A new question: Finale vs Sibelius

Discussions about composing, arranging, orchestration, songwriting, theory, etc...

Moderators: Frodo, FMiguelez, MIDI Life Crisis

Forum rules
Discussions about composing, arranging, orchestration, songwriting, theory and the art of creating music in all forms from orchestral film scores to pop/rock.
tbon
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri Nov 16, 2007 10:49 am
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: California

Re: A new question: Finale vs Sibelius

Post by tbon »

Just discovered this thread.......

I feel compelled to stick my 2 cents in, but first, I suggest reading the article presented here:

http://www.newmusicbox.org/articles/to- ... re-update/

I'm a 30+ year veteran of the music prep scene in LA - over the years I've worked with a lot of big names in records, live performance, episodic television, and most recently, film. When I started out, it was pen & ink, triangle, onion skin and sepia......the arrival of notation software was a revelation. I'm still working, so I continue to have a vested interest in the future of the software, and I would have to say that this article got it mostly right. Curiously, the author chose to not mention a number of promising programs that fell by the wayside over time, including Encore, Overture, and of course, MOTU's Mosaic.

Our crew went from pen & ink to Encore, and then to Sibelius; at another major studio the crew chose to start with a PC only program called Errato, and eventually moved on to Finale. Sibelius and Finale.....to work in Hollywood you had better be an expert in one, and at least acquainted with other. As for my preference......I find Finale dated and cumbersome. That being said, for "modern concert music" it might be a better choice. Sibelius is easier to use, and is capable of esoteric notation as well; one of our film clients uses a lot of string fx, all possible to notate in the program. In version 7 the "ribbon" was introduced; most power users hated it, and the newbies loved it. Whether you love it or hate it, it’s mitigated somewhat by the fact that Sibelius allows the user to write his own custom key commands to access items within the application, much like DP.

What I am concerned about is what's happened to both Finale and Sibelius in terms of ownership. Avid let the Sibelius development crew go, and essentially wants to "rent" the program to users now. Apparently, longtime members of the Finale team quit when they were bought out. These events don't inspire confidence, especially if you use the software to make your living. In the long term, the Steinberg program (currently in development) may be the best choice for notation.
User avatar
mikehalloran
Posts: 15134
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2009 5:08 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Sillie Con Valley

Re: A new question: Finale vs Sibelius

Post by mikehalloran »

Code: Select all

In the long term, the Steinberg program (currently in development)
for a long time now...
DP 11.31; 828mkII FW, micro lite, M4, MTP/AV USB Firmware 2.0.1
2023 Mac Studio M2 8TB, 192GB RAM, OS Sonoma 14.4, USB4 8TB external, M-Audio AIR 192|14, Mackie ProFxv3 6/10/12; 2012 MBPs Catalina, Mojave
IK-NI-Izotope-PSP-Garritan-Antares, LogicPro X, Finale 27.4, Dorico 5.2, Notion 6, Overture 5, TwistedWave, DSP-Q 5, SmartScore64 Pro, Toast 20 Pro
Post Reply