Sibelius First Software

by Sibelius

Product Features

• Automatic collision avoidance: score elements move into their perfect position automatically Great-sounding playback out of the box, or use any VST/AU virtual instrument or effect Add chord symbols and guitar fretboard diagrams simply by playing the chord on your MIDI keyboard or guitar Easily add lyrics, titles, other text and graphics Turn guitar tab into notation, and back again Scan in printed sheet music or open PDF files to transpose, edit and print Parts automatically update when you chan

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 8 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• ASIN: B0036V5M26
• Item model number: 8250-10011-11
• Date first available at Amazon.com: February 2, 2010
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,007 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)

Product Description

Sibelius First software makes it easy to share the songs in your head with the rest of the world. If you're more comfortable with guitar and keyboard then the intricacies of scoring music, Sibelius First is for you. This music notation software is the fast-and-easy way to create great-looking scores using Sibelius software's acclaimed notation technology&mdash-ready to print, share, perform, and post online. Whether you are into rock, classical, funk, or Latin music, Sibelius First provides a music scoring software that can accommodate you. Sibelius First Software lets you work on up to 16 staves of simple to moderate musical ideas. Notation features in the music scoring software include normal and double accidentals; common articulations; single, double, and repeat barline types; fixed brackets and braces, fixed chord symbols, single dotted notes; basic guitar tabs, automatic page numbering; and more! As far as playback, Sibelius First software gives you a limited amount of built-in sounds, including a GM soundbank; limited Live Tempo (conduct playback by tapping); and fixed playback of hairpins, rits, accel, fermatas, and words which affect playback. Publishing-wise, you get a limited ability to edit fonts; a fixed magnetic layout; limited reset position and design of objects; manual adjustment of staff spacing; House Style import; fixed note spacing rules; and more. Other features in the music notation software include the ability to import music/XML files, keyboard shortcuts, single-format display timecode, 6 paper and desktop textures, 8 plug-ins, rehearsal marks, repeat structures, an Ideas Hub, and low-res copy and paste to Word and other programs. These are just a few of the things that help make Sibelius First software worthy of being your first choice for doing your music notation on a computer.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Understand What You Are Buying; The Program is the Most Cost-Effective Out There, October 8, 2011

By 

NewbStrat - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sibelius First Software (Electronics)

I gave Sibelius First a Four instead of a Five because I think there is not sufficient clarity when it comes to marketing this software. Consequently, people who do not understand what they are buying will be disappointed if they are looking for a program to not only compose a symphony but play back sounding like a symphony. So, I'm writing this review to clarify what this protect does and who it is for.

This product is a NOTATION Software with the capability of playing back what you have written. Keep in mind the capital Notation; that is what this product does and what it is intended for. The playback feature exists only to verify what is in your head and what you have written coincide. In this regard, the playback feature is perfect because it will give you an accurate playback of your written work.

This program works best for those who play Piano and Guitar. The Piano and Guitar features in this program includes a keyboard and guitar neck from which you can easily create chords or notes. This is especially good for people who can read music but do not want to be bothered with putting down notes when it is easier for them to visualize what they are playing. I can do both, write notes or use the keyboard and neck feature. For me, the keyboard and neck feature just make things quicker and easier.

The woodwind and brass features work well as well. In all honesty, woodwind and brass do not need anything special like a keyboard or guitar neck because really if you know woodwinds you the notation is limited and simple. (I play Clarinet and Alto/Tenor Saxophone. I am basing my opinion on those two instruments, which to make perfect sense)

What this product is NOT: This product will not compose a compose a symphony for you if you do not know how to compose a symphony. If you do know how to compose a symphony, this product will only allow you to compose a symphony. However, it will not be a substitute for having real players play your symphony.

This is a Notation program. This is the most cost-effective and user friendly composing program out there. The play back feature is a nice add-on to verify what is on paper is what is in your head, but that is all it is good for.

There are products out there which basically compose the music for you and play back as if real players with real instruments were playing it. If that is the program you are looking for, you probably want to look at what Mac has to offer. However, personally, I think programs like that are for people who pretending to be composers but are not actually composers.

Conclusion:

If you are looking for software to notate your music for real people to play, with the added benefit of being able to playback to verify correct notation, this program is the most cost-effective, user friendly product out there.

If you are looking for a program that writes the music, plays the music, and allows you to put your name on it as if you are the composer, then this product is not for you.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quick and Powerful Music Composition Software, August 13, 2011

By 

K. Barnard "Math Mother" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sibelius First Software (Electronics)

I bought Sibelius First through Amazon.com a few months ago to help me create piano music and just love how quickly I can enter the notes in, copy blocks of measures to another location, and add dynamics, lyrics, and other text to come up with a song. You can also print the music out in a variety of fonts. It's easy to play back your results, listen to it at different tempos, select your preferred tempo and create a MIDI file to send to friends. You can also, create music that has multiple parts although I've not tried this out yet.

I find the easiest way to compose is to use the keyboard to enter letters for each note and use the keyboard short cuts and sometime the mouse to designate the type of note (e.g., quarter, half, etc.)along with dynamics. You can optionally use a musical keyboard on the screen to enter in the notes or can use your mouse to place a note on a staff line but I find it's faster to just hit a key. For example, hitting the D key on the PC keyboard puts the note D in the current measure and you can hit <Ctrl> <down arrow> to put the note down an octave and <Ctrl> <Up Arrow> to put the note up an octave.

I've also imported a PDF file into the software, cleaned up anything that did not import correctly, and rearranged it to my liking.

I feel the software's price is fair for everything you get and the Amazon price was the lowest that I found. Also, at the time I bought it, the company, that provided the software, gave me free shipping even though it didn't say free super saver shipping from Amazon. The latest upgrade of Sibelius First around June 2011 (which was the one I purchased) gave it more functionality and so far I've been able to do everything I want. There are other versions of Sibelius that are more powerful and quite a bit more expensive but as music is a hobby for me and not a profession, I didn't feel I needed all the bells and whistles of the more expensive versions.

This software is very stable on my Windows 7 PC and I've had absolutely no crashes. Congrats to Avid Technology/Sibelius for a great product!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars One install only, November 28, 2011

By 

Leo1567 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sibelius First Software (Electronics)

The software can only be installed on one computer. I was unable to

install it on my laptop after installing it on my desktop. The reply

I received was there is only a one install option. There suggestion

was to uninstall Silebius from my desktop and reinstall it on the laptop.

There is no mention of this in the sales literature.