Few guestions about Finale

Hello,

I am currently using a program called Finale Notepad 2006 (demo version) for composing, and I have few things I would like to know. Firstly, I will buy a full version of some composing program, and now my eyes are on "Finale." Is this Finale's right name Finale Notepad 2006 [full version (of course)], and if it is, how it is different from F Notepad 06? What are the differences? I'm not happy with this demo version since it has only few instruments (30 or so), and they sound like they would be midi. I've readed about this "Human playback" -program, will it change instruments sound like recorded in studio?

So everything in few words:

1. How is "Finale" different from Finale Notepad 06 demo version (very accurated answer please, I really would like to know everything)?

2. Does this "Human playback" -upgrade work with Finale? Well obviously yes, but I would like to be sure.

Thank you for all readers and answerers, or linkers even. And excuse me for my bad language, I am 15-years old and from Finland.

I don't know about Notepad but I can say some things about Human Playback... It has nothing to do with samples so it doesn't make it sound like it's recorded in a studio. It just does some basic midi programming to make the performance sound realistic like adding a small ritarando before fermatas or adding some rubatos. I didn't use finale for a while but I don't think they have changed that much.

By the way, I would suggest you to look at "Sibelius". It's much easier to use and you can do many things that would be an ache in Finale. I've used Finale from the beginning and I have switched to Sibelius for a year now and I'm happy with it.

By the way, I would suggest you to look at "Sibelius". It's much easier to use and you can do many things that would be an ache in Finale. I've used Finale from the beginning and I have switched to Sibelius for a year now and I'm happy with it.

Hmm, all I know about Sibelius is that it's pretty expensive. What instruments does it offer? Are the quality of sounds how good? Because from the program I expect that it can play my composition well, not like some cheap ringtone. And hopefully it is not like FL Studio or any other cheap rap beat -program.

Hello,

I am currently using a program called Finale Notepad 2006 (demo version) for composing, and I have few things I would like to know. Firstly, I will buy a full version of some composing program, and now my eyes are on "Finale." Is this Finale's right name Finale Notepad 2006 [full version (of course)], and if it is, how it is different from F Notepad 06? What are the differences? I'm not happy with this demo version since it has only few instruments (30 or so), and they sound like they would be midi. I've readed about this "Human playback" -program, will it change instruments sound like recorded in studio?

So everything in few words:

1. How is "Finale" different from Finale Notepad 06 demo version (very accurated answer please, I really would like to know everything)?

2. Does this "Human playback" -upgrade work with Finale? Well obviously yes, but I would like to be sure.

Thank you for all readers and answerers, or linkers even. And excuse me for my bad language, I am 15-years old and from Finland. [/b]

What you want is Finale - NOT Finale Notpad.

If want a very accurate and detailed answer to question #1, go to the Finale web site.

Basically, both Finale and Sibelius are professional notation software programs, meaning thier primary function is to create professional looking scores and parts. They both do this extremely well. They are the industry leaders in that particular category. Suffice it to say, with Finale, you can get your scores, sheet music, etc., to look exactly the way you want it. Avante Garde notation and a whole host of other obscure contemporary notation is generally no problem for Finale ..if you take the time to learn its intracasies, which are significant. These are professional, powerful software packages, and the learning curve is steep. But if you are already familiar with Notepad, you have headstart. I have been using Finale for the better part of ten years now and I barely know (or even need to know) how to use half of its functions.

As for its playback capabilities. Finale has made leaps and bounds in the last three of four years in developing technology that plays back what you put in the score with musicality. The program's attention to dynamics, articulations, tempo changes, and even a small selection stylistic approaches to playback are becoming more and more realistic with every upgrade that comes out. The quantity and quality of the instrument samples and the range of effects available also are enjoying substantial improvements with each version of Finale that is released. The ability to render playback to wav files is a major improvement and lets you lets you make recordings anyone can listen to. Are these the best sounding orchestral samples in the industry? NO. That is not what Finale's primary function is about. Are they very good and getting better with each version? YES, because its users are demanding better sonic quality from this type of software. BTW, getting better perfomances from sequencer based software requires a lot more skill and tweeking because you can't just drop in articulations, dynamic markings etc. In some ways Finale enjoys a significant advantage over the more standard sequencer/recording packages. But, if all you care about is how it sounds, and not about how it looks, then perhaps Finale (or Sibelius) is NOT what you're looking for.

The bottom line: Any serious composer would be crazy not to use one of these programs, or at least something that comes close in functionality. Presenting one's music with professional looking scores is the standard these days, even in amatuer circles. What Finale does for the money is nothing short of incredible in my opinion.

Hope this helps, Good luck

Very nice and long answer, I propably will take that Finale 2007 then (you should be a peddler).

Oh, just one thing, I couldn't find any information about instruments (of Finale 2007) on www.finalemusic.com, so any time to tell me something about it? And is there any samples of Finale 2007, I really would like to hear how well and qualified it plays the notes.

Thank you.

Well... how good does Finale sound? I mean, Finale lined up with GPO (Garritan Personal Orchestra) in 2006. But GPO also made a special Sibelius Edition of GPO, available seperately. And Sibelius also has a Kontakt Player addon, with every orchestral instrument. Now I don't know if you can buy Finale without the samples but you can do so with Sibelius and actually, I've rarely used Finale with the samples because it slows down the computer a lot and it doesn't offer any satisfactory sounds. I didn't even try the Kontakt player or GPO of Sibelius because I don't think they'll work nice either, let's face it good sampling requires lots and lots of hard work and midi programming. So what I do is, I rotate every midi channel to a single, nice piano sample while composing. After I'm done with a large percentage of the composition, I rotate the channels to an avarage (cpuwise) orchestral library. Something like GPO (full) or Synful or Edirol. But I don't depend much on them either.

What I'm trying to say is, I don't think those sample sounds are usable in the long run. Look at each notation program and listen to their sample demos.

(By the way, I don't know about Finale 2007 and as I said I've never tried the samples of Sibelius... these are just my opinions about general idea)

Edit: I've looked at the prices and Finale with the samples equals to Sibelius without samples... Both have nice discounts for students... Take good shots in each, download the demos and use them harshly. I don't know what kind of music you're going to compose but I suggest you to try copying a Stockhausen or Boulez score with each. See which one can do what and how easily? Like I said, the samples might not be a big deal in the long run if you can do something with Sibelius at x time and do it with finale at 4x time. And also I don't know how much you are going to compose and use these programs. Also, it might be just my opinion that Sibelius is easier to grapple with.

Finale is harder to use than Sibelius.

Finale comes with GPO-lite (all orchestra instruments, no saxes)

Finale + HumanPlayback + GPO-lite sounds very good if you write a score that has lots of detail (include phrasing, dynamics, articulations, etc...)

Finale has special pricing for students.

Finale SEEMS to be better integrated with GPO than Sibelius, but I could be wrong.

Sibelius is a LOT easier to use.

Finale is more flexible... but harder to learn.

Sibelius does not come with GPO, it has to be bought separately.

Finale comes with light version (still a full orchestra) GPO

if you buy Finale and want to upgrade to full-GPO it costs a little over $200 for the full GPO.

Finale and Sibelius are about the same price (expensive).

both have free demos.

both have special student prices.

Sibelius has just been bought by another company, so no one knows what will happen to Sibelius development now and if Sibelius will continue to develop its work with GPO.

without hard work, NOTHING sounds like it was "recorded in a studio".

without hard work, NOTHING sounds like it was "recorded in a studio".

Heh, well not exactly of course, but close enough.

Thanks for your lightful advice anyway, I'll take a closer look to both programs.

Hmm, all I know about Sibelius is that it's pretty expensive. What instruments does it offer? Are the quality of sounds how good? Because from the program I expect that it can play my composition well, not like some cheap ringtone. And hopefully it is not like FL Studio or any other cheap rap beat -program. [/b]

Doesn't sibelius have kontakt player silver and/or kontakt player gold? I think QCCowboy and Marcato are correct. Don't expect to buy either Finale or Sibelius, load up your midi and have them play nicely for you. You'll have to put it a lot more work than just that.

Finale is harder to use than Sibelius.

Sibelius is a LOT easier to use.

Finale is more flexible... but harder to learn.[/b]

I have heard this before, but with a slightly different take. Sibelius looks better right out of the box. I.e. when you open up the wizard, select instruments, key, etc., and throw some notes in the score, the default style of the output is said to look a bit more professional than Finale's. Now the output of Finale, because it is more flexible, can be manipulated to more exacting standards, but in order to do this, one needs to be somewhat skilled with the program.

Personally, I have to admit that I did not find Sibelius to be all that intuitive for the few days I had an opportunity to work with it. Certainly, this is because I know my way pretty well around Finale. No doubt, once you wire yourself for one, the other will be more frustrating to learn. My take: Given that Finale is probably the more powerful/flexible of the two, it is the preferred choice if you think you're in this for the long haul.

For writing purposes, I actually find it useful to use the GPO soundset because the sounds are so realistic compared to MIDI, though I usually turn off the option that plays back notes as you enter them - it doesn't adjust for instrument transpositions.

GPO's sounds are great for recording purposes. There are probably better soundsets out there, but not by much. Finale's integration with the GPO sounds is phenomenal and facilitates easy recording with fairly little knowledge of how things work; on the other hand, if you're willing to go the extra mile, you can get some truly real-sounding recordings, too! I have Finale 2006; the upcoming update in 2007 promises to multiply GPO's functionality greatly. 2006's release was the introduction to the GPO, and so the library of expressions and such that were made to work with the GPO was fairly small.

You can decide for yourself; here are two links to orchestral things I've written using Finale and the GPO. Finale's website also has a few examples that sound quite a bit better than mine.

Journey to the Oasis

The Waterfall (incomplete)

Hope that helps!

For writing purposes, I actually find it useful to use the GPO soundset because the sounds are so realistic compared to MIDI, though I usually turn off the option that plays back notes as you enter them - it doesn't adjust for instrument transpositions.

GPO's sounds are great for recording purposes. There are probably better soundsets out there, but not by much. Finale's integration with the GPO sounds is phenomenal and facilitates easy recording with fairly little knowledge of how things work; on the other hand, if you're willing to go the extra mile, you can get some truly real-sounding recordings, too! I have Finale 2006; the upcoming update in 2007 promises to multiply GPO's functionality greatly. 2006's release was the introduction to the GPO, and so the library of expressions and such that were made to work with the GPO was fairly small.

You can decide for yourself; here are two links to orchestral things I've written using Finale and the GPO. Finale's website also has a few examples that sound quite a bit better than mine.

Journey to the Oasis

The Waterfall (incomplete)

Hope that helps!

Wow, looks like Finale 2006 is what I've been looking for then. I really like your "The Waterfall" -song, expect it reminds me of angels and other "wimpy" stuff like that, not waterfall, heh. That helped me a lot, like all answers did, thank you all. It's almost sure that I'll get Finale then.

And Beefy, I really don't like midi composing style, I just have a melody in my mind, and I want to write it down fast as possible, and have a program which plays it with very good quality (since I write and sing my songs, which means I don't want midish music at all). I got your idea, but I just don't like it, don't hate me, heh. Thanks.

And Beefy, I really don't like midi composing style, I just have a melody in my mind, and I want to write it down fast as possible, and have a program which plays it with very good quality (since I write and sing my songs, which means I don't want midish music at all). I got your idea, but I just don't like it, don't hate me, heh. Thanks. [/b]

Huh? I'm confused with what you're saying there. Finale and Sibelius are essentially MIDI. All music composition software relies on MIDI. If there is no MIDI, there's no interoperability. What you would be using then is just an audio mixer of some sort. MIDI isn't a particular software or style, it's a programming protocol. Either I don't understand what you mean or you mistook what I meant in my reply.

My point before was that like Qccowboy and Marcato said, you can use the best samples for good quality sounds, but it won't sound even decent if you just click notes into Finale or Sibelius. It will still sound like a midi file played back by your operating system. You shouldn't consider buying Sibelius or Finale just by its instrument sample sounds. They're both great. You need to see how well each of these softwares can manipulate the sounds. In fact, if you understand the ports of MIDI, you can even resort to free midi software, free instrument samples and still create a realistic sounding music.

No. Why would I hate you? :ermm:

Welcome to the site btw.

As I've written before Sibelius doesn't come with a Kontakt player, you have to buy it seperately.

About samples; don't buy these for the samples. Instead buy synful orchestra and a decent cheap notation program if you concern is sampling.

About ease of use, I've used Finale alot. Then TA's at my school recommended Sibelius. I was saying that Finale was more powerful and professionel and Sibelius can be only good for writing pop tunes. Then I've switched to Sibelius and I think it's both easier and more powerful.

Only my 2 cents though... :ermm:

As I've written before Sibelius doesn't come with a Kontakt player, you have to buy it seperately.

About samples; don't buy these for the samples. Instead buy synful orchestra and a decent cheap notation program if you concern is sampling.

About ease of use, I've used Finale alot. Then TA's at my school recommended Sibelius. I was saying that Finale was more powerful and professionel and Sibelius can be only good for writing pop tunes. Then I've switched to Sibelius and I think it's both easier and more powerful.

Only my 2 cents though... :happy:

You'll find a great many opinions on several of these topics. First, is Sibelius really easier to use than Finale? For some things, yes. But when I sit a new student in front of both programs, they struggle at first with both (and actually generally do a little better with Finale). When it comes down to it, neither of these programs is "difficult to learn." It's all in your approach. If you try to take the approach of picking up the software and figuring it out on your own, you'll never become efficient. If you spend the first week going through the tutorials (both come with tutorial manuals) and learning what's possible and where the shortcuts are, you can become more efficient in a couple of weeks than many people are after 10 years. It's not about studying to memorize shortcuts - it's about studying to see where the shortcuts are so that you can at least KNOW that they exist when it comes time to use them. Having a "big picture" perspective of the programs and knowing what's possible makes all the difference.

Sibelius is certainly not more powerful than Finale when looking at what's actually possible with the output. Finale still offers a bit more control. In terms of included sounds, the ability to integrate with other sound libraries and the ability to add expression to the music, Finale is definitely ahead right now. Which program is faster to use? It depends on how you use the programs. People who complain about Finale taking too long to complete projects have simply learned a slow way of using the program - and that IS where you can get yourself into trouble. With Finale's flexibility comes the ability to do many tasks in many different ways. The best way will allow you to get your work done very efficiently. But more often than not it's not going to be readily apparent what the best way is, and that's why the first week with the program is so critical - if you know what methods exist, you'll know which method to use and become efficient with.