Sibelius or Finale

[musicalis]

Hi Friends !
Sibelius and Finale are good softwares, but too expensive. I think sibelius is even more expensive that your computer itself.
Why don't you try this : HARMONY-ASSISTANT
Near by 50 US $ I believe and near by 100 $ with the add-on ( a virtual singer that sings your lyrics, in french, english, italian, latin ... and a good sound bank called GoldBase two). And a very powerfull script language for those who like programming.
Here is the address (the site is in English): http://myriad-online.com/en/index.htm

The demo version has a very few limitations. Try it or visit my site if you want to know what is possible with this French sofware http://musicalis.monespace.net/
Friendly
J-Paul

[jvhldb]

I used several programs, but decided on Finale. Once you get used to it, it's as easy as playing music (escpecially if you use a MIDI keyboard for note entry).

[methodistgirl]

Krummhorn you've got me on this one. I have no idea what you are
asking about. I'm not familer of Sibelius or Finale myself. I hope I'm
not sounding sarcastic I just don't know.
judy tooley

[Krummhorn]

Krummhorn you've got me on this one. I have no idea what you are asking about. I'm not familer of Sibelius or Finale myself. I hope I'm not sounding sarcastic I just don't know.
judy tooley

Hi Judy,

It's okay ... these software applications are used for scoring music electronically (onscreen) instead of doing it by hand with pencil and scored paper. I've been using Noteworthy Composer since early 2003 and find it fairly adequate but have been wanting to get a more advanced program since I can now devote much more time to composing and arranging.

[musicalis]

Hi Krummhorn !
i have been a NWC user too. But it is a very small software if you compare with Harmony-Assistant.
J-paul

[Krummhorn]

Hi J-Paul,

Thanks for the Harmony Assistant link ... going to take a look into it as from what I can see from the demo version it does quite a bit more ... and the fact that I can import all my NWC files into this application is a great feature.

Do you have the Gold Sound Base for this too? Wondering if that might be a good thing to add for better sound reproductions.

[Rachmaninoff]

I'm a long time Sibelius user.
I use it since version 2 (it's currently on version 5.1).

IMHO, Sibelius or Finale, it's a matter of taste.

[scorpio]

I have been using cakewalk for a long time .Even though its mainly a sequencer you can still write and print music with it. It also has great soundfont banks. Once I have written music using cakewalk I then transfer the files to finale so I can then print parts and a score. I guess I should really use just finale to do all the playback and writing..printing but I do like cakewalk...Its very easy to use.

[Contratrombone64]

Seems to be that Sibelius is more used by those responding here than Finale. I own both, and have ordered a third party book on learning Sibelius, but as I've been using Finale since it's really early days I'm hesitant to swap PURELY because this old dog likes new tricks, but not pointless ones.

[acciaccatura]

Seems to me that quite a number of respondents prefer Sibelius over Finale without really going into detail about what makes Sibelius' features superior. I have used Finale for a while and it does most common tasks easily - and there always seems to be a way out of problems as you go deeper into the program - I think I like that. Finale is a flexible music typesetting tool that will get your job done, especially if you have the patience to master its intricacies.

Possibly, Sibelius is better, but in order to invest in the program, I need to be convinced it has better features and is reliable.

[Contratrombone64]

I own both and use Finale because I frankly don't have the energy to devote to learning Sibelius. I say stick with one and make and learn as much as you can.

[Mat]

I've been using Sibelius ever since my friend introduced me to it some time ago. I'm still learnig, as there are loads of different shortcuts one needs to know in order to make the scoring as fast as possible. I haven't really used Finale, so can't say which one's better.

[Serassi1836]

I use MuseScore: it's free and it's like finale!