Klarinet Archive - Posting 000288.txt from 1998/11

From: "Jim O'Briant" <jobriant@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Sibelius Software
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1998 16:24:15 -0500

Jdclar@-----.com wrote, in part:

> Is anyone out familiar with the composing program Sibelius? I recently
> received information about it along with a disc that shows how some of it's
> features work. I have sent them the following questions but have never heard
> back from them. I would appreciate any info you can give me but I worry if I
> can't get pre-sales questions answered that post sales support would probably
> be much more difficult.

There has been extensive discussion of this new notation program on the
rec.music.compose newsgroup. You may wish to go to DejaNews and review this
discussion.

> 1. What will the translator to /from Finale cost and when will it be
> available? Will it read & write Finale files? What revisions of Finale does it
> support and how soon will it be updated when Finale is updated? What will the
> updates cost? Right now it is a Finale world and anything I do must be Finale
> compatible.

Nobody knows yet. Sibelius says this will be a utility created by a third party,
due to Coda's unwillingness to cooperate in writing such a program.

> 2. How much cleanup work is required when scanning in music? I have tried
> MidiScan and found that there is so much editing to do that it is faster to
> recreate from a blank screen.

There has been relatively little discussion of this feature of Sibelius. (Your
comments on MidiScan exactly describe my experience with that program, however.)

> 3. Are settings configurable? I noticed in your demo that a dotted eighth note
> has the dot covered by the flag on the note. Is that something that can be
> configured?

I don't know.

> 4. What is the cost for students/educators?

There has been some talk of an "educational" price, but I don't recall seeing a
figure. The present retail price is $599 US.

Personally, I'm holding off to see how well Sibelius fixes the inevitable
first-release bugs.

Jim O'Briant
Bayside Music Press
Gilroy, CA

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