Sibelius or Finale... choices choices

Hey all! im contemplating which one i should get. I have much experience with sibelius, it was part of the music curiculm for 3 years in middle school, and my new music teacher wants to give me a copy of Finale... which one should i get? Which works better? Which one will suit my needs?

You see, im technologically retarded, so i want what works best and what is easiest.

can you help me out?

Sibelius is (for most) easier to just pick up, but Finale is much more powerful. I would say Finale works best, but Sibelius is easiest.

well i already now how to use sibelius, and i think its hard... Mr. Holzer (my teacher) says that finale is easier to use... WHO DO I BELIEVE?!

Well, for some people Finale is easier, like me. Download a copy of Finale Notepad from their official site and try it out.

Well, for some people Finale is easier, like me. Download a copy of Finale Notepad from their official site and try it out.

instead of DLing Notepad, why don't you DL their demo version of Finale.

Notepad has one serious limitation that does not exist in Finale - it can not use MIDI keyboard note entry. Notepad is limited to mouse-click note entry only.

There is a Finale demo you can DL for free, I believe it is relatively fully functional (a few things may be unaccessible, like saving or printing, I'm not sure which).

And if you are a student you can get the Academic Pricing for Finale, which makes it quite affordable (Sibelius also has academic pricing).

In my opinion, the only way to decide is to try them each out, they both have demos.

Whichever is the way you prefer working is the way you should go.

I prefer Finale, but I've been using it for nearly 15 years. I did find many features of Sibelius considerably easier to use. However, I think I may be right in saying that Finale has more flexibility if you are nitpicky about engraving.

neither of these programs are for you if you are not serious about putting the time in to learning how they work properly. they are both pretty serious programs, not video games that can be mastered in an afternoon.

im looking for whats best for composing chinese music, and i would very much like it if it had the chinese instruments on it

For me, Finale's pretty good, but I don't believe it has very many, if any, chinese instruments on it. In my opinion, Finale's better, but I haven't heard many traditional chinese peices, but I write a lot of south american stuff, and although Finale doesn't have all of the right instruments, a lot of them sound pretty similar.

Plus, you might be able to find a midi sample or something of some chinese instruments, and download it onto Finale.

~Kal

What you most likely want to look into is Finale because, out of the two of them, it's the most flexible for writing the music you're looking to write. As for the sounds, KK is right in saying that you'll need to buy or download a sound library that has them and just tell Finale to play through it.

The first thing you need to do, though, is to learn to read music. So I'd focus on that before you consider either of these programs.

i can read and write music, but i cant sight read

the only way i learn is by listening to the song over and over again

You really can't listen to any one of us who say 'Go with Finale', or 'Go with Sibelius', because they really are virtually the same. Some things that I hate about Finale are easy for other people, and some things I love about Sibelius other people hate. It's really a matter of taste, and I'd sugesst wholeheartedly to download the demos of both programs, take a couple of weeks to learn them and see which one is easier for you. Just, do not buy before you are sure of one you are comfortable with. I know plenty of people who use Finale just because it's the one they own and they don't want to pay to switch to Sibelius, even though they are frustrated with the program.

thanks, ill keep that in mind

You really can't listen to any one of us who say 'Go with Finale', or 'Go with Sibelius', because they really are virtually the same.

Only partially true. There are still major differences.

Some things that I hate about Finale are easy for other people, and some things I love about Sibelius other people hate. It's really a matter of taste

Again, not entirely true. Finale is simply more powerful than Sibelius. It depends on your needs, not whim. Go for what suits your needs.

i really dont NEED anything, i can hand write the music, but i'd LIKE to use a program

I'm actually seriously considering switching from Sibelius to Finale on account of the latter boasting human playback and GPO. Of course, GPO can be purchased and installed as a standalone application, but my thinking is that if you're going to splash out on some lush sounds, you may as well have them meaningfully articulated by your notation software, too.

Although, said splashing out may prove rather hole-inducing in the wallet department. :P

I'm actually seriously considering switching from Sibelius to Finale on account of the latter boasting human playback and GPO. Of course, GPO can be purchased and installed as a standalone application, but my thinking is that if you're going to splash out on some lush sounds, you may as well have them meaningfully articulated by your notation software, too.

Although, said splashing out may prove rather hole-inducing in the wallet department. :sadtears:

Human Playback is nice, but it isn't that great. I could easily do without it. Half of the time it messes up on things like key switches and tempo changes (through ritards and accel's). I wouldn't switch to Finale just for Human Playback and GPO, since GPO can be used through Sibelius.

Only partially true. There are still major differences.

Again, not entirely true. Finale is simply more powerful than Sibelius. It depends on your needs, not whim. Go for what suits your needs.

Well, all I was really saying was he should get to know both before making any decisions about spending enormous amounts of money.

Well, all I was really saying was he should get to know both before making any decisions about spending enormous amounts of money.

Agreed. High-end graphics manipulation programs are even worse. At $1,000 a piece, you better be sure about your purchase.

Human Playback is nice, but it isn't that great. I could easily do without it. Half of the time it messes up on things like key switches and tempo changes (through ritards and accel's). I wouldn't switch to Finale just for Human Playback and GPO, since GPO can be used through Sibelius.

Are you talking about the 2006 version or the 2007 version there?

I've listened to numerous pieces in the .mus format from YC in Finale Notepad and the human playback has always behaved very well (and lent quite a lot to the piece, in the vast majority of cases).

I dunno...it's just got to the stage where I want my music to sound like it's really being performed. I've lost patience with achieving this myself using MIDI sequencing software, and in particular, I take issue with the fact that even in version 4, Sibelius does not support crescendos/diminuendos over held notes (not without use of a clumsy plug-in, at least). To me, that is inexcusable. Of course, anyone's free to correct me on this issue if I've made an oversight of some kind. And believe me, I'd love to be corrected.

...are theres programs really that expensive...?!?!?!?!?!

Are you talking about the 2006 version or the 2007 version there?

I've listened to numerous pieces in the .mus format from YC in Finale Notepad and the human playback has always behaved very well (and lent quite a lot to the piece, in the vast majority of cases).

2006. It does work nice, but not perfect and not always up to what it should be doing. It has quirks and limitations, like all things, and it just isn't worth the money right now.

I'm actually seriously considering switching from Sibelius to Finale on account of the latter boasting human playback and GPO. Of course, GPO can be purchased and installed as a standalone application, but my thinking is that if you're going to splash out on some lush sounds, you may as well have them meaningfully articulated by your notation software, too.

Although, said splashing out may prove rather hole-inducing in the wallet department. :shifty:

I believe the gpo that comes with finale is a lite version with very limited articulations. Even the gpo full version must be missing something as it costs only about

I believe the gpo that comes with finale is a lite version with very limited articulations. Even the gpo full version must be missing something as it costs only about

Mike - serious comment - these notation packages are extremely difficult to humanise to make it sound human - one can do it on a sequencer by adjusting events a couple of milliseconds + or -, i.e. avoid quantising, D.I.Y is the only way to do a reasonable rubato because no program can know exactly what the composer wants to do. I don't know if these notation packages allow this kind of step editing.

I wasn't really referring to note quantisation, I was referring to articulation of note attack and decay (and Sibelius's lack of support for held note cresc.'s/dim.'s). I can quite easily jumble up the quantisation of a MIDI using my sequencing software, but I'm not really interested in doing that. In fact, often in this regard I would find an accurate performance more desirable than a "human" performance.

The best way to manage rubato is to directly manipulate a MIDI file's tempo. Again, this can often be achieved with sequencing software. In mine, you can call up a "tempo graph" and draw lines up and down, defining arbitrary tempo changes at various points and wielding complete control.

The best way to manage rubato is to directly manipulate a MIDI file's tempo. Again, this can often be achieved with sequencing software. In mine, you can call up a "tempo graph" and draw lines up and down, defining arbitrary tempo changes at various points and wielding complete control.

Same, as long as the tempo of the whole passage changes. But adding rubato to a run/arpeggio, e.g. to accel going toward a target note, while the beat otherwise stays constant, I have to draw the note-bars individually.

Unless your sequencer allows tempo change on an individual track of course. Mine unfortunately doesn't though I can change everything else midi via various means. Glissandi are difficult. But I'm a newcomer to computer music so maybe I'll find ways.

I must admit I'm still interested in the articulations GPO provides but can't find them anywhere. Does it replicate the notated articulations properly at the right dynamic? On strings, for instance - martellato, spiccato, trem nat. trem sul pont, pizz, all with and without mutes, aside from up and down bows and legato and a few others. Do the appropriate winds give decent sounding flutter, staccato, sfz etc. I want to be sure it's better than what I have (which wouldn't be difficult)!

You know my views, though - I'll take this seriously when someone can synthesize La Mer or Le Sacre du Printemps...or move out of the traditional orchestral domain altogether. I'm sure it won't be long.