sibelius (1.22) music notation software

Sibelius (1.22) Music Notation SoftwareReview by: David GilbertNotes, Second Series, Vol. 56, No. 4 (Jun., 2000), pp. 1005-1007Published by: Music Library AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/899872 .

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Digital Media Reviews Digital Media Reviews

and a small subcollection on historical mu- sicology.

Keyword searches of the entire Scrip- torium server are possible through Web- inator. The search engine for browsing all finding aids at Duke is Dynaweb, which translates Encoded Archival Description SGML into browser-compatible HTML (http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/findaids). The result is an impressively powerful search tool that retrieves previously hidden or obscure archival resources. A scope and contents search on "music" using Dynaweb pulled up thirty-three hits in the finding aids, exclusive of the William Grant Still page. These keyword searches are great fun and could spark interest in new avenues of research. My search located collections containing music experiments in parapsy- chology laboratory records; correspon- dence from 1862 to 1865 by a Confederate soldier who was director of music at the Salem Female Academy; and the papers of musicologist Jane L. Berdes, whose research focused on the ospedali grandi, Venetian welfare institutions that provided musical training for girls and women. The search also retrieved items from Ad*Access, the Scriptorium's latest addition (http:// scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/addaccess). This image database of over seven thousand ad- vertisements from U.S. magazines and newspapers printed from 1911 to 1955 is organized into five categories: beauty and hygiene, radio, television, transportation, and World War II. Those interested in ad- vertisements for war-era phonographs and radios will welcome this database.

The Dynaweb platform displays the finding aid in three frames, with the option to restructure the page for frame-resistant browsers. The left frame shows the table of contents, which encompasses a descriptive summary of the collection, administrative information, a biographical note, a scope

and a small subcollection on historical mu- sicology.

Keyword searches of the entire Scrip- torium server are possible through Web- inator. The search engine for browsing all finding aids at Duke is Dynaweb, which translates Encoded Archival Description SGML into browser-compatible HTML (http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/findaids). The result is an impressively powerful search tool that retrieves previously hidden or obscure archival resources. A scope and contents search on "music" using Dynaweb pulled up thirty-three hits in the finding aids, exclusive of the William Grant Still page. These keyword searches are great fun and could spark interest in new avenues of research. My search located collections containing music experiments in parapsy- chology laboratory records; correspon- dence from 1862 to 1865 by a Confederate soldier who was director of music at the Salem Female Academy; and the papers of musicologist Jane L. Berdes, whose research focused on the ospedali grandi, Venetian welfare institutions that provided musical training for girls and women. The search also retrieved items from Ad*Access, the Scriptorium's latest addition (http:// scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/addaccess). This image database of over seven thousand ad- vertisements from U.S. magazines and newspapers printed from 1911 to 1955 is organized into five categories: beauty and hygiene, radio, television, transportation, and World War II. Those interested in ad- vertisements for war-era phonographs and radios will welcome this database.

The Dynaweb platform displays the finding aid in three frames, with the option to restructure the page for frame-resistant browsers. The left frame shows the table of contents, which encompasses a descriptive summary of the collection, administrative information, a biographical note, a scope

and content note, local catalog headings, and series and container lists. Each of these sections may be expanded to reveal sub- files. The selected contents are displayed in the right frame, and a button bar for navigation appears at the bottom. With its effective search capabilities, well-designed display, and significant content, Duke's Scriptorium models some of the most impressive developments in digitized archives to date.

Additional music-related finding aids are found on the music library's Web page. There is a description and index for the Sunny Burke collection, which includes charts for big-band arrangements. An ex- perimental database of printed tablatures for plucked-string instruments from the six- teenth century, compiled by Gary R. Boye, is also available. The catalog appears in three arrangements: by date, by composer, and by printer, with hypertext links to related documents. A related page lists all the tablature documents available in microform at Duke. Finally, though not an archival finding aid, the DW3 Classical Music Resources page warrants mention. It is prominently billed on the music library's Web page as "The World's Most Compre- hensive Collection of Classical Music Links" (http://www.lib.duke.edu/music/resources/ classical_index.html). This site, meticu- lously maintained by Yale Fineman, lists composer biographies, chronologies and necrologies, nationally and regionally ori- ented pages, organizations and centers for scholarly research, electronic journals and newsletters, genre-specific pages, and data- bases. A simple but powerful search engine readily retrieves Web pages on more re- fined topics.

PATRICIA ELLIOTT STROH

Beethoven Center SanJose State University

and content note, local catalog headings, and series and container lists. Each of these sections may be expanded to reveal sub- files. The selected contents are displayed in the right frame, and a button bar for navigation appears at the bottom. With its effective search capabilities, well-designed display, and significant content, Duke's Scriptorium models some of the most impressive developments in digitized archives to date.

Additional music-related finding aids are found on the music library's Web page. There is a description and index for the Sunny Burke collection, which includes charts for big-band arrangements. An ex- perimental database of printed tablatures for plucked-string instruments from the six- teenth century, compiled by Gary R. Boye, is also available. The catalog appears in three arrangements: by date, by composer, and by printer, with hypertext links to related documents. A related page lists all the tablature documents available in microform at Duke. Finally, though not an archival finding aid, the DW3 Classical Music Resources page warrants mention. It is prominently billed on the music library's Web page as "The World's Most Compre- hensive Collection of Classical Music Links" (http://www.lib.duke.edu/music/resources/ classical_index.html). This site, meticu- lously maintained by Yale Fineman, lists composer biographies, chronologies and necrologies, nationally and regionally ori- ented pages, organizations and centers for scholarly research, electronic journals and newsletters, genre-specific pages, and data- bases. A simple but powerful search engine readily retrieves Web pages on more re- fined topics.

PATRICIA ELLIOTT STROH

Beethoven Center SanJose State University

Sibelius (1.22) music notation software. Sibelius Software, 1999. Web site: http://www.sibelius.com. Windows and Macintosh versions available. $599 list price (discount, academic, and networked pricing also available). Minimum requirements: 486DX 100 MHz or faster PC (Pentium 166MHz or faster recommended), Window 95/98/NT4 or later, 16MB+ RAM; or, G3/iMac/PowerMac (for PowerMac, fast model recommended), MacOS 7.1 or later, 6MB+ free RAM (12MB+ recommended).

Sibelius (1.22) music notation software. Sibelius Software, 1999. Web site: http://www.sibelius.com. Windows and Macintosh versions available. $599 list price (discount, academic, and networked pricing also available). Minimum requirements: 486DX 100 MHz or faster PC (Pentium 166MHz or faster recommended), Window 95/98/NT4 or later, 16MB+ RAM; or, G3/iMac/PowerMac (for PowerMac, fast model recommended), MacOS 7.1 or later, 6MB+ free RAM (12MB+ recommended).

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NOTES, June 2000

A review of Finale music notation software several years ago (Notes 50 [1994]: 1052-54) mentioned the "love-hate relationship" between the software and its users. Is not this true of our relationship with all software? After a while, it is the ratio of love to hate that decides our level of intimacy-whether we continue to use it, or abandon it in search of a new partner. Some software is so out of synch with my sensibilities that I dump it immediately. (This was my personal experience with Finale.) Other software is so enticing, I want the relationship to continue. I want to love it. I want everything to work out between us. Alas, there are always some in- compatibilities, promises that are not kept, and some character flaws that stand in the way of a totally consummated affair.

This is my experience with Sibelius 1.22. I'm hoping our problems stem from the difference in our ages. Sibelius for Windows is only about two years old while I'm significantly older than that. Nor is this my first relationship, since over the years I've flirted with Score, Lime, and Finale. (I even tried some Macintosh software, but the cultural differences there were just too great.) And so, in spite of its flaws, I love Sibelius. I hope our relationship will continue to blossom, that Sibelius will grow in maturity, and that time will smooth away its annoying blemishes and leave only its strong personality and beautiful features. I also want our financial relationship to re- main stable.

Sibelius is an impressive package and the future promises a lot more. It has the usual features one now expects in music notation software: input via MIDI, mouse, or computer keyboard; MIDI file import and ex- port; WYSIWYG editing with the mouse or keyboard; sophisticated MIDI playback with the interpretation of most expression marks; engraver-quality fonts and printing; and the ability to handle almost any music notation, from Gregorian chant to John Cage, including Philip de Vitry, Duke Ellington, and Elton John. An experienced Windows or Macintosh user can sit down and use the software almost without read- ing the manual, although the straightfor- ward introductory tutorial gets you going more smoothly. A reasonably experienced person could produce a piano, vocal, or chamber music score (classical, pop, or

jazz) of a few pages within an hour or two of installing the software. If you have a standard Windows PC (the faster and the more memory the better) with a common MIDI setup, installation is easy and painless, although you have to register the program with a phone call or via email within five days. (After five days the ability to save files is disabled.) You are also allowed to install the software on more than one computer so that you can print on a different printer or demonstrate it to your colleagues. If you want to use the program at work and at home, or on both a desktop and a laptop, you can transfer the ability to save files between the two computers as often as you need, but it can only reside on one system at a time.

Sibelius includes many built-in and acces- sory features, some provided by Sibelius Software, some by other companies, and some by users of the software. These in- clude Photoscore Lite, a program that al- lows you to scan scores and bring them into Sibelius for editing and playback. A more feature-filled version can be purchased from Neuratron Software (http://www.neuratron.com). Sibelius files can be mounted on the Web, and viewed and played using a free browser plug-in called Scorch. A playback dictionary and editor allow you to alter the playback characteristics of standard dynamic and tempo markings (e.g. ppp, andante, crescendo). You can also design your own symbols and define how they will be played. For example, you could con- struct a symbol such as accelerando - - - in which each dash increases the tempo by a defined amount, causing the music to ac- celerate during playback according to your specifications. Finally, users with some pro- gramming experience can write their own plug-ins using a language called Manu- script. A useful one, to check for and insert cautionary accidentals, was written by Danny Manners and made available on the Sibelius Web site. It is now included with version 1.22. Several others, such as one to check for parallel fifths and octaves, are also included.

The Sibelius Web site is well worth a visit. You can download a full demo version of the program, or purchase it (at list price). Registered users of the software have access to a chat page and an FAQ page, and can download upgrades (currently without

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Digital Media Reviews

charge) and various accessories and plug- ins. The chat page is monitored by Sibelius's technical support staff as well as Dan and Jonathan Finn, the twin brothers who own the company and designed the software. I was a little disgruntled that I couldn't access this page before purchasing the program, but having read it over the past year or so now, I understand why this was the case. The forum, by its nature, elic- its complaints and flames as well as positive feedback and information sharing. Anyone who has not used the software could come away with a skewed view of the product. I now read the chat page frequently. There is a nice feeling of international cooperation since users from many nations come to- gether there to help each other out by sharing experiences and knowledge, as well as to voice complaints.

In preparation for this review, I contacted three Sibelius users whose posts to the chat page seemed reasonable and knowledge- able. There are problems with the software that everyone notes after a few days of experience, depending on what kind of work they are doing, be it preparing a scholarly edition, composing, making jazz charts or music examples, or compiling a hymn book. I wanted to hear other opinions on the program's strengths and weaknesses to supplement my own. David Haines, a graduate student in Massachusetts, uses Sibelius for jazz-band arrangements and found the part extraction to be easier than in other notation programs he has used. He also ap- preciated access to Sibelius's technical help via the chat page along with the company's response to users' suggestions. Both Haines and Michael Steiner-Schweissgut, a user in Austria who uses a German language version of the program, praised instantaneous formatting on the screen and the simple, easily adjusted page layout parameters. Steiner-Schweissgut also found input via computer keyboard, MIDI keyboard, and real-time MIDI input easy, but was less satis- fied with a feature called "Flexi-time," which is supposed to follow your playing at whatever tempo you choose. Barbara Griffiths used the original Acorn version of Sibelius in a primary-education environ- ment. (The Acorn was a British proprietary RISC processor-based system that is no longer available.) Griffith felt that the

junior version of Sibelius available at that time was so easy to use that children could create music with it. She continues to use and enjoy the software on a Windows ma- chine, although she finds it less friendly and stable than the Acorn version. "Un- fortunately due to the ease of use, any little bugs or glitches that interrupt the flow seem all that more annoying," she con- cluded.

I agree with this assessment. On the whole, the program is excellent. The inter- face is logical and intuitive, the Opus font looks beautiful on screen and in print, the sophisticated MIDI implementation mostly works, and input and editing are easy and efficient. Still, I wonder why there is no metronome scale on the slider bar to indi- cate the playback tempo. Why do slurs and lyrics not stay with the notes for which they are intended when the music is transposed or reformatted? Setting up manuscript paper and inputting the notes for my piece for flute, saxophone, harpsichord, tabla, and electric bass, and then playing it back in the correct instrumentation is very easy. It is, however, very difficult to justify the staves on a page vertically when the alto saxophone happens to go up to bL" (sound- ing pitch), although Sibelius does tell me that that note is normally unplayable on that instrument. Sibelius exports MIDI and EMF files but makes you depend on your printer driver to create postscript files, a capability not all printer drivers have. As postscript is the standard format for printing professional-quality output and is the door- way to Adobe Acrobat's PDF files, the need for EMF capability is not obvious.

Unfortunately, the list of problems is not short. Fortunately, there are workarounds for many of these problems and the devel- opers are listening to us. Problems users have identified are corrected in each new minor release, and those of us dedicated to the program eagerly await version 2.0 (as yet unannounced). If you want an easy to use and powerful music notation program that includes many of the capabilities of a sequencer and that can produce near- engraver-quality output, Sibelius will do it. Caveat emptor, though. Take note of the "1" in the version number.

DAVID GILBERT City University of New York Graduate Center

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sibelius (1.22) music notation software

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