Finale vs. Sibelus - Anyone have an opinion?

tZer · #1 06-08-2006, 12:36 PM

Gang - a friend of mine who is a Church Music Director is asking my opinion on notation software. He said his church is going to either purchase Finale or Sibelus and he would like some guidance.

I have no experience with either of these packages. I did a little research and the gist what I have gleaned so far is:

Finale is more complicated to learn (steep learning curve) but seems to have more 'features'
Sibelus is easier to use, has a more intuitive interface, but is not as 'feature-rich' as Finale

Based on this general assessment, and knowing how computer-illiterate/intimidated by using computers my friend is, I would think the features would be irrelevant to him, so I am inclined to recommend Sibelus based on it's apparent 'user-friendliness'.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this topic?

Thanks!
--tz

BassChuck · #2 06-08-2006, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tZer

Finale is more complicated to learn (steep learning curve) but seems to have more 'features'
Sibelus is easier to use, has a more intuitive interface, but is not as 'feature-rich' as Finale

I've taken a class in Finale and I've used Sibelius for several years. I'd agree with your assesment.

In reality, Sibelius does just about anything most people would need to do. I'd strongly reccommend this. In using Sibelius for school and some professional things I've not found it to be lacking in any way. And I've done some scores by Ives and other composers with odd notations and meter setups that are close to 'non-standard'. Other things for chorus, marching band, concert band, orchestra, all kinds of solo and ensemble things.... and on and on. Sibelius really covers a lot of needs.

Some side things to consider. If you are planning to present your music to publisher then you might look a little more at Finale as it seems to be the industry standard for 'camera ready' publication.

If you are looking to use this software to play music (in other words use the notation software as a sequencer), listen first. I don't think either one makes a MIDI file that is usable for performance.

The MIDI play back is pretty cool for preparing things. You can hear exactly what is on the page and correct what is needed... and walk into a rehearsal with 100% confidence that the parts are correct.

Snarf · #3 06-08-2006, 03:47 PM

Finale is pure evil. You don't want that, especially in a church.

tZer · #4 06-08-2006, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snarf

Finale is pure evil. You don't want that, especially in a church.

Your reply came right in time! Thanks!

--tz

Don't_Fret · #5 06-08-2006, 05:44 PM

I can input notation 100 times faster in Sibelius than Finale. For me that's the most important thing.

geoffkhan · #6 06-08-2006, 05:47 PM

I also prefer Sibelius, the learning curve is a lot better than Finale's. Some might tell you that Finale is the industry standard, but really they use either. I don't think there's anything you can do in Finale that you can't do in Sibelius, or visa versa.

ballison · #7 06-08-2006, 05:52 PM

going to berklee, alot of people have opinions. while we're given finale, Ive noticed most people who use a notation program frequently prefer sibelus. my personal opinion - I HATE finale I usually just use the notation feature in Logic

tZer · #8 06-09-2006, 02:43 PM

Thanks for your opinions. I have passed on my recommendation (Sibelus) to my friend. The ball is in his court now.

Thanks again!
--tz

Aj* · #9 06-09-2006, 05:36 PM

I'm a bit late but I'm an avid Sibelius user and have never run into anything it can't handle for general fun or actual school projects. Heck, I even did an arrangement of the YMCA on it

.

evan_phi · #10 06-09-2006, 07:03 PM

FWIW...

+1 on Sibelius.

my teacher and a few buddies of mine all use it.

MysticMichael · #11 06-10-2006, 12:43 PM

From everything I've heard, Finale is to Sibelius as the PC is to the Mac?

MM

pcurtain · #12 06-10-2006, 02:00 PM

Quote:

From everything I've heard, Finale is to Sibelius as the PC is to the Mac?

By which you mean Sibelius has a perceived edge in ease of use?

(not looking for a pc vs mac thing, just wanna clarify the statement)

--p

MysticMichael · #13 06-10-2006, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pcurtain

By which you mean Sibelius has a perceived edge in ease of use?

(not looking for a pc vs mac thing, just wanna clarify the statement)

--p

Right. Plus the fact that Finale is/was the de-facto standard in academic circles, while Sibelius is somewhat more popular among actual artists. Kind of a PC = corporate vs. Mac = creative sort of thing...

MM

**smperry** · #14 06-10-2006, 02:36 PM

I've been using Finale (98d)...now wishing I bought Sibelus...oh well, it was a pre-TB purchase.

Marshall

Jazzin' · #15 06-10-2006, 02:48 PM

I have both on my computer, and I'm really bad at using both of them. But at least with Sibelius I have somewhat of an idea of what I'm doing. It also comes with all these video tutorials, which helped a lot.

Alvaro Martín Gómez A. · #16 06-10-2006, 03:30 PM

I've been a loyal Finale user since version 98d (which is a nightmare) and I feel very comfortable with it. From what I've seen, each new version is more user-friendly with the exception of 2003, which only introduced new icons and more instruments to add. Everybody seems to agree that Sibelius is much easier, but frankly I feel lazy about it since I'm very used to Finale.