Ok - so, I've used Finale for the last 16+ years. I know it well... but, I've heard good things about a little program called Sibelius, too. So, lately I've really been concentrating more on my writing and arranging and I think that I either need to upgrade to the latest version of Finale or make a break and start using Sibelius.
I just downloaded the 30-day free trial of Sibelius (which, by the way does not allow you to save anything... bummer!!) and I've done little more than look at some of the samples that they have included in the download. My observation so far is that Finale has a much smoother playback feature. Now, I understand that Sibelius doesn't come with the Garritan orchestra and Finale does. ($200 pricetag on that, BTW) That, notwithstanding, from what I heard, the crescendos and other articulations sounded a bit terse to me in the samples that I listened to on Sibelius.
I use my notation program quite a bit for demos to send to prospective publishers and performers - so, I need something that is really going to give me what I need as far as that goes. I'm unsure if adding MOTU or Garritan (or any other VST) to Sibelius would give me that satisfaction of performance that I crave.
But, that is my full understanding of the Sibelius platform at this time. So, I sent out a tweet/Facebook status/email to basically everyone I know and asked about what they use, why and if they had made a switch between either program. I have anonymously posted my replies below....
Reponse #1
We just bought finale because that is what my accompanist and choir members are using and they will be the ones using it here.
Good luck
Response #2
I use Sibelius. I really like it. I can't compare it to Finale because I've never used Finale, but I've found Sibelius able to do all the things that I need to do quickly. I've always used Sibelius since I attended an AGO conference and they had a Sibelius vs. Finale seminar in which guys from both companies were given a task to perform and the Sibelius way of doing the task was much simpler and faster - they blew the Finale people away. [A friend of mine] always liked Sibelius too so I guess I just picked it up from him. The downside (maybe it's positive) is that Sibelius often seems to be issuing upgrades and it can get expensive after a while. I have stopped doing upgrades because I don't use it that intently and haven't had any troubles getting it to do something I want it to do. I highly recommend it! But, bear in mind that I've never used Finale so I don't have anything with which to compare it.
Response #3
I used Finale for years, but when I switched - I swore I'd never go back. Sibelius was much, much more intuitive than Finale. Once I started with Sibelius, I rarely ever had to open the manual because you can find almost anything you need with a mouse click. I understand that Finale has made great strides trying to emulate all the features that Sibelius has developed, so I don't know if the difference would be as great now as when I switched over 10 years ago. However, I still think that Sibelius may be the way to go. I think many, if not most, publishers have switched to Sibelius.
There would be a brief learning curve any time you switch from one soft ware to a different one that basically does the same thing. However, if you were to take the short time to go through the tutorials and videos, you'd be cruising with Sibelius in a matter of a couple of hours. I highly commend it to you.
Response #4
I've only ever used finale. It was such a time consuming thing to learn that I never tried anything else! I've always thought of Sibelius as having less capabilities ( by design) than finale. Have they added more stuff ? Let me know what you decide!
Response #5
I learned on Finale, so I stayed there. I have tried my hand at Sibelius for a project with the school. It took me a few minutes, but I started to get it. Their goal is to get your hand off the mouse and on the typing keyboard. You can certainly use a midi keyboard as well, but Sibelius shines (from what I could tell) when you invest the time to learn the short cuts, and type your brains out. If I were starting from zero, knowing what I know now, Sibelius would be my choice.
Response #6
I use Finale. I've never used Sibelius. My recollection is that when I first started using Finale (about 15 years ago) Sibelius did not have a PC version, although I'm old and what I could actually be remembering is that Finale did not have a Mac version. In either case, I think that may have been the original Finale/Sibelius divide.
In talking with other songwriters/composers/arrangers it seems to me that at this point more "serious" composers use Sibelius while songwriters and arrangers use Finale. In an informal poll here - which means I just yelled out in the lounge - everyone says they use Finale. All three of us. For whatever that's worth.
I just bought the Finale 2010 upgrade. I've been very happy with the improvements over the years, primarily because they seem to make the things that drive me crazy or take the most time a little better and easier every time they release a new version. Plus, I love the integration of the Garritan sound fonts.
Response #7
I don't really use anything for notation, but I have friends that do and they recommend Sibelius. My composer friend says Sibelius is much faster and easier, and is better for playback. He says there are fewer keystrokes for nearly any task. He says that if you are great on finale and love it, stick with it, but if you are good on finale you will be great on sibelius. He has both and prefers Sibelius. His composition teacher is really big into finale, and can't tell that [composer friend's] compositions are not done in Finale.
Response #8
I've always used Finale but do find it a little perplexing/complicated sometimes. We have a friend who switched to Sibelius, but she's such a "light" user that I've not put too much weight into her decision.
Response #9
i haven't done an arrangement on finale in a couple years. before that, the last time i upgraded was in 2005. if i was to do anything at this time, it'd be to upgrade and stick w/ finale because praisecharts.com, with whom i purchase a TON of music, is now putting their stuff out in finale so their files can be edited, keys changed, etc...
So, there you have it, my highly unscientific commentary on Sibelius vs. Finale. I am sort of sensing this "I've used Finale for a long time and so I'm not switching now" viewpoint from Finale users and a "Wow, I love this, it is easy and very good" from the Sibelius side. But, this is not the end. I really want to learn more about Sibelius and before I sink more $$ into Finale, I want to make sure that I'm going to be really happy with the direction I take here.
If you have anything to add, please let me know... right now I've got 28 days of free Sibelius and all the time in the world with my Finale 2006!
4 comments:
Finale comes with a built-in library of sounds from Garritan Personal Orchestra, with some other sounds from Garritan Jazz and Big Band, Garritan Concert and Marching Band, and a handful of other sounds from Garritan's extensive library of sounds. Well, guess what: so does Sibelius. (Finale does *not* come with the full GPO product.)
Sibelius Sounds Essentials includes many of the same sounds that Finale's library includes, and it also adds extra sounds from Avid's AIR group, for things like electric guitars, bass guitars, vintage keyboards, synths, and drum kits.
Both Finale and Sibelius have automatic playback for sample libraries like the full GPO, etc. Sibelius has better support for non-Garritan sample libraries like VSL, EastWest Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra, Synful Orchestra, and so on. Both applications can play back crescendi and diminuendi automatically with appropriate playback devices.
My final response for now: there's no 30-day trial of the full Sibelius 6 program. The demo version you've downloaded won't time out after 30 days, but it cannot save anything. If you want to download a 30-day trial of the software that you can use for saving files, etc., then you could try downloading a trial version of Sibelius First, which is a cut-down version of Sibelius that retails at $129. The demo is here: http://www.sibelius.com/products/sibelius_first/
I'm frankly astonished at all the Finale users moving to Sibelius and loving it. I've used Finale practically since it came out so maybe I'm just too used to it, but intuitive is the last word I would use for Sibelius. I'm slowly beginning to find my way around but I haven't figured out how to enter basic lead sheets in Sibelius in anything less than 2-3 times the time and effort I can do it in Finale.
I want to like Sibelius. It seems like more and more people are switching to it. But I frankly don't see the appeal.
I'm sorry but those people who think Sibelius is "MORE" intuitive have never really used Finale or at least not in the last 5 years. I'm a Finale user and I'm a music teacher so I've had my chance to go to many sibelius sessions. There was nothing quicker or more intuitive or even different in how sibelius worked. The only difference is the screen was less cluttered by a little, and the score scrolling was better. At the end of the day, I had to go up to the menu just as much as I had to do in Finale and do things in almost the same way. It was different, but not any "MORE" intuitive. It also wasn't any simpler. It's true Finale has made strides to be more "Sibelius like" however to it's credit. There is no hiding that. My only complaint with Finale is that it does not handle EastWest Sounds very well. Sibelius does! I like Sibelius, I like Finale, but honestly, I can't for the life of me figure out how Sibelius is any easier than Finale.
I really think that it may come down to how one's brain works. I've since switched to Sibelius and I'm finding it to be a very powerful tool and no less slow than Finale... in fact, for me, a lot of the transcription has been faster and by and large, easier than in Finale. There are a few things that I wish were different about Sib's workflow, but all in all, I'm enjoying the experience of working with Sibelius - even though I was a 15+ year user of Finale...
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