Sibelius has set the standard for professional music notation software for years. The company's most recent premier music notation application is another shining example of the quality and usability that built the brand's excellent reputation. With Sibelius 7, you can use any MIDI instrument or a MIDI microphone to compose – even if you don't read music well.
A new feature in version 7 is the capability to change the tempo on the fly for a piece you've composed, thereby acting as performer, composer and conductor all at once. Your tempo changes will manifest when you turn your score into an audio file. You can also track changes to your scores with Sibelius, just as you would in a Word document. Virtual keyboards and fretboards, intuitive chord diagrams and tabulation options, and a score clean-up tool further increase its functionality. Sibelius 7 is our TopTenREVIEWS Gold Award winner.
The first version of Sibelius software was released in the late 1990s at a time when many new scores were still being annotated by hand in university settings. Since then, Avid Technology has released seven professional editions of the application, along with less-expensive editions for students and hobbyists. Meanwhile, dozens of electronic composing applications hit the market. So far, most of those applications are still trying to keep up with Sibelius 7 and other major players.
Sibelius 7 gets its name from the Jean Sibelius, a Finnish composer who worked in the early 20th century. In addition to seven popular symphonies, the legendary melodist published concertos for multiple instruments, tone poems and incidental music for plays.
The composer's eclectic but versatile style is similar to the software that bears his name. Sibelius 7 can help you write everything from full symphonic scores to solos for students or lead sheets for your jazz or rock band. The application is packed full with hundreds of tools and features. These are all easy to find with a button-based interface that works like many Microsoft Windows 7 applications.
Sibelius has all the features we looked for in music notation software, beginning with note entry and ending with score clean-up tools and web-publishing options that can spread your melodies and harmonies around the world. You can enter notes with your computer's mouse or QWERTY keypad. You can also enter musical ideas using your voice or favorite instrument and a MIDI microphone. Then you can transpose, harmonize and manipulate your tunes into a polished finished product. The software is primarily designed for professionals and music educators, but it is intuitive and useful enough to draw top musicians from all genres. Famous users include choral composer John Rutter, jazz guitarist Pat Metheny, the late Ray Charles and Hal Leonard Corporation President Larry Morton.
Editing functions within the application are available from the editing tab. These tools include a Keypad frame where each number on your 10-key numerical pad represents a note value.
You can find another set of tools in the Play tab. There, you can hear parts one at a time, in sectionals or as a full score. As you go along, the Magnetic Score tool will automatically move elements such as dynamic markings and note stems so you can see everything clearly on the printed page. You can also drag and drop staves and text to perfect your layout.
Once you enter and edit your notes and rests, you can assign an audio track for each part. The Sibelius Sounds Essentials library has grown over the years and now includes choral and jazz sounds from Avid Orchestra, Rumble and FanFare. You can access 38 GB of these high-quality sounds, representing everything from double-tonguing on the flute to African percussion. Record up to 128 channels, all of which you can adjust directly in the audio mixer that comes with the application. If none of the available sounds suit your production, you can create and upload your own.
Sibelius 7 is a fine educational tool whether you're a part-time piano teacher or a music professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London. The latest edition of the application makes it easy to prepare composition worksheets for your students and to simplify advanced-level music for beginners. You can also choose among pre-designed worksheets for lessons such as ear training, jazz improvisation, musicianship and theory, and musical modes. Flashcards, games and posters are also available. Unfortunately, Sibelius doesn't offer a free reader application for students, so yours won't be able to download or make changes to your worksheets from their home computers.
Sibelius 7 can help you and your students prepare for performances. For example, you can scan sheet music with a standard office scanner and Sibelius 7 will read it and notate a new file for you with its PhotoScore Lite feature. This can be a lifesaver for instances when musicians accidentally leave their music for a rehearsal or performance at home. You can simply scan the score and extract that musician's part from a dropdown menu for printing. Scanning technology also comes in handy in situations where you have a copy of an instrument part in one key but an instrument in another. You can transpose the scanned portion in minutes.
In the music computer lab, Sibelius lets teachers control student's screens as they lecture. Sibelius 7 is the only music notation application we found with this capability.
As mentioned above, you can input note information into Sibelius 7 files in several ways, including a mouse and QWERTY keyboard, a MIDI instrument or microphone, or a standard MIDI file. You can also import audio files to record alongside your composition.
When your music is ready to see the light of day, you can print the score and each of the parts separately. You can also export your tunes as audio, PDF, MIDI or XML files, and you can use a graphic image of your notation in Word documents or post your work online alongside the works of other Sibelius composers. Sibelius 7 has all the input and output features we looked for in premium music notation software.
Sibelius 7 is elaborate and capable professional music notation software. You should expect a steep learning curve when you begin composing electronically, but you will be surprised by how quickly you become familiar with all of the application's tools. In the long run, tools such as magnetic spacing, easy MIDI entry and smart playback options will save you incalculable time and effort.
The developers of Sibelius 7 are aware that the product can be confusing at first blush. To help, they've provided free training videos that are available online. You can also call the company for assistance or send an email, but you will only be helped if you can provide proof of purchase. After you own the product for three months, you have to pay for support. Before you do that, we suggest browsing the application's user guide and reading customer forums. If these options don't satisfy you, you can attend training sessions in person in locations all around the world. The high quality of technical support you have access to is directly in line with the high quality of this music notation software.
Sibelius 7 is professional music notation software for expert musicians of all varieties. Use it to create any score you can imagine more quickly than you could with all but the finest competitors' software. Once your score is ready, you can synchronize your file to run alongside other top music applications such as ProTools MP 9 software and PreSonus' Recording Systems. Sibelius 7 comes at a high price, but for serious musicians, it's an all-in-one composing tool with the best features available in the music marketplace.
