Holiday Wishes 2009

My Holiday Newsletter 2009 has been just posted here-

Features a nod to those musicians who've fallen on hard times this Holiday and a link to some cool free stuff!

Finale 2010 to Sibelius 6 Conversion - Update #1

Well, it's been quite busy on the road so I haven't been able to really sink my teeth into the business of getting my arranging and composing to be Sibelius-native. But alas - I started my first such venture en route to Brownsville, TX for a show with Spanish Harlem Orchestra. (Incredible band on this one BTW - percussionists were Johnny "Dandy" Rodrgiuez, George Delgado and the awesome Luisito Quintero (nasty solo on Ariñañara that night).) I have to say, despite a couple of blank moments where it's just inevitable that I have to consult reference, the transition is invigorating and just feels "right". No - I'm not working for Avid or anything, I just have to call it like I see it here as I'm sure that there are more folks in the same boat as I am.

OK, getting down to details. I'm going to start here with how I generally approach an arrangement for a client. I'm hoping to compare (and hopefully for the better) just how my process will improve during this transition. After this explanation I'm going to go about periodically comparing individual features and processes amongst the two programs.

My Arranging Process

This will give a little extra perspective on how I'm planning to implement this workflow into Sibelius. It goes a little something like this:

1. Transcribe the tune from the client's audio example.
2. Make sure everything is clearly notated in the transcription on to appropriate staves. For this process I usually 3-4 staves, the top being the lead line/melody and the grand staff below it being used for harmony and bass line. If harmony figures to be involved then I usually introduce a separate bass staff below the grand staff.
3. Start noodling around the keyboard for some possible sub-melodies and harmonies. I immediately found myself using Sib's Ideas feature today for just throwing some of the ideas onto "paper" and capturing it with the function. I can tell right now this is going to be huge for me - it was one of the core features that brought me to Sib from Finale.
4. Develop another set of 2 staves that go under the previous group - I usually call this group "Rearr" for "Re-arrangement Staves". (One thing that I'm going to need to figure out stat is how to group/ungroup staves manually.) On these set of staves I start sketching out the guts of how I would like my arrangement to sound like.
5. Upon completion of "Rearr" (usually takes the longest of all of these phases) I develop another grand staff and call it "Orch" for Orchestration Staves. This setup has been particularly useful when I need to go back and orchestrate the tune for any instrumentation; I just take the "Orch" kernel and paste to the top of the new file and simply orchestrate down from the those staves. I can see here how Versions will be incredibly useful as I go through the different phases of my arranging process - as work toward the final score I can do away with Orch, Rearr. I can also have a version with just Orch. or Rearr - I can paste these right into my new instrumentation set for orchestration. Yes, damn nerdy but cool!.
6. Before I move to developing the final score I usually move right to my MIDI demo for the client's approval of my work in progress. This saves many an hour if they don't like what you've done and you have to undo all of your precious copying and engraving work in your final score! This is an area I'm especially excited to utilize Sib's new Rewire function which I just test drove today. (Opened Pro Tools and made a new instrument track. Inserts>instruments and Sibelius wasn't there as advertised (Booooo!) I googled the problem and ended up downloading the latest Rewire version from Propellerhead and "repairing" the playback in Sib's audio options. This took an hour. I don't understand why this just couldn't of worked out of the box. Oh well, no one's perfect.) One other area where I believe Finale has a leg up is they have an all-useful Latin Percussion plug in which I've used extensively in my demos. For the time being I guess I'm going to have to program my own conga, bongo and timbal tumbaos. If Sib could get this going they would totally rule. Unfortunately, I don't think a lot of these notation programs take latin percussion seriously - they need to.
7. After the MIDI demo is completed, converted to mp3 and sent to client, I make yet another version and start the final, engraved score. (Again, can't wait to get Versions going here!) This is usually pretty simple as I probably will have orchestrated during the MIDI version. All that remains would be stripping away the MIDI Demo elements (curious to see how Rewire will come into play here), adding chords, processing the piano, bass, and percussion parts, adding articulations and marking to the horns, and adding lyrics if necessary. During this phase we will see about the true meat & potatoes of Sibelius. So - without further ado, features and procesees:

Note Entry

This is probably the toughest area to address for me as Finale's note entry has just become muscle memory after 12 years of use. However, as I get more and more used to it, it seems at this point and time that it makes more "sense" than Finale's speedy entry. My preferred mode of entry has always been MIDI step time and it seems that Sibelius' implementation will dramatically pick up in speed once I get used to it. One of the things I have to be really careful with currently with Sib is auditioning notes. If I haven't escaped all the way out of note entry then my "auditionings" will find their way on to staves in the music. Advantage for the time being - Finale.

Parts

Wow. Typing "W" gets me looking at a part instantly. I transcribed the client's tune with the melody resting on my "Lead Line" staff. Just for kicks I wanted to take a look at the part so I hit "W". There the part was - looking amazingly decent for being untouched. Magnetic Layout is just amazing. I would've spent 4-5 minutes getting this part to look like this with Finale, period. Advantage - Sibelius, overwhelmingly.

Playback

Playback in Sibelius is just dimensions ahead that of Finale. Sib's playback is amazingly robust, intuitive, and very elegant. I can audition incrementally tempos for the piece by just dragging the tempo bar back and forth. (Finale eats it bad here.) I can play from any part of the piece by selecting a bar and hitting "P". (Sib's keyboard shortcuts are amazingly intuitive). I audition a single stave by selecting that bar and hitting "P". Sib just plays back that bar. In Finale I can't do this. I can't just move a slider to forward and rewind playback. Advantage - Sibelius, overwhelmingly.

Lyrics

I haven't gotten this far in the arrangement as of yet - but I have to comment on this in any case. You can actually import a .txt file and have Sib lay the text over the syllables of the melody. Are you kidding me!! This is going to again save me hours. Adv. - Sibleius.

Chord Entry

I toyed around just slapping in some chords on top of the melody. Sibelius again has Finale brutally beaten in this category. All I had to do was Cmd-K and click on a note or a beat. I typed in my chord - E7(#9). The chord laid out beautifully - the "#9" in parentheses and raised just the perfect amount above the "7". I didn't have to go hunting through tiny boxes of chord suffixes. I have always loathed this in Finale and thought it ridiculous. It was even to the point where I had .txt files of full of Chord Suffixes with their identifying "Suffix Numbers" to somehow speed up the tedium of Finale Chord Entry. I feel "cleansed" and relieved that I'll never have to go undergo this torture again.

Enharmonic chords in Sib work beautiful. The cats in my bands know I use some pretty intricate chords - these very chords would sometimes take up to 10min a piece to format properly in Finale and document in my chord sheet and save into the Finale "Chord Library". In Sib I can even play in a voicing of the chord and Sib gets it right half the time. If not, I simply cycle through the enharmonic voicings and I'm done. Advantage - Sibelius, overwhelmingly.

Much more to come - I'm only beginning this chart but this is what I've noticed so far.

-db

Finale 2010 vs Sibelius 6 Discussion

Here's a transcript of a conversation between mutual friends and Finale/Sibelius users:

Doug:

Just got Sibelius 6 in the mail and am making that jump! Seriously, as a long- time Finale user who just got Finale 2010 and is utterly fed up with this company - in the first 60min of working with Sibelius, Avid is giving Makemusic a swift kick to the nuts.

Farnell: Is Sibelius that nice. I have seen newbies make pretty good looking charts on it?

Kevin: Keep me updated. I've been thinking of jumping myself.

Jon: @Doug: How so?

Doug: @Jon - granted, I'm just starting to learn Sib - but it's just feeling really organic to learn. Key shortcuts are down-right obvious: Need a key change? Type K. Need a time signature? Type T. Need to change the name of a part? Double click the name and just type it in. No stupid Dialogue Box.

Also learned just today: Want to repeat a bar? Select the bar and hit R. Playback is drastically better than Finale's, including to forward and rewind by just hitting [ and ]. Want to play from a note in the chart? Select the note and hit P.

Scan score - looks like it's actually working. I put in a .pdf and imported right into Sib. That's going to save a ton of time. And Magnetic Layout in this Version 6 (the feature that made me jump) is an amazing, amazing time saver. We're talking cutting the scoring process in half.

Jon: Interesting! Do you use the contextual menus (right mouse click) in Finale much? When you used Finale, what was your 'preferred' entry method? Those are some compelling shortcuts in Sib that you mentioned.

Eric: Does it do guitar tab also? Thinking it could be good for composing and my students.

Jon: Good to hear that Avid is supporting development. With the aquisition, I feared they'd let it lay fallow. I'm a user of Finale, but competition is good- makes them all accountable and continue development.

Doug: @Eric - oh yeah, and it does an awesome job. Entry is super simple. Folks - I've used Finale for since 1998, I'm not working for Avid. I just have to say that the interface is leaps and bounds beyond Finale.

Doug: @Jon - absolutely, Finale needs a torch up under their ass. They've been basically working with the same programming architecture for a decade and year after year, they patch up the bad code with fixes that help you access that bad code a little easier. Really, going thru all of those menus is a joke. e: right clicks - didn't use much of these w/Finale - I've memorized all the key shortcuts and was pretty adroit at using them. To get around their stupid tool system, I programmed each tool to a shortcut key on my Mac. (ctrl-shift (F thru ')). That way I could go thru a chart and hit ctrl-F (mass edit) or whatever and select what I needed. I didn't think about how ridiculous it was that I had to set up that system of short cuts in the first place. With Sib, it's click something. Move it. Make it go. Change it. The ultimate "duh"! More to come:

Jon: For the past several years if you right click on the measure, all of the things you describe are accessible- key changes, transpositions, clefs, time sig, repeats, etc.

Jon: One of the drawbacks with being the 'ederle statesmen' in notation is the same problem Windows faces vs. Mac-- support of legacy users and files. There are numerous new ways to enter an manipulate things in Finale, but people like you and I that have been using it for a log time, tend to usenit in the 'wy we always have'. Many of the things you're talking about can be done more efficiently in Finale, but there are MANY ways to do them---one of which is the 'old way' which is left in to support people who have become 'attatched' to their workflow.

Alex: I agree finale is really clunky (basically sucks) but it eventually gets the job done, eventually

Jon: @Alex What is clunky about Finale to you, the output of the music, the learning curve of te program, or the fact that there are many customizable things/tools that are presented which feels overwhelming? (tone of online text stinks- do not misread the above, I'm genuinely puzzled and interested in your response.)

Jon: @Doug: What do you mean by 'bad Code'. It didn't jump out at you but in 2000, and 2004 there were revulutionary changes made in the User Interface and input methods, but if you don't pursue them, it is possible to keep using Finale the same old way and see no change. Ida been far from stagnant. I'm not interested in "Sibelis rocks, Finale licks taint" arguments, but am interested in specifics of why you switched and what you did not find in Finale that you were looking for.

Alex: I am not by any means an expert on finale, but I have created several charts using it. I use note entry tool, with shortcuts, and I can roll along pretty good. Where it really gets wierd is with staff styles, and the dreaded "staff optimization" thing. For example, if I have the first 8 bars for the piano for treble and bass clefs, and then want to get rid of the bass clef it ends up being a real task.

Alex: also adding another instrument (staff to the arrangement) doesnt seem to work.

Doug: @Jon - There are so many factors involved in the switch that I'm going to have post them here as I think of them. But I can think of a couple now:

First off - after my last arranging session (still using Finale as I'm getting more used to Sib), I found that I use the contextual menus quite a bit. As regards to your argument regarding using new features of the program: Believe me John, I've been ardently seeking out these new features, taking the time to look them up in the manual, and forcing myself to use them in my day to day work. I won't be shy here - I'm a Finale "power user". I know just about all the tricks that there is to know - new or old. I have every new version since 2000. I know of the "revolutionary" changes of which you speak.

But - if you can take your Finale brain and muscle memory out of the equation here, just think about it:

Why does a part that is extracted (either old way or "linked parts") look like total ass after the extraction?

Doug: @Jon - Why should it take 3-5 per part to remove such collisions? (And that is after 10yrs of experience)

Why does it sometimes take 10-15min to edit and optimize a multi-staved part?

Why do I have to deal with a Text Expression dialogue box at all?

Why do I have to go thru libraries of characters to input a simple chord change the way I want it?

Why when I look at the chord suffixes they are impossibly small and difficult to read? This hasn't changed since, ever.

Why is the implementation of the staff optimization so bad in Finale 2010? Why did I have to call Make Music after having used this product for 12 years to remove an empty piano staff?

Why was the solution to this problem no where near the Page Layout tool, rather in the staff tool?

Why is the user interface for Garritan Sounds so damned difficult? Why do I have to do arithmetic to figure out how I can get a clarinet to play on Channel 2 which is actually Channel 19?

Doug: Why does my playback start late when using Garritan sounds? I have a brand new 3.06Ghz Mac. Settings have all been checked and re-checked.

Why can't I simply hit the arrow key to move the page right?

I can go on - but isn't it obvious that these are rather pedantic problems when looking at them from a modern technological point of view.

I decided to switch because ALL of these problems have been addressed in Sib 6. Magnetic layout TRULY removes collisions and lays out all the elements as they should be. This saves me hours - especially when editing big band and orchestral parts. Chord entry is just a matter of typing in your chord - and you get a legible, beautifully engraved chord symbol.

Sib 6 also now has Rewire support to run as plug in my 2 DAWs, Pro Tools and Logic. This marginalizes Finale's sole audio track.

Doug: Simply - Sib 6 has evolved and has made their interface completely more obvious and has added features that for years now Finale has been copying or trying to emulate. I've decided to go to the source of all of this great technology instead of waiting for an implementation by Finale. It's clear to me that Avid/Sibelius has more talent at their disposal and they are revolutionizing notation. Makemusic is and has been playing catch up and will be eclipsed completely, in my opinion, in the next few years to come.

My Finale 2010 to Sibelius 6 Transition

I've decided to make public my experience of transitioning from Finale 2010 to Sibelius 6. Since I've used Finale for 12 years now I thought this info could help a lot of frustrated notation program users out there.

I will be adding my experiences here soon - in the meantime I would like to share an already passionate discussion on Facebook between a couple of longtime Finale users - one who is jumping ship to Sibelius 6.

I guess I was overdue for my annual Hell Day.

This year it came in a particularly evil form - oversight.

6:15a - Get up to head to SFO for a vacation in beautiful Cabo San Lucas with the fiance. She's literally jumping down she's so excited.

6:35a - Sleepily, I emerge from the shower and get prepared for the trip. All packed, everything's go. A couple of last steps; just grab an espresso and a quick bite and open the laptop and check in for the flight. Curiously, I wonder why it has taken me so long to complete the 3 second task of an online check-in. I never wait this long. Must have been really busy.

6:45a - Flip open the Macbook and punch in United's site. Check-In. Yes. Name of passenger. Doug. Date of departure. Today, August 11th you nimrods. Passport number. #. Date of Expiration. 4 jun 09. SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT!

6:55A - Told the fiance. Curse words. Disdain. Nauseousness ensues. This one truly takes the proverbial cake.

7a - 7:45a - A long and painful car ride to SFO suffering from further nausea and the crackling static of silence. A discussion of what could possibly be done takes place. "You'll probably have to pay for the change of ticket between today's price and where you bought it" ($750 - $1000). "You'll need to be issued a new passport" "Rush passports can only be processed in 3-10 business days." "They don't make passports in a day" I'm scheduled to come back on Monday 8/18.

8:00a - Arrive at SFO International terminal. Wait in line with bags as if. Fiancé's at the "Bag Drop", must be nice. My turn is up. Brutal looking older Asian lady. She takes my passport and chucks it back at me. Literally throws it at me. "Expired passport." "Sorry." "You no go today". This site very nearly turned into a terrorist blog at this point and time. I proceed head down to the forlorn "Ticketing" booth.

8:03a - I'm lying that it's my honeymoon right about now. She totally buys it. Is demonstrably cooler than evil bitch back there and begins the process of separating the tickets, even though they were purchased on Orbitz and that's nearly impossible to pull off. I think she feels the pain too. Fiance's owned up to the fact that she's going to have to spend at least a day and a night by herself in paradise.

8:05a - Ticketing agent calls her supervisor who comes promptly and does the unthinkable - she books me on the very flight out without me having to pay for a penalty change fee or the difference in ticket fee. An angel! And this United Air. OMFG! Agent also tell supervisor that the check-in witch from the other side didn't do her job. Supervisor takes her in her office. Sweeet.

8:07a - Big hug and a kiss from the fiance. "You'll have to make it up to me" No shit. She's off to paradise. I'm headed back to the street, bags in tow.

8:15a - Call the National Passport Center. "You'll have to get on our automated line sir in order to make an appointment for the SF Office. Let me put you through." I get connected, then, dial tone. Another agent "Well sir that's one of the busiest offices in the country. You have but a slim chance of getting a passport today. I'm going to send you the overflow office at SF City Hall - there might be a chance that you can get one there."

9:40a - Walgreen's 1hr Photo Lab, Los Altos, CA. Sorry sir, our passport picture machine's out of order. Fuck off, dork.

9:46a - Kinko's, Mountain View, CA. Pictures taken with, what do you know, a digital camera. Wow, amazing. Print passport applications. Cool chick hands me the goods 3 minutes in. I'm out with the pix.

10:42a - San Francisco City Hall, National Passport Agency "Overflow" Center. Security Guard & Metal Detector agent: "Room 104? There's no room 104 here sir."

"....."

"You must mean room 140." "Pass thru."

10:45a - pee in the "Upper Light Plaza" of the Civic Center. Old but well-kept abodes. Most design I've seen in a bathroom in a while.

10:49a arrive at the Passport office. Take a number. Wait. and Wait. My number. "Please, please, you gotta help me. I was supposed to go on my honeymoon and my passport expired and I was told that I could get one here."

"Who told you that?"

"The National Passport line or whatever, that's what they told me. The "overflow" center in room 104!"

"Well we can't make 'em here."

"WHAT! So what am I supposed to DO!"

"You'll have to main Passport agency on Folsom & Hawthorne sir. There's nothing we can do here. I don't know who told you that."

Jesus.

11:05a Park and arrive at the passport center. I'm running at this point because it's almost noon and I have no chance of possibly getting anything today. I'll probably get it by the 13th and get to Cabo on the 14th. So we're looking at 2 full days in Cabo, max.

11:09a Made it to the office. I'm looking to see a throng of people in the office. Surprisingly, it's rather light in here, not too many people. "Do you have an appointment sir?"

"Well no I just came from City Hall where they told me to go and they sent me here and I tried to call and get an appointment and they wouldn't let me etc. etc. etc." I'm stopped mid-story and passed through the metal detector after another rendition of the "honeymoon" story. I'm cut off mid-story. "Just go to check-in sir".

11:15a Check in. Another rendition of the story. I'm cut off yet again. "Where's your travel itinerary? Photos? Ok, ok, ok. Fill this out." I fill out the paperwork in a minute flat and rush it back to the counter. Still no idea what's going on. "Ok sir, here's number 96. You are two numbers away. You have no idea how lucky you are." Oh my god - did I catch a break. Is this going to actually happen?

11:21a Exactly 6 minutes later - number 96 is called. This can't be for real. That has to be a world record in Passport office waiting times! I approach the counter and gear up for my most emotional rendition of the story yet. Again, I'm cut off. "Pictures." "Application." "Ok that will be $155." "Come back between 3p and 4p and go to Will Call to pick up your passport."

Elation and disbelief.

3:00p Hustle back to the passport office. Still nothing in my hands yet. But hey, I'm go to Will Call. This should be cake.

3:21p Arrival at the passport office. A line is snaking out of the building. Fuck me. I ask the National security officer what's going on, secretly cutting the line in the process. Some people catch it and hiss. But I'm in and next for the elevator. If I didn't cut it would've been my ass. In so many ways.

3:22p Off the elevator and back into the office. Hmm. I see the Will Call window but there's no action there. Instead I see a queue line snaking around the full perimeter of the office and starting to spiral inward. Ha. Glad I came early. I ask a girl "What's the line for?" as I slide into position #1 for Will Call. "Will Call!" she hisses. Christ. To the inner spiral of the line I go.

3:30p Make it the the "end" of the line. Stand and wait. I'm never making it to the window by 4p. I'm hosed at the end of this whole journey. All hope is lost.

3:50p The line isn't moving. People start talking to each other. CNN is blaring a segment that is ironically questioning the president, in the National passport office. A discussion about national healthcare ripples up and down the length of the line.

4:20p Still waiting but they haven't escorted us out. More phycological trauma. Is this happening or what?

4:40p The line creeps one position. Oh, somebody went to the bathroom. He returns. Line creeps back.

5:00p Line starts moving. And moving faster. People are receiving blue envelopes at Will Call. Oh my god! They're handing out passports! They're handing out passports praise be to God!

5:20p I'm next! The chick in front of me just got a passport!

5:21p My turn! I go to the same guy that I gave my first rendering of the story too. He smirks and flips me a passport. I DIT IT!!!!!!!!!!!

5:30p Mobile Check-In on the iPhone (a true saviour today) with new passport. I'm on. I start skipping down the street. Then stop. I take a picture of a guy in a Giants uniform shining the shoes of fan who has a Dodger hat on and crack up. God is great.

Lesson: Never assume anything. Check everything, all the time.

FB Post: State of California budget crisis directly affects this educator.

The State of California just cut my brand new Afro-Latin Ensemble at Los Medanos College today. We need to come together and vote these clowns out of office as soon as we're able. Educational cuts most definitely could of been avoided. This is F$%&ing ridiculous - and it's affecting the people who really can't afford cuts like these first-hand.

Welcome to my Blog!

Yay! My new blog! I've finally entered the world of blogging and have to say I'm diggin' it. Stay tuned for new posts from daily life, life as musician, road oddities, and more.

Thanks so much for following, and cheers!

Doug Beavers