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Finale or Sibelius


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Fuzzy Dunlop
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 22, 2016 8:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

LittleRusty wrote:
The problem with switching is the cost of either one is so much you hate to throw away the money.


Well, I did see there is a discount for Finale if you already own Sibeliius. I imagine Sib also offers a similar discount for Finale users.
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dr_trumpet
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 22, 2016 10:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Finale. Version 25 (the current one) is excellent. I've used Finale since version 1, still have the original box and floppies. I used Professional Composer before that, and finally switched for good when it went under and Mark of the Unicorn let it go.

Steep learning curve? Yes. But there is a great text out there that will build your Finale chops in 23 easy lessons (seriously). I am using it with my current class for Electronic Music (notation software) and it is great!

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Bill Ortiz
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 22, 2016 11:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A number of years ago, I did one project on Finale and then bought Sibelius-at that time I found Sibelius a bit easier to use and Finale had a few more high end notation options. From what I hear now they are pretty much the same. I think Sibelius has a bit less of a learning curve but not that much I bet. If you collaborate with other people with charts, getting what they all use would be a factor.[/list]
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RandyTX
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 05, 2016 1:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Musescore has come a long way recently, with even more in the pipeline, thanks to being part of the Google "summer of code" thing this year.

Don't turn your nose up at it just because it's free. It's quite good now, and in some ways easier to use than Finale. The audio playback is quite convincing and part extraction is a total breeze, something definitely better than some of the high-priced competition.
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dstpt
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PostPosted: Wed May 02, 2018 6:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

loweredsixth wrote:
Finale has a MUCH steeper learning curve than Sibelius. I've been using it for about 13 years, so now that I know how to use all of its features I have no reason to even consider switching programs. If I was just starting out though, I may choose Sibelius, or after their next big release maybe Dorico.

Re: Dorico. Saw a blurb on Facebook about this. Anyone used it yet? Thoughts? Comparisons to Finale and/or Sibelius?

https://www.steinberg.net/en/products/dorico/start.html
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homebilly
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PostPosted: Wed May 02, 2018 8:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

neither are any good if you don't know what a good chart
should look like. the art of good copywork is dead.

just getting notes on a page is NOT good enough.
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dstpt
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PostPosted: Wed May 02, 2018 8:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

homebilly wrote:
...the art of good copywork is dead...


Tru dat. (My kids have told me that I'm only about 15 years behind the times when I use that two-word phrase.) I have used Finale for years, but have always appreciated those that could do great hand manuscript and know the rules for proper music typesetting! The art is dead. I liken it to how synthesizers have replaced acoustic instruments in the pit (musical theatre). We have witnessed too many shifts in our profession...for the worse.
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Andy Del
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PostPosted: Wed May 02, 2018 11:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The actual problem is that no on TEACHES kids about good copywork on parts. Or, more precisely, most do not. Being an old grumpy curmudgeon, I do. (there's probably something about being the treasurer for the arrangers guild (representing copyists and arrangers) for years and making a living from copying that helps)

Kids are always amazed to find how easy it is to play from a part that is clear and laid out well. They just need to know that this is possible. As is ensuring your copy has boarders, or enlarging marching band music so you can actually see it, etc. etc.

Lots of tricks are possible! We use Sibelius at school (for whatever reason) and it does all we need it to do...

cheers

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lakejw
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PostPosted: Wed May 02, 2018 1:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

homebilly wrote:
neither are any good if you don't know what a good chart
should look like. the art of good copywork is dead.

just getting notes on a page is NOT good enough.


I agree to the extent that not enough people know what good copywork looks like. But I'm very fortunate to be in circles with some truly great composer/copyists who consistently turn out amazing work, on both Finale and Sibelius, Mike Sailors being one. A properly formatted part is a crucial component to hearing your arrangements played properly.

Here are some sample parts of work that I do on Sibelius. Everything you need and nothing you don't.


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LaTrompeta
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PostPosted: Wed May 02, 2018 2:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I vote for MuseScore. Or, be a real man and write LilyPond files by source!
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BraeGrimes
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PostPosted: Thu May 03, 2018 4:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

dstpt wrote:

Re: Dorico. Saw a blurb on Facebook about this. Anyone used it yet? Thoughts? Comparisons to Finale and/or Sibelius?

https://www.steinberg.net/en/products/dorico/start.html


Yes! It's awesome, especially if you're starting from scratch. Great on the laptop (no carrying around a full-sized keyboard for shortcuts), great publishing options (cues, inst changes, all very easy, no copy+paste into EVERY part... simple intuitive stuff). It's worth a try
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pianowillbebach
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PostPosted: Fri May 24, 2019 11:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I like to use Scanscore to scan in my paper scores, then fix any mistakes, then export to make more parts for other instruments: https://scan-score.com/en
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gabriel127
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PostPosted: Fri May 24, 2019 11:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I tried out Finale back in 2003. I didn't think that it was very user-friendly or intuitive to use.

Then I tried Sibelius and bought it. After a while, I came to recognize Sibelius' weaknesses.

The next time I bought scoring software, I decided to get Finale, mostly because of standardization issues. Most of the people to whom I'd be selling scores wanted it in Finale format because that's what they used and they wanted the ability to make changes without importing and all that mess.

I found that Finale did make some improvements to their usability. As far as learning to use it are concerned there's become enough information out there on the internet about it so that you can google things for tips and tricks that might not be pointed out in their user guide. And searching the user guide usually helps me to find out how to do what I want to do. So I'm OK with Finale now.

This Dorico thing looks interesting, but again, standardization issues.
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kehaulani
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PostPosted: Fri May 24, 2019 1:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

gabriel, this is a spin-off of another thread but germane. Are you using a scanning program with Finale and if so, how effective is it? I'm thinking of converting from Sibelius but really appreciate Sibelius' scanning feature and undersand that Finale is ending its scanning function. Thanks.
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Last edited by kehaulani on Sat Sep 28, 2019 8:29 am; edited 1 time in total
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starkadder
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PostPosted: Fri May 24, 2019 8:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

LaTrompeta wrote:
I vote for MuseScore. Or, be a real man and write LilyPond files by source!


Lilypond! I love it. Makes beautiful scores. Once you get the knack it's great. I run it in a Docker container on my Mac with a mount to a directory with my lilypond files.
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Voltrane
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PostPosted: Fri May 24, 2019 11:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

@Kehaulani
Regarding scanning I use Photoscore that seems to be associated with Sibelius and to be one of best soft of that kind.
1- The results are sometime good, sometime bad even if the score is clean. You never know before the scan…I must say there is far more failures (too much mistakes) than successes but in some cases it really helped me a lot. When there is too much mistakes, it is often more efficient to enter the score directly in my musical software (a French one : Myriad not Sibelius.)
2- As I do not use Sibelius I don’t know how it works with Sibelius. I have to export the corrected score in xml format to be imported in Myriad. The results are not good because I seems the xml file is not correct. So I import in Musescore because even if Musescore tells me the file is not correct, it imports it and the result is not that bad. Then I export from Musescore to Myriad to finalize…

@Starkadder and LaTrompeta
Myriad is a very efficient soft to enter or correct scores manually but the scores produced are not beautiful. For common use (most of the time) it is enough but when I need something better I export from Myriad and import in Musescore where the scores are far better. When I need something very sophisticated, I export from Myriad (or Musescore) in xml format and import in Frescobaldi, a graphic interface to Lilypond.
It works well and you have only to correct or modify what you want but the main work is done without any coding. Save a lot of time and the scores are beautiful.
But yes, the learning of the language of Lilypond is not easy (close to LaTeX used for Scientific publications) but the results are great.
(I use MacOs)
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plankowner110
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 20, 2019 9:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have used Finale for three years and have written an entire 7-pc combo book of 170-plus arrangements during that time. I use Finale but I certainly don't love it. Many procedures make no sense whatsoever and the learning curve is very steep. For example, simply writing variations of triplets is a real pain in the ....
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pianowillbebach
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 01, 2019 1:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Does anyone use Forte? I just picked it up since it's currently free, but I'm curious to know how others think it compares to Finale + Sibelius



https://www.fortenotation.com/en/
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cgaiii
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 5:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Since the 1990s, I have been using a program called Capella. I originally got it because at the time it was the only product I found that had OCR for music scores (separate program called Capella Scan). I still use it now for scanning in music, transposing and arranging stuff. Not sure if it is on your list, but development continues and they now have a US presence.

I find Musescore to be really useful too, and it would be the obvious choice to me if I were starting now.
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spitvalve
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 8:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

cgaiii wrote:


I find Musescore to be really useful too, and it would be the obvious choice to me if I were starting now.


I second the shoutout for Musescore. Recent improvements have made it a breeze to export parts to mp3 files. I used to have to export .wav files from Musescore to Audacity and then convert them to mp3 files. Now you can export mp3s directly from Musescore. It will do different notation fonts, and everything from quintets to big band scores to full orchestral scores. Pretty much does all of the important things that Finale does.

I've been using it to arrange music for my church choir as well as brass ensembles and jazz scores for quite a few years now. I even make my own play-along tracks.
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