Music Composing Software Tools
Music Writing Software Programs For Composing and Arranging Music
Oct 2, 2009
Music composing software programs are finally reaching maturity in terms of features, design, and ease of use. For over a decade now companies such as Finale and Sibelius have fought tooth and nail to secure their own piece of the music writing software market, and this competition has resulted in finished products that are capable of doing almost everything that a composer might ask for.
While there are other names in the music writing software arena, Finale and Sibelius control the vast majority of the market. Other music composing programs such as Notion and QuickScore Elite are also popular and useful tools for writing music, but sadly none of these products play well together.
Unlike most modern word processing products Sibelius, Finale, and the others cannot natively import and export each other's file formats. The best they can do is read and write in the MusicXML file format which often leaves much to be desired when moving music scores from one system to another. What does this mean for a user? It means that a buyer should be very certain of their choice in software before making the final purchase. So what are the pros and cons of each of these music composing software programs?
Finale 2010 Music Composing Software Pros and Cons
- Most widely used notation program, thanks in part to the many different versions that are available
- Beginner level - Finale Notepad- approx. $10
- Intermediate level - Finale PrintMusic- approx. $100
- Advanced/Professional level - Finale 2010 - approx. $500
- Can export scores directly to the popular SmartMusic Studio accompaniment system for practice and performance
- Finale Viewer (free) allows non-users to open and view sheet music even without owning a full copy of the software
- Music entry is slightly more complicated and has a greater learning curve than Sibelius
Sibelius 6 Music Composing Software Pros and Cons
- Also has different versions available for different user levels
- Sibelius Student - $95
- Sibelius 6 Full Version - $450
- Many feel Sibelius has better quality engraving when printing out sheet music
- Interface is not as cluttered as Finale but still a slightly steep learning curve
- While music can be posted online with the Sibelius Scorch plugin, there is no free stand alone viewer for Sibelius notation files.
In the interest of space the other, lesser known music writing software programs are not discussed here, however a fully detailed comparison chart of all four music notation software programs is available for potential users to consider. There is also an article dedicated to free music notation programs available here on Suite101.
Regardless of a persons budget there are now many different options for music writing software shoppers to consider. All of them do a fine job of producing clean, easy to read musical scores, but which one to choose often comes down to personal preference and close attention to which product their colleagues are using.
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