The Pezman Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 So I'm sure most of you have used one of the two mentioned programs before. I began with Finale, but switched to Sibelius because its interface seemed slightly easier and, unlike Finale, they don't come out with a new version every year. I'm also not a fan of the idea that I'd be using a program which is a part of this huge Avid/M-Audio/Digidesign megacorporation. Purely in concept, I like Sibelius more for being mostly self-contained. However, with that said, I have not spent a great deal of time with either program, so getting opinions and stories from you guys would be appreciated. However, I also mentioned OCR - Optical Character Recognition. And in this case, Music Optical Character recognition. Visiting Wikipedia basically told me that the two main players are SmartScore and Photoscore which - surprise! - interoperate with Finale and Sibelius, respectively. Based on details regarding the newest version of Photoscore Pro, along with the fact that Gamingforce Audio tends to deal with Sibelius scorch files, it seems somewhat logical that Photoscore is carrying the day right now. However, I have not used either program, and so I bring this to you as well. And on a final note, my text OCR program (ReadIRIS Pro) doesn't seem to want to automatically recognize a page of text I scanned in. How can I set it to do so? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emura Posted September 8, 2007 Share Posted September 8, 2007 I went through pretty much the same process as you. I had been using Finale 2003 for the past few years for creating MIDI files, and decided at the start of this year to move over to Sibelius 4. (Should have waited for the new version though!) I like everything about Sibelius better. Smaller program size, better manual edit tools than Finale, better typesetting (notesetting?) and layout tools... the list goes on and on. It feels more natural for me to use. During the winter I took at course at my university studying music up to 1500 CE, and one of our assignments was to transcribe a an early manuscript into modern notation, or as close as we could get it. Early music notation does not have note durations, measures, time signatures, key signatures, etc. Well it turns out that Sibelius actually allows you to enter music with no respect to time, which is the currently accepted method for transcribing old notations into modern notation. I don't know if Finale can do that, but if it does, I'm sure it would have taken a long time for me to figure out how to do. With Sibelius it was a piece of cake, and let me be a big geek and be the only person to hand in a computer-printed transcription. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moseph Posted September 8, 2007 Share Posted September 8, 2007 I'm using Finale (2006). Back when I bought it, I considered getting Sibelius instead, but Finale was what my school was using and I was already fairly comfortable with the program. Sibelius is great, though, because it forces Finale to remain competitive -- the main updates for the 2007 version were basically copied from Sibelius 4 (video scoring, automatic part extraction). I'm told that Finale was much, much worse before Sibelius existed. The big problem with Finale is that when they update they focus on stupid stuff like textured backgrounds, WAV file incorporation, sound libraries, etc. instead of FIXING THE NOTATION ISSUES! (Which is why I'm still on 2006.) As far as I know, it's still impossible to do slashed, beamed grace notes without drawing the slash yourself. (Which reminds me -- can Sibelius do that more easily?) I hadn't realized Sibelius 5 was out . . . I'm reading the features list right now. The idea hub looks like a kind of nice feature. And they added a view like Finale's scroll view (about time -- that was one of the things I preferred about Finale). I'll have to see if there's a demo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexis Posted September 8, 2007 Share Posted September 8, 2007 I hadn't realized Sibelius 5 was out . . . I'm reading the features list right now. The idea hub looks like a kind of nice feature. And they added a view like Finale's scroll view (about time -- that was one of the things I preferred about Finale). I'll have to see if there's a demo. I just got Sibelius 5, and it's realllly nice. I went from Sibelius 3 to 5, so it was a lot to take in...The idea hub is actually one of my favorite features, it's a lot better than having several individual files of ideas that are like three measures long clogging up the computer, as I used to. Also it actually comes with much more realistic sounds in this Sibelius Essentials kit, which has samples from Garritan and Kontakt player, and they actually aren't too bad. They aren't amazing, but they're a hell of a lot better than the general midi sibelius used in 3. I was used to before, but that's a small detail. I've used Finale before, it's the program that my school uses right now, but I really prefer sibelius to it. I do have a copy 5.of Finale, and honestly, Finale 2007 is nowhere nearly as awesome as Sibelius. Oh and I'm ridiculously excited, this is mainly cause I'm a music education major, but Sibelius 5 has a worksheet generator. IT'S FUCKIN AWESOME. They have worksheets for everything ever. omgyay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Pezman Posted September 9, 2007 Author Share Posted September 9, 2007 With Sibelius it was a piece of cake, and let me be a big geek and be the only person to hand in a computer-printed transcription. But did you use Photoscore, or were you able to do it right from Sibelius itself? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emura Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 Right from Sibelius itself. I was instantly won over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanthos Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 During the winter I took at course at my university studying music up to 1500 CE, and one of our assignments was to transcribe a an early manuscript into modern notation, or as close as we could get it. Early music notation does not have note durations, measures, time signatures, key signatures, etc. Well it turns out that Sibelius actually allows you to enter music with no respect to time, which is the currently accepted method for transcribing old notations into modern notation. Hah, sounds like a fun assignment. Who was teaching the course? Oh, and did you make it into stage band this term? Also, it's in your best interests to avoid taking classes with Carol Ann Weaver if possible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emura Posted September 12, 2007 Share Posted September 12, 2007 Hah, sounds like a fun assignment. Who was teaching the course? Oh, and did you make it into stage band this term? Also, it's in your best interests to avoid taking classes with Carol Ann Weaver if possible I was going to PM you actually, my audition went very well and he gave me a spot immediately. I played Take Five with Paul Desmond's transcribed solo. Just barely finished the solo and he said he'd heard enough. Managed to avoid courses with Carol Ann Weaver, though her crazy is spilling over into other courses I'm in. She wrote all over the board in 1302 and then wrote underneath "Please do not erase until September 18." The early music course was taught by B. Menich. I didn't think she was all that great. I managed to get a spot in Music 275 this term though (aka the obligatory "Make music with Cubase course.") Pretty pleased about that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanthos Posted September 13, 2007 Share Posted September 13, 2007 You lucky punk! They never offered that course during my undergrad, and I really wish I'd been able to take it. I'd be probably 5 years ahead of where I am now as a remixer if it'd been available. Carol Ann is fine for the jazz history class, but I have yet to hear anyone who liked her as a theory teacher. If you start taking the higher-level theory (270, 271, etc), try and get Leonard Enns if you can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Pezman Posted October 2, 2007 Author Share Posted October 2, 2007 ....soooooo, Photoscore 5. Anyone used it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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