# Choosing the right notation software



## dedersen (Aug 4, 2010)

I am currently shopping around for my first notation software package, and I am wondering primarily whether I should get Notion or Finale/Sibelius. The latter two seem to offer similar features, while Notion is marketed slightly differently.

I am purely a hobby musician, so the quality of printed scores matter little to me. Basically, I want to be able to compose using traditional notation rather than the ordinary piano roll approach of DAWs. I have lately had a desire to train myself more thoroughly in music theory, and I feel that using a traditional notation approach to composition helps me greatly in getting an overview of harmonies, etc. I've tried using the built-in score editor of Cubase (my current choice of DAW), but it annoys me to great lengths.

With that in mind, I am wondering whether Notion might be better suited for me than Finale/Sibelius? Considering that I will never need to take my scores out of the computer environment, is there that much to gain by choosing Finale/Sibelius? The price of Notion is almost one third of the price of Finale/Sibelius, which obviously is a big incentive for me to choose that package instead.

I've tried searching the forum for similar discussions, but unfortunately "notion" obviously turns up in quite unrelated topics. The few discussions I've found haven't provided me with the answers I seek, in particular a lot of discussion focuses on the printed quality of the score.

. Jesper


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## wst3 (Aug 4, 2010)

makes me glad, in a way, that my choices were limited (for all practical reasons) to just Finale and Sibelius.

I spent a very frustrating year working with both packages (their demos were quite usable, hope that's still the case!) - swung back and forth and back and forth for a variety of reasons, user interface, specific features, ease of moving back and forth between sequencing and scoring, etc.

I came to the conclusion that either one would work for me - and I do need printed scores and parts, so that was a factor for me that doesn't affect you - and then, at NAMM (in 2000 I think) I was chatting with one of the folks in the MakeMusic booth, and he pointed out that they had a deal for educators, and it was a significant discount, and I qualified. Sibelius had no such deal, so my decision was made<G>! Funny how that happens some times.

You are in a different quandary - Notion is a cool program, and both Sibelius and Finale are orders of magnitude more mature. As with so many things, you need to identify your application carefully, use the demos, compare the prices, and then flip a coin - ok, that last part might not work for everyone.

I'd lean towards Finale or Sibelius if I were looking for a tool to help me compose, even though I think Notion is on the right track.

Finale and Sibelius are very mature at this point - which means that they both still have long standing bugs that annoy long standing users, but it also means that they do most of what they do quite well, and that there are large communities of folks that can help you learn to use the tools. Both companies have invested heavily in extensions to make playback more realistic - and if you are using this as a learning tool that could be very important.

Both have tremendous support as "industry standard" tools - you don't think you'll need printed scores and parts, but hey, you never know! And I can tell you from experience few things are as frustrating as trading one tool-set for another, the money is an issue, of course, but the time to learn the new tool-set is a real problem.

I'm comfortable with Finale, so if asked, I'll generally recommend Finale. Ask a Sibelius user and you'll get a different answer. We're not a lot of help<G>!

If I understand your post, you want to enter musical compositions and arrangements using standard notation - so the first thing you want to do is try the mouse entry method for each product. Does one work better for YOU?

You may not know it yet, but you'll probably also want to enter ideas from a MIDI controller, once again try both products and see which one tracks you better.

The biggest work-flow issue for me is moving between my sequencer (Sonar) and my scoring tool (Finale). It's not pretty, and the best bet is to make that transition only once. Can't always have it that way, but it is a noble goal. So you'll also want to see how well you can move a piece from one tool to another.

Even before you move a piece into a sequencer, if you ever do, you'll want to hear the results of your labor. Both Finale and Sibelius do a scary good job of humanizing a score, but they are different, and neither is perfect. Audition these features.

So bottom line is identify the features that are most important to you now, and maybe a couple that might be important later, and try them.

Or just take my word for it and buy Finale<G>!


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## JohnG (Aug 4, 2010)

Agree with Richard 100%. If you will be working with other guys, ask what they use and get that one.


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## wst3 (Aug 4, 2010)

dedersen @ Wed Aug 04 said:


> Judging by the marketing, I was actually under the impression that Notion really excelled in this particular area. That was one of the major attractions for me, it seems to integrate quite well with external VSTis. Again, judging by the marketing.



Well, there's marketing, and then there is reality, and the two are seldom on speaking terms<G>!

I spent a fair amount of time with an earlier version of Notion - partly because I'd love something that provided both scoring and sequencing capabilities - but it does not yet exist. The 'realistic' playback in Notion was a disappointment for me.

There are mitigating circumstances:
1) I've been using Finale for 10 years now, and I had a demo version of Notion that I'd been using for weeks, not years.
2) It was an older version.

"realistic" playback may well be better now, but I haven't been motivated to evaluate it a second time! Since this is a key decision point for you make sure you give it a good test drive.


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## dedersen (Aug 5, 2010)

Again, thanks for all the feedback. I've been browsing this forum anonymously for quite a while now, and I am thrilled with the willingness of forum members to readily offer help. Glad I found it! 

After doing a bit more reading, I am leaning slightly towards harvesting some more cash and getting Sibelius. Sounds like the workflow is somewhat smoother than Notion, which seems to rely on the mouse a bit too heavily for my liking. Obviously, I'll run thorough demos of both programs to confirm this.

One thing though. Notion seems quite easy to taylor to specific VSTis via XML documents, where you can link specific combinations of articulations/techniques to keyswitches. I've been reading about Sibelius Soundsets, do these offer similar functionality? I.e. will I be able to decide exactly how I want Sibelius to interpret the score in terms of MIDI output? From reading other posts and browsing other forums I'm under the impression that the VSTi implementation in Sibelius is a bit convoluted?


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## dedersen (Aug 5, 2010)

Oddly enough, with the competitive crossgrade options it seems it is actually cheaper for me to get both Notion and Sibelius rather than just Sibelius alone. Have to check whether it applies in all countries, but interesting anyway. Interesting how in this case the offer would actually make me buy their competitor's product. Not sure that is the intent.


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