Avid today unveiled version 6 of Sibelius First. This powerful, yet easy to use music notation and composition program is designed for aspiring composers and songwriters who may be more comfortable with guitar and keyboard than the intricacies of sheet music editing.

Sibelius First is the fast and easy way to create great-looking scores using Sibelius’s acclaimed notation technology – ready to print, share, perform and post online.

New features include:

• 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 change your score
• ReWire support
• Share and sell your scores worldwide on SibeliusMusic.com

The Mac version of Sibelius First requires OS X 10.4.11, OS X 10.5.8, OS X 10.6 or later, 512 MB RAM, 500 MB hard disk space, and a DVD-ROM drive. Avid also recommends a MIDI keyboard or MIDI guitar, TWAIN-compatible scanner, printer, and an Internet connection.

Sibelius First is available at retailers and via direct download from Avid for $129. A 30-day demo is available. Upgrade information and pricing was not available at press time.

www.sibelius.com/products/sibelius_first

Discuss Sibelius First in our Sibelius forum.

MakeMusic announced today that Finale 2010 is now shipping. Finale 2010 offers a broad range of enhancements that reduce the distance between inspiration and perfection on the printed page. From percussion notation and chord entry to rehearsal marks and measure numbering, dozens of everyday tasks have been automated and simplified, saving music professionals and educators time and money, and ensuring that the upgrade quickly pays for itself.

Highlights of these changes include:

• The unparalleled power and flexibility of Finale’s percussion notation is now incredibly simple to use.
• The creation and sequencing of rehearsal marks has been automated.
• Chord entry is greatly simplified – even when attaching chords to empty measures – and more efficient, requiring far fewer keystrokes.

In addition to ease-of-use and productivity enhancements, Finale 2010 now includes more than 350 sounds from the makers of Garritan Personal Orchestra. This provides a robust library rather than simply a sparse introduction to premium sounds found in other software. Among the dozens of additions to Finale 2010 are new organ, guitar, bass, handbell, synthesizer and brush kit drum set sounds. Finale 2010 also adds support for VST/AU effects as well as instrument plug-ins, so those wishing to expand upon Finale’s prestigious built-in sound capabilities will have no limitations.

Music educators will welcome the addition of more than 350 worksheets. Designed for K-12 students of general music, theory, band, orchestra and choir, these printable worksheets help teach basic elements of music and are easily edited and customized.

Additional features include the elegant new Broadway Copyist handwritten music notation font, scanning improvements, expanded graphic import/export support, additions to linked parts and much more.

“The best tools are designed by the people who use them,” stated Ron Raup, MakeMusic’s CEO. “The varied improvements in Finale 2010 reflect the work of the musicians of MakeMusic and their ongoing communication with other Finale users. More than 80% of MakeMusic employees are musicians, participating in nearly 2000 performances each year. We’re thinking, talking, living and breathing music – and interacting with other Finale users – every day. This close interaction, whether it occurs at the office, tradeshow, studio, school, place of worship or performance hall, informs every decision we make. We’re confident that our customers will find the changes in Finale 2010 will contribute to improved workflow while maintaining the robust power customers expect.”

Short videos and details highlighting the improvements in Finale 2010 can be seen at www.finalemusic.com.

Finale 2010 for the Mac requires OS X 10.4 or 10.5 (Mac-Intel or Power PC, G4 or higher recommended), a DVD-ROM drive, 800×600 minimum monitor resolution, at least 512MB RAM (1GB or more recommended for optional use of Garritan sounds/Aria Player: more RAM = more available sounds), and 600MB hard drive space for software and user manual. An additional 2GB hard drive space is required for all VST/AU sounds included with Finale 2010.

Discuss Finale 2010 in our Applications forum.

Sibelius 6, the latest version of the world’s best-selling music notation software, is now available from Avid. Designed for educators, students, composers, arrangers, copyists and musicians of all kinds, Sibelius 6 is as simple and intuitive to use as a pen, yet so powerful that it does most things in the blink of an eye. The new version includes hundreds of improvements, including many innovative new features never before seen in notation software.

The new features in Sibelius 6 include:

• Magnetic Layout takes care of almost every detail of score layout for you, automatically. As you write, it gives everything just the right amount of space and avoids collisions – producing beautiful results. This one feature cuts the time taken to prepare a score by up to half.

• Live Tempo lets you conduct the playback of your score by tapping a key on your computer keyboard, MIDI keyboard or foot pedal. Sibelius follows your beat just like a real orchestra does: you can subdivide your beat to slow down, beat once per bar in fast tempos, and hold as long as you like at pauses, all without marking up the score in advance.

• Versions keeps track of revisions to your score, lets you look back at earlier versions of it, and see what changes were made since. Add sticky note-style comments to your score as reminders for yourself, or for others. Compare two versions of the same score, or even two separate scores, and see the differences color-coded in the score.

• Sibelius Sounds Essentials, the included sample library, is better than ever and now requires no set-up thanks to the integrated technology from AIR. The new Sibelius Player allows Sibelius to play back up to 128 channels simultaneously (depending on computer power) with real-time effects including convolution reverb. Sibelius even loads the samples required for playback in the background, so you can edit your score while the sounds load.

• ReWire support allows you to sync Sibelius playback with Pro Tools, Cubase, Logic, GarageBand, and more.

• Classroom Control enables teachers to instantly send scores to every classroom computer, temporarily lock student computers to attract their attention, and gather in all student files at the end of a class.

• Keyboard and Fretboard windows allow you to input notes by clicking on keys or frets, or play your computer’s QWERTY keyboard like a piano. These beautiful, resize-able windows are also ideal for students learning notation.

• Professional engraving improvements include the most flexible and controllable slurs of any notation program, automatic stemlets, feathered beams, note-attached arpeggio lines, automatic cautionary accidentals, and intelligently positioned jazz articulations.

And more! Learn more at www.sibelius.com/6.

Sibelius 6 on the Mac requires OS X 10.4.9 or Mac OS X 10.5 or later, a DVD-ROM drive, and 3.5GB of hard disk space. 2GB or more RAM recommended.

Discuss Sibelius 6 in our Sibelius forum.