Sibelius 2

by Sibelius

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005BAUK
• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 27, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #33,098 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Sibelius's music notation and publishing software relieves headaches commonly associated with its genre--once a scoring decision has been made, getting it onto the virtual page is a matter of dexterity alone.

We tested this workhorse on a networked Windows NT 4.0 machine with above-average muscle. Even though we were at times running four additional RAM-hungry applications, the tenth of a second refresh rate never even shuddered. We'd make a change, and the score would be dynamically re-rendered in nanoseconds.

A Brahms piano Nocturne--Op. 118, No. 6, for those of you keeping score--was our proving ground. It was being made over into a tasty tapas-sized arrangement for chamber orchestra. After about an hour of reading the cheeky manual and head scratching, a feeling of euphoria began to encroach upon the usual swollen-throated despair that accompanies computer-based music notation. Our laziest prayers were answered. Can't remember the exact range of the bassoon? The note head turns red as a reminder. Don't feel like thinking in B-flat? The Transpose button lets you stay in the happy land of C right until it's time for one-click part extraction.

Really, the only task that took some tongue-biting and eyebrow-knitting was an attempt at selecting a group of instrument staves for copying, rather than the usual single staff or entire grand staff. The handy Shift+Alt+key combination proved to do the trick, one of many such fruits of forethought from the designers at Sibelius.

Additional qualities like ease of Web publishing and OCR (optical character recognition) sheet music scanning capabilities sweeten this product. Finally, the software's narrow waistband--a mere 10 MB for full install--leads us to believe that we're talking about a music notation and publishing powerhouse that will make its presence felt for years to come. --Dominic Johnson

Amazon.com Product Description

Sibelius score-writing software sports an intuitive design that combinesspeed, simplicity, and intelligence. Designed by musicians who are familiarwith the process, Sibelius takes just minutes to learn. Extremely fast,most of its operations take just 1/10 of a second. Sibelius also givesyou printed results of the highest professional standard.

Internet-publishing features allow you to put your scores straight ontoyour Web site so others can view, transpose, and play them. Using the program's built-in Manuscript language, you can write your own plug-ins, or use someof the included music-scanning (and other) plug-ins. Learn how to searchand edit your score with custom filters. Playback is enhanced byfeatures like Espressivo and SoundStage, rendering your score withunprecedented realism. Publish and print your score using HouseStyles and other sophisticated engraving and publishing features. Otherfeatures include: intelligent, super-fast score reformatting and partextraction; special notations like dynamic guitar tab, automatic nestedtuplets, drum kit, and figured bass; note entry with keyboard shortcuts ormouse; and Flexi-time MIDI input.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Warning: This software is highly addictive!, March 11, 2002

By 

MartinP "MartinP" (Nijmegen, The Netherlands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sibelius 2 (CD-ROM)

Sibelius 2.0 has arrived, and it is the best thing to enter my musical life since my decision to start studying the cello. It is amazing what it can do, and how easy it is to do it. It took no more than a quick perusal of the (aptly named) Quick Tour in the manual to get me started most effectively. Though I have found the program so fascinating that on more than one occasion you could have caught me reading the manual in bed, and honestly: software manuals are not my preferred reading material!
The makers of Sibelius seem to have thought of everything. As yet I have been unable to think up a task it couldn't perform. O, well, that's not quite true: it seems to be unable to react adequately to dynamics where a hairpin diminuendo is followed by a subito return of the original dynamic (say: ff...dim...ff). But that's the only instance. It took me no more than the spare hours of the week following my acquisition to arrange a song for solo cello and soprano into a version for full symphony orchestra - and I'm certainly no professional composer!
In contrast to other notation software I tried, Sibelius works according to the what-you-see-is-what-you-get (and hear) principle. No fuss about turning your notation into a printable lay-out, it's all there right away. And in playback all the more usual textual additions regarding expression, tempo and technique are observed, though admittedly I have found playback of glissando's or quartertones somewhat problematic.
As an amateur composer I have no illusions about ever hearing any of my larger scale writings performed, so the playback possibilities are of some importance, as they will be to many users of the program. Of course there is no way the MIDI-sounds could pass for anything other than synthetic (though bassoons, flutes or percussion come of quite passable - strings, trumpets and voices on the other hand less so). Yet, applying Sibelius's extensive mixer functions, and its possibility to add `Espressivo', `Rubato' and suitable acoustics, in combination with a decent playback device yields surprisingly plausible sounding results. Though it should be added that getting things right in this respect is a bit more time-consuming and will of necessity partly remain a trial and error process, especially if you use the MIDI-plug in to make sure dynamic hairpins are being played back for held notes.
A great number of `plug-ins' is provided which will do anything from analyzing the harmonic structure of your score (beat by beat if you like) to checking for parallel fifths or finding all the appearances of a particular theme or motif. Checking instrument ranges is another useful feature. Sibelius will tell you the true range of the instrument, but will also let you define the range you regard playable for a particular group of amateurs, and subsequently show where you cross that limit.
Possibilities for selecting and editing passages either horizontally, vertically or both are unlimited and speed up work considerably. As does the possibility to enter notes using mouse, PC-keyboard and (electronic) piano keyboard simultaneously. And no need to get all confused about different clefs and transposing instruments: if you like you can write everything in the same clef and as if all instruments are tuned in C, and when you're finished Sibelius will put it right, literally at the push of a button.
I could go on for quite a while yet, but you'ld better read it for yourself in the manual. I have hardly been able to keep away from my PC since Sibelius is on it. If ever there was an occasion to spend a bit (or even a whole lot) more money than you intended, this is it!

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's the best! No jest!, October 18, 2001

By 

Debby Dean (Hattiesburg, MS) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sibelius 2 (CD-ROM)

I have been the Director of the Hattiesburg Public Schools Orchestra Program in Mississippi for the last 15 years. Over the years I have experimented with several different music writing and editing programs, usually giving up in frustration at the complexity and time-consuming effort they involved. But Sibelius is a shining star and truly stands alone. My staff and I use this program almost daily, and have found that it is the best and the easiest program we have ever used. It is teacher-friendly and therefore benefits us as teachers as well as our students by allowing us to be creative and letting Sibelius do the rest!! It is the easiest and the best!

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing - the state of the art, August 26, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Sibelius 2 (CD-ROM)

I've used Sibelius for a couple of years now, having checked out the other music programs around, and I can assure you it's a truly amazing piece of software. The guys who designed it (composers themselves, apparently) have thought of everything. I've been able to write everything from piano pieces to jazz charts to full orchestral scores really easily (and I'm no computer expert). Basically I'd recommend this software to anyone who currently uses manuscript paper - it may be pricey, but I reckon it's worth every cent (and so do my friends who've bought it too, on my recommendation).