Finale 2004 vrs Sibelius 3

[Travis Harrell]

I've got Finale 2003 but still struggle with the interface as it's used
in bursts then everything is forgotten. Supposedly Finale 2004 is
easier but there are many positive statements about Sibelius being easier.

Google searches don't yield much discussion from users. I'm testing
both demo programs so that may clinch my decision - will know more
later.

Anyone here with experience with both (or either)?

Thanks,
Travis

[Jack A. Zucker]

I don't have experience with both other than the trial version of Sibelious.
I use Finale 2004 and am using it for my book. It's buggy and quirky. I
*can* tell you that Hal Leonard has switched completely over to Sibelious.
Also, Herbie Hancock mentioned in an interview recently that he's given up
on Finale and switched to Sibelious. My guess is that in both cases, it's an
OS-X issue...

Having said all that, I can tell you that I enjoy working with Finale and
it's very quick to get your work done once you're familiar with it.

The biggest misconception with music authoring tools is that being "easier
to use" makes it better. It's not true. Finale (like Adobe's Photoshop)
makes the priority getting the job done. You will need to read the manual
and struggle through the beginning phases but once you do, it's a basically
a good product and produces beautiful output. Remember too that products
which are very easy to use in the beginning are often a hindrance once you
know them well.

For example, some music authoring tools which allow you to input notes from
a palette of rhythmic values and drag them over to the staff...That's
intuitive for a beginner but it's ridiculously slow. Finale has spent a lot
of time creating an interface mode that can do that because that's one of
Sibelious' strong points. However, Finale also has a computer keyboard
interface which is much more cumbersome and unintuitive at first but once
you learn it, it's 10x faster.

--
web: http://www.jazguitar.com
Soundclips: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/2/jackzuckermusic.htm
"Travis Harrell" <my.name.concatenated....@charter.net>
wrote in message news:vvddqcp...@corp.supernews.com...

[Travis Harrell]

Your points are well taken.

I'm experimenting with the Sibelius demo which isn't all that intuitive
as I'm having trouble with chord fonts and such. However I just
downloaded the Finale 2004 demo and it wouldn't even install for some as
yet undetermined reason.

It's ~$100 less expensive for me to upgrade to 2004 than to switch to
Sibelius but I haven't been that happy with Finale 2003.

Thanks,
Travis

[Jack A. Zucker]

Travis,

Despite my frequent rantings about Finale, it's still a fabulous program. If
you can upgrade to 2004, I'd urge you to do so. Get a good reference book
for Finale. It'll do wonders.

--
web: http://www.jazguitar.com
Soundclips: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/2/jackzuckermusic.htm
"Travis Harrell" <my.name.concatenated....@charter.net>

wrote in message news:vvdmn73...@corp.supernews.com...

[Pat Smith]

I have been using Sibelius 3 and am quite happy with it. I used to use
Finale, but it was just too hard for me. But we all have different needs

[Harrell]

My conclusions after messing with the two demos: Both are powerful,
professional grade programs but Sibelius does seem easier than Finale.

For me, simple is better so Sibelius has won my credit card number.

Finale had me as a customer for seven years or so and managed to keep me
annoyed that whole time even though I was able to produce the goods.
If Sibelius doesn't work out its back to Finale - no big deal.

Thanks for everyone's inputs,

[Jack A. Zucker]

> For me, simple is better

No Coltrane or Martino, then?!? :-)