Sibelius or Finale

[Krummhorn]

Based upon another thread regarding Cubase or Sibelius, I am interested on the comparisons between Finale and Sibelius as a preference for Music Engraving, composing and the like ... I am contemplating upgrading from my current notation software, Noteworthy Composer.

Your comments are most welcome.

[Kurkikohtaus]

As undeniably powerful as Sibelius is, I find the program rather counter-intuitive.

[Basia]

However simple and easy Finale is, Sibelius offers a LOT more, no doubt.

[Oneiros]

I voted for Finale, as I find it the easiest to use.

[jonny007]

I have worked with both and ultimately I found Sibelius the more intuitive and quick to learn. Note entry from the first moment is straight ahead. In fact I am looking for a used and discounted copy of Sibelius composing software. I am doing writing and arranging for Jazz groups and I can't afford the full version. Any ideas?
All the best

[Krummhorn]

... I am looking for a used and discounted copy of Sibelius composing software.

Jonny ... I think Sibelius has a discount for music educators, teachers, and church musicians on their new editions. You might also check eBay ... last time I looked there were some prior versions at reasonable cost.

Currently, I use Noteworthy Composer - it was $39 (USD), but my needs are mainly organ, piano and choral ... not doing the technical jazz arranging that you are. When I can scrape the dough together, I'll upgrade to a better program.

[Thomas Dressler]

I vote for Sibelius. I used Noteworthy for awhile too, and a couple years ago used Christmas money to buy Sibelius after doing a lot of comparison shopping. There were still things I liked about Finale, but I liked the look of Sibelius' printed scores better, as well as some of its other functions. However, I liked the way Finale works with ties and slurs more. I guess it's a personal thing because they're both good. My suggestion is to download the sample programs from each company and work with them.

[Cobalt]

Sibelius gets my vote as well. I was fortunate to get a look at the full version a few months back whilst a friend of mine was composing a grade piece. Admittedly it probably isn't as easy to pick up and use as Finale, but I found it to be more powerful, more feature rich and all in all a better all round program.

As for a used or discount copy, my vote is with eBay as well. You have to be a little careful purchasing second-hand software as some licenses prohibit transfer. Either way, if you can get hold of a half price copy of Sibelius then I'd go for it - they don't come round too often.

[corno]

I mainly use Finale for my work, but if the job calls for it I use Sibelius too.
I find that while Finale allows me more freedom in tweaking the score, then Sibelius, once you get the hang of it (comming from Finale, it's possible a little worse than starting from scratch) is a little more intuitive when it comes to entering notes, harpins, slurs ect. (again, it's a matter of taste/preference - But when tweaking them afterwards, which is more or less inevitable, Finale does a better job.

The interesting thing for me here, though, is how much, if anything, the purchase of Sibelius by Avid (the owner of Digidesign/ProTools) will do to the development of interoperability between the two programs. I for one, could really use a (midi)sequencer with a better way of handling note entries (via mouse or midi keyboard) - maybe there's something in the future here... who knows...

[Jeffrey Hall]

Well, this thread has succeeded in leaving me as unenlightened as before.

I use Finale and have not used Sibelius, mainly because Finale was what I decided to get several years ago, and I haven't had time or money to switch. I have heard folks who swear by both...including on this thread! In my experience, Finale will do absolutely any bizarre notation trick you need, even if you have to define it yourself or drill down 12 menus to get to it. A steep learning curve, but it does make nice scores.

[Linda]

May I join in please? I'm looking for music software to notate 4-part harmony songs and need to print final scores with lyrics and burn cd's both with and without voice synth. I'd also like the ability to compress and save the file to post onto a website for others to printout and to save the file as a .wav or .mp3

At the moment I'm using Noteworthy1 which doesn't have voice synth.

Price is a major factor and although I've looked at the Sibelius website there are so many versions available, I could do with recommendations so I can compare prices intelligently. If the software could be purchased in the name of a club (rather than individual) in order that whoever is designated to do this job is not in breach of copyright, it would be an additional advantage. The ultimate aim is to produce teach CD's for a 40-strong chorus but I'm not sure if that meets the requirements for educational discounts.

Any suggestions welcome.

[Krummhorn]

Linda,

If you are an educator or have another professional position related to music in some way, I believe Sibelius & Finale offer a reduction in cost. The information for that is available on each of their websites.

Lars

[Simon Jansfort]

Aren't we forgetting good old Musicator? Nohting beats it in my opinion.

Simon

[corno]

Musicator is a great "tool", my first "real" music program, for sure... but for music engraving? Not if I'm publishing the music.

[Andrew Roussak]

Hey, Sibelius is far ahead - I love it! I use Sib. too!