Product Reviews

Mastering music notation is rather like learning a new language. Having evolved over hundreds of years, western notation is based on sets of rules and conventions that govern how a score should look. Things get more complicated when notating modern classical music, as extended instrument techniques demand a whole new set of conventions. Many of these are yet to be universally adopted, leaving composers to find their own way of doing things.

While some notation packages are designed to help you adhere to conventions, Sibelius adds the flexibility to break them. As long as you want the finished results to resemble standard western notation, it can create all sorts of unusual scores, from customised note heads to free rhythm bars. The rules that govern the layout of scores can also be adapted with a huge range of options.

Such flexibility is commendable, but Sibelius is still a great time-saver when it comes to creating conventional scores.

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Input via keyboard and mouse or MIDI keyboard is fast, and the default settings produce scores that that are both attractive and clearly legible, even in the most frenetic of passages. Transposing instruments can be toggled to appear as they sound (easier for the composer) or as they're written (easier for the performer). Dynamic markings sometimes clash with note stems and need manual adjustment, but the software knows to place them below the stave for instruments and above for vocal scores. All the other scoring conventions we tested were handled appropriately, but with the option to do your own thing if you prefer.

Version three adds a huge list of new features, the most conspicuous being the integration of Native Instruments' Kontakt sample playback software. This allows you to hear back your scores in a reasonably pleasing manner without the hassle or expense of a separate synthesiser. It makes intelligent choices to share sounds - playing all string parts on a generic string sound, for example - but some substitutions are less welcome. To overcome this, you'll need to pay £735 for Sibelius with Kontakt Player Gold.

A highly specialised program such as this is inevitably expensive, but educational discounts are available at £339 for a single user to site licences that come to less than £100 per copy. The new features easily justify the £152 upgrade price, while its flexibility, speed of operation and the quality of the results make it a worthwhile investment for anyone who is serious about score production.