<p>Does anyone have any suggestions for composition software? Probably for a Mac.</p>
<p>Son has Sibelius (4, I think?) for Mac, and has been very happy with it.</p>
<p>Do a search, we've discussed this one before. It all comes down to what each individual is most comfortable OR what program the school has in their computer labs...</p>
<p>Here's one of these dicussions...</p>
<p>Zep makes a great point about the one that's on the lab computers being the program of choice.</p>
<p>My son has used both extensively, and feels that the current versions are fairly equal for his purposes.</p>
<p>He has repeatedly stated that doing anything musically is far easier/more efficient/better on a Mac than a PC. (I'm thinking subtle hint for new laptop funding, which of course I ignore.)</p>
<p>violadad: This is interesting to me. S has Finale, and is insisting he needs Sibelius (Mac). I didn't thiknk to question this, but with so many expenses I don't want to invest in redundant software. His last composition was a string quartet.</p>
<p>Your son's POV would be much appreciated.</p>
<p>mythmom-
My son learned initially on Sibelius and was quite comfortable with it. I'm pretty sure Hartt had or at least with in the last two years went over to Finale on the common useage machines and/or began doing extensive work on a friends Mac. I honestly don't know what's currently loaded on his laptop, could very well be both programs (hopefully I didn't pay for them ; and I hope they're not of "iffy" origin) . He's in Virginia, but he'll probably call tomorrow and I'll ask him.</p>
<p>From past discussions, there have been some specific areas that were more user friendly than others across both programs. A lot boiled down to personal preference for the individual user. And, like all software, the newer version release always has a feature the competition doesn't, prompting the consumer "gotta have response". The software is often deeply discounted by purchase through the schools in many cases.</p>
<p>My son is using the programs mainly for transcription and arranging, not original composition.</p>
<p>My son first learned Finale and later found Sibelius to be more intuitive. He jokingly suspects that Finale was written by a computer person while Sibelius was written by a musician.</p>
<p>I've used both programs to do fairly complex tasks; both are very powerful, sophisticated notation programs that can do virtually anything musicians normally need to do--including near (but not quite) professional-level music engraving. Both programs also have their quirks, even at doing basic things. Finale has real problems with hyphens in vocal music, and strange looking slurs, for example; and Sibelius files tend to get corrputed when sent as e-mail attachments with some clients. Finale probably has a steeper learning curve initially, but (probably because I used it first) seems easier to "fool" into doing nonstandard things. </p>
<p>Both are probably more powerful than anything most people will ever really need, so I would look at factors like cost, what program is used at your school, etc.</p>
<p>My son uses Finale on the PC and loves it. Says it was a piece of cake to learn and use. He uses it all the time, for fun or for serious composition or to help transpose.</p>
<p>mythmom- just a follow-up to what I wrote yesterday: after speaking with my son, he's basically been using Finale since that was the 'official' software at Hartt. </p>
<p>He said they're basically interchangeable for his purpose; go with what the music department or school software package is.</p>
<p>ditto on checking with the school...
both of D's Schools of Music have been "Finale" users.</p>