Klarinet Archive - Posting 000198.txt from 2005/04

From: "Erik Tkal" <cctkal@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Music notation software
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2005 17:38:03 -0400

2 GB of processor speed doesn't sound right either - did you mean 2 GHz =
of processor speed? Or 2 GB of hard disk space? I doubt you mean 2 GB =
of processor memory though. And 2MB of memory is definitely too low...

Erik

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Andy Jablonski [mailto:ajablons@-----.org]=20
> Sent: Monday, April 11, 2005 5:26 PM
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: RE: [kl] Music notation software
>=20
> You truly need to pay attention to minimum requirements. Sibelius
> wants 2 GB of processor speed and 2 MB of memory, and you *will* =
suffer from poor performance (or no performance) if your computer =
doesn't have
> both. I know this from my own experience.
>=20
> These don't sound right... 2m of memory?
>=20
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ormo2ndtoby@-----.net]
> Sent: Monday, April 11, 2005 2:22 PM
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: Re: [kl] Music notation software
>=20
> Erik, I ended up with Sibelius, and also with 'junior versions" of =
both Sibelius and Finale (each upwards compatible to its respective =
parent).
> Several years ago, I spent about 30 minutes with the Coda (Finale) =
salesman at ClarinetFest.
>=20
> Within the limits of these comparisons, I feel fairly confident in
> saying:
>=20
> You truly need to pay attention to minimum requirements. Sibelius
> wants 2 GB of processor speed and 2 MB of memory, and you *will* =
suffer from poor performance (or no performance) if your computer =
doesn't have
> both. I know this from my own experience.
>=20
> Sibelius's menus and commands are significantly more 'intuitive' and
> 'user friendly'. Their manual is certainly more readable. However
> this 'friendliness' comes at the expense of shortcuts that neither =
Sibelius's manual nor Sibelius's help files explain or discuss openly or =
completely.
>=20
> Since I don't have the full version of Finale in front of me, I don't =
know how Finale and Sibelius would treat parallel situations, but I'll =
give you two examples of "shortcuts" from my own experience in a moment.
>=20
> My general impression is that Finale can do more (at the expense of =
intuition and user-friendliness) if you want to push the envelope, =
including if fully-controllable typesetting in difficult situations is =
important to you.
>=20
> However the various items that you and other people have mentioned --- =
such as pick-up bars, markings that 'stick' with their notes or staffs =
on extracted parts, tuplets within tuplets, cross-stave beaming, control =
of playback of tremolos & trills & accelerandos & crescendos & their
> opposites --- all these features work in both programs. There are =
some
> ornaments that you must 'fake' in Sibelius (by combining trills and
> other gimmicks). But this may be true in Finale also.
>=20
> One difference, however, is that Sibelius can open Finale-format files =
(but not save them, so this is a one-way street!) directly without
> noticeable (to my ear and eye) losses. However, unless something has
> changed recently, Finale requires a plug-in (a 3rd party program) to =
open Sibelius files, and there were some minor but observable losses =
when I messed with Finale and its plug-in at ClarinetFest.
>=20
> Here is an example of what I call a "shortcut". As I said above, I
> have not had an opportunity to see how Finale handles this same
> situation. Perhaps someone else here has?
>=20
> Sibelius claims to have a basset horn voice. But after considerable
> experimentation --- because Sibelius offers different 'devices' for =
playing different instrument sets --- I have decided that basset horn is
> merely "clarinet re-labelled". That is, clarinet in C, Eb, Bb, A, =
and
> basset are all the same voice. In real life, I hear a certain pitch =
on
> a clarinet in C as being noticeably different from the same pitch on =
an
> A, but they're all the same in Sibelius. It's true that Sibelius
> understands that each instrument has a different range, and therefore =
Sibelius will flag basset notes as being unplayable on Bb, etc; but the =
sound of all clarinets and basset horns on Sibelius are identical when
> they play the same pitch with the same 'device'. That is, Sibelius
> appears not to use different sound samples for each of them.
>=20
> Another example: I have one situation where a hairpin (from mf to ppp) =
is ignored during playback, even when I go into the "Properties" window
> and adjust the properties of this individual hairpin. In most cases, =
I
> can use the Properties window to control two different aspects of a
> hairpin's rate of decrease or increase. Hairpins work properly
> elsewhere in the same file, but nothing (that I have found) causes
> Sibelius to respond to this particular hairpin. There appears to be
> some unspoken assumption in the program that causes this particular
> hairpin to be ignored. That is, loudness remains constant along the
> hairpin's entire length (I've experimented by drawing it out across =
several bars), and then the loudness drops suddenly at the hairpin's end =
when Sibelius finally sees the 'ppp' at the hairpin's end.
>=20
> My personal feeling is that, if I had it to do all over again, I
> would've gone with Finale. But that's purely a personal choice. I
> don't mind reading dense manuals so long as I can find the answer
> eventually. Not having diminuendo in this one particular case (and =
not
> being able to hear a clarinet in C, but perhaps my speakers couldn't =
reproduce the difference anyway) frustrates me.
>=20
> ...FWIW, Erik....
>=20
>=20
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Inc. http://www.woodwind.org
>=20
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
email klarinet-owner@-----.Org, =
Inc. http://www.woodwind.org
>=20
>=20

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