consider buying it since it's well worth the money. A lot of notation software costs a fortune, and I think that this one is just as good (or almost) as them.
I think you can get a demo at finale.com. (I'm not sure about the website, you'll have to look it up on google)
Anyway, consider it. It's good.
Regards,
_________________________
"When you want something so badly that you're willing to do ANYTHING to get it odds are you wont get it." -Peter
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