Ray Horton wrote:
Re Speedy vs. Simple and Sibelius:
When I started usin Finale (FinWin 97), I had a new computer with a
temporary midi conflict from two sound cards. As a result, I couldn't
use Speedy for a while and had to use Simple for a few weeks. That did
give a benefit of becoming proficient with all the copying and
transposing functions, because entering new notes was such a pain, but
as soon as I got the sound card conflict resolved, I immediately
switched to Speedy and have never left the Simple palette on my screen
since. (I know 'it's improved now' but I don't care - speedy works well).
One question about improved Simple- can you now enter chords in Simple
entry?
Also - I'm one of the people over on the Sibelius list, very recently.
I asked about Garritan compatibilty, because I still might bite at the
$80 Sibelius price. (I am told all the full Garritan products are fully
compatible.) But I won't switch permanently unless I see real benefit.
So far on the list the welcome to us on that list has been less than
tremendous: 'Switch to Sibelius - simple entry is far better because
it's the only one we have' (On this I agree 100% with David Fenton.)
And we have been called "rats leaving a sinking ship."
I'm a member of that list, too, and I don't recall anybody saying that
"simple entry is the only one we have."
The entry methods are different between the two programs and there
really isn't a way to compare directly Sibelius's mixture of entry
capabilities with a single Finale tool.
Yes, Sibelius doesn't split their entry methods between two different
tools, but that doesn't mean there is only one entry method for Sibelius.
Any combination of computer keyboard, mouse and midi-keyboard is
possible in Sibelius, just as in Finale. The one control which Sibelius
lacks that Finale has is the ability to use the up/down cursor keys to
place the pitch. And if that's a deal-breaker for somebody, that's
fine, there's no reason to switch. I certainly won't try to tell
anybody they should move to Sibelius. I will say that using a midi
keyboard along with the numpad layouts in Sibelius, I was amazed to find
that I am as fast at entering music in Sibelius as I am using Speedy
Entry in Finale, and far faster than I have ever been able to be using
Simple Entry in Finale.
When new people join that group there isn't usually a slew of welcoming
messages, but when I joined this Finale list there wasn't any welcoming
message either. I jumped in to the discussion, just as people do on the
Sibelius list. I didn't get any sort of welcome message when I joined
that list either.
The remark about "rats leaving a sinking ship" was tongue in cheek (I
know the person who posted it). But I will say that I made the
transition to being able to work with Sibelius before MakeMusic's
corporate floundering forced me to make it when I wasn't ready or able
to make the transition. Now I can work comfortably in either program as
the mood takes me, sharpening my skills in both and should MakeMusic
either go under or decide to stop upgrading Finale and to stop
supporting it, I'll be prepared. If that makes me a "rat leaving a
sinking ship" then that's fine with me. I certainly don't feel insulted
by it.
--
David H. Bailey
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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