Finale or Sibelius?

[David Coscina 3]

I predominantly use Finale 2011 and Sibelius 6.2 for most composing chores these days. I like the look of Sibelius and changing rhythmic lengths is a wee bit faster but I do find myself sometimes up against a wall and fine that Finale is able to do anything I throw at it. I also like the Speedy Entry method the best. Whether I'm just using my Macbook keyboard or a USB keyboard controller, I like being able to play a passage and then commit by pressing a number key on the computer keyboard the corresponds to the note length. In Sibelius you can do this also but it's a little clumbsier.

I know most renowned composers use Sibelius (John Adams, James Horner, Alf Clausen, etc) but most concert composers I know use Finale. I think both programs are amazing and Jon Loving's soundsets for Sibelius are terrific (Symphobia, Kontakt 4, LA Scoring Strings, Miroslav Philharmonik, EWQLSO). That said, one can create their own set in Finale using the Human Playback set. It's not too hard. I did one for VSL a while back and it works well.

Anyhow, just curious. I know there was a thread a little while back where we discussed this but it was more general I believe....

[Datameister 2,044]

Finale 2008. Every time I try to get used to Sibelius, I'm put off by certain unacceptable weaknesses. If I modify a score template, the spacing comes out wrong...the out-of-the-box playback sounds terrible...I can't figure out how to change the brackets and instrument groups and so forth...note entry isn't as intuitive for me as it is in Finale...stuff like that. Finale is definitely not a perfect program, but I find it a lot easier to accomplish certain necessary tasks with that program. I also slightly prefer Finale's printed output, though the difference is small.

EDIT: Regarding note entry techniques, I use Simple Entry for everything except hiding redundant accidentals in multi-voice parts. If I eventually end up with a quasi-permanent setup that allows me to have my keyboard next to my computer, I might try switching to Speedy Entry, but I've gotten reasonably fast with Simple Entry. I just wish there were hotkeys for the different tools.

[Joe Brausam 214]

I'm biased, everything I've ever done has been on Finale. However, I've used every version since 2006 and still find 2006 to be the most stable version I've used.

[Brónach 1,302]

The only one I'm a bit familiar is Sibelius. And it drives me crazy.

[Datameister 2,044]

Drives me crazy, too - which is annoying, because there's also a lot to like about the program. To convince myself of that fact, I spent time familiarizing myself with it and made note of major differences between it and Finale. The vast majority of the differences were improvements...but there were just a few very, VERY significant downsides that make the program just not worth the effort for me. I've been using Finale for about 5 years or so, and it's gotten pretty comfortable by now, despite the fact that some things really should not take as much hacking and brute force as they do. (Notating a simple harp glissando, for instance, can be very involved, depending on how you want it to look.)

Speaking of which, I've got a Harry Potter cue to engrave.

[pixie_twinkle 48]

Sibelius!!!

I used to use Finale back in 1999-2000 and found it very time-consuming. I started using Sibelius in around 2001 (Sibelius 1.4 back then) and found it so refreshing and intuitive compared to Finale. I have stuck with it since. I'm on Sibelius 5 now (haven't updated to 6 yet as I'd only just bought 5 when 6 came out) and despite a few gripes occasionally I still find it fairly simple to use. It is significantly more user friendly than Microsoft Word which is absolutely hideous these days. Whoever programmed that bloody "auto-format" should be hanged.

[Datameister 2,044]

How do you go about creating new ensembles in Sibelius? No matter how I tried to modify existing templates, I couldn't get the staff spacing to come out right. Customization was very difficult.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

GarageBand

[airmanjerm 78]

Finale....currently 2009 until I get up the time to stick in the 2010 update and actually go through with it. Problem is that my work computer is much newer than my 2005 iMac at home, so each successive update gets harder and harder to use at home.

I started using Finale on version 2.0 back in around 1991 or so. I don't have anything against Sibelius, just don't want to have to completely learn something new at this point. I don't have any problems using Finale, so I guess that's why I stick with it, but part of me wishes I knew both just for the sake of knowing it. Oh well, I guess if it ain't broke...

[Marc 768]

Once you know how to use it, I'd say Sibelius definitely is the way to go.

Great new features in Sib 6 !

[David Coscina 3]

I actually feel the opposite. I originally didn't like Finale because I thought it was too slow and laborious but thanks to reading a couple really good books on Finale, I can whip around on it quite nicely. I can even add basic articulations faster than I can in Sibelius. I also find playback of libraries to be much better and more organic perhaps thanks to the Human Playback feature.

I'm not trying knock Sibelius. I use it as much as Finale but I am noticing more things on it that I cannot do compared to Finale 2011. They are both excellent programs though and it really depends which fits you better.

[ETMusic 1]

I used Finale for 10-11 years and swapped over to Sibelius 6 (about a year ago) because I was the only one NOT on Sibelius on this particular team. I am totally in love with Magnetic Layout; it does weird stuff sometimes, but most of the time it's fantastic.

Fiery Angel, in Sibelius you need to use the keypad for the same sort of note entry that you're talking about. In fact, most orchestrators I know (who use Sibelius) use a separate keyboard with a numpad if they're working on a laptop.

On an aside, I haven't found anything that I could not do in Sibelius, but sometimes I have to be a sneaky about it (same goes for Finale really). The biggest problem I have with Sibelius is that it doesn't handle staff formatting the same way as Finale (I miss my Staff Menu Options).