A Long Time Ago
When I was a graduate student at Auburn University, a Sibelius representative gave an introductory session on how to use Sibelius. At that time, claims were that Finale was one of the major players in the music notation software realm but Sibelius was easier to use. It is funny how an experience such as this can shape your future choices. From that point on, my choice for notation software has always been Sibelius. Well, that was over 15 years ago. Let’s look at how Sibelius stacks up today.
The Product
Sibelius is the most widely used program for music notation and has been for years. It allows its users to create high-quality sheet music. The interface of Sibelius is user-friendly making it accessible to both beginners and experienced musicians. It is owned by a large company that offers great support that includes support groups. It offers advanced features for music composition including extracting individual parts from a score, flexible methods for note input, and a wide range of musical symbols, the ability to score vocal parts with lyrics, it can create chord symbols in various fashions and add all sorts of expression and technique markings.
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The Beginnings
Named after the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius and developed by the British company Sibelius Software, Sibelius later became part of Avid Technology in 2006. The development of the Sibelius software began in the early 1990s with the first version of Sibelius being released in 1998. Sibelius now has cloud collaboration features, allowing users to work on scores collaboratively online with subscription-based pricing.
Features
Sibelius is widely used for music notation which allows its users to create high-quality sheet music. The interface of Sibelius is user-friendly making it accessible to both beginners and experienced musicians. It offers advanced features for music composition, including dynamic parts extraction, flexible note input, and a wide range of musical symbols. It has the ability to score vocal parts with text. It can create chord symbols in various fashions and add all sorts of expression and techniSibelius is able to export its work in numerous formats. This includes the common XML format which allows Sibelius to import or export with many other software programs including Finale. Sibelius can also print out sheet music and export files in MIDI, PDF, audio and video files. Existing scores such as instrumental parts, vocal music and scores, can be scanned and imported into Sibelius using Photoscore which is included in the Ultimate version of Sibelius. Photoscore can import a JPEG, TIFF or PDF file and put it in a format that can be then imported into Sebelius. This process usually requires some editing while in Photoscore before it is ready to import into Sibelius.
Cost
Avid Technology has shifted Sibelius to a subscription-based pricing model by the month or the year. Some users prefer a perpetual license (a traditional one-time purchase which does not expire.) They are still available but take up to three years before you save any money. Also, the subscription products allow the user to use the most up-to-date version available. Sibelius First is a free version which is a great way to started with notation software. Sibelius Artist has most of the functions of the Ultimate version but limits the score to 16 instruments. Unless you are a serious writer, who needs more?? The subscription version is $99/year. The Sibelius Ultimate version costs $199/year. This makes the cost of using this fantastic product affordable to most users. Guess what??? If you are an educator or student, you can subscribe to the Sibelius Ultimate version for $99/year! You will need an educational email account to verify your status as an educator or student.
Summary
In summary, there are alternative music notation software options available but Sibelius excels in ease-of-use, has good sound libraries, features and a great value for the money. It may lack some customization and advanced publishing powers of the industry-standard Finale software, but Sibelius does everything needed for music notation at a more affordable price point.
For another music notation software product, see my review on Finale, one of the industry standards for notation software.
SIBELIUS
Awesome! 👏
Thanks!!!