Klarinet Archive - Posting 000089.txt from 2004/08

From: "Lelia Loban" <lelialoban@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Notation Software
Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2004 08:20:26 -0400


Gary Truesdail wrote,
>Good notation software is expensive. I use Encore.
>I like it except for one feature. I am becoming fed
>up with its inability to deal with slurs when ever I
>adjust measure widths or measures per system (line).
>The slurs end up on the wrong notes.

I like Sibelius a lot. I use Sibelius 2.1.1, which is now a slightly
obsolete version (released in 2002). It's an extremely powerful program,
and, yes, expensive. Markings can be either "just for looks" or active,
depending on which menu you choose them from. Active slurs attach to the
notes at the beginnings and ends of the slurs, and travel with that series
of notes (including whatever you add or subtract in between the beginning
and end notes where the slurs are attached) during reformatting and parts
extraction. Active markings also can be hidden, so that they don't print
out (though they still show up as pale gray on your computer screen, so you
can tell where they are) but do affect playback. That's a handy feature if
you want to tweak the audio phrasing to sound more natural, but not clutter
the score with obsessive directions about every little thing that should be
left up to the performer.

In Sibelius, a line only becomes a system if you put a hard return at the
end of it. Otherwise, the default is for the lines to wrap, the same as in
word processing. Active slurs and similar phrase markings, such as
crescendo < and decrescendo > marks, travel and stretch or compress while
staying attached to their beginning and ending notes. There's a feature to
adjust note spacing for a passage or for the entire piece, and another
feature can re-set the default note spacing, line spacing, etc..

Sibelius comes with a first-rate manual, btw. It's written for musicians,
not computer experts. When a composer friend let me leaf through his manual
while he and my husband were practicing, I was surprised that I could
understand the text. (When I'd tried to decipher someone else's Finale
manual, I thought I might not be able to learn that software). The ample,
clear explanations sold me the Sibelius program even before I'd tried it
out.

For pricing and information about the latest version, Sibelius 3 (released
about 6 mos. ago), see the website,

http://www.sibelius.com

Also check your local music stores for discount prices. (Guitar and drum
discount shops, and piano stores that carry the Yamaha Clavinova and other
keyboards that can be hooked up to MIDI cables, are the best sources for
the heavy-duty music processing software.) I got a significant discount
off the list price by shopping locally in 2002.

I haven't upgraded yet, because (from the chat site) I got the impression
that the big new feature, the addition of an optional set of "new and
improved" sound fonts with a program to allow direct to WAV recording, was
released prematurely (although I think the worst bugs have been swatted
now) and also requires more RAM than my computer has. If I didn't load
that feature, then I'd have a slightly improved version of what I've
already got -- and I'm happy with what I've got.

Lelia Loban
http://members.sibeliusmusic.com/LeliaLoban
America can do better: Kerry and Edwards in 2004!

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