Finale 2009?

[BVD Press]

Anyone happen to move up to Finale 2009 and have any feedback???

Thanks,

[BVD Press]

Just got mine in the mail. I'll keep you posted.

Ken F.

I would be curious what you think. For me, if FInale will not be fixing two issues mine goes back in the box and to MN for a refund:

1. The limit of 4 Staff Limits has to go. The limit is absurd.
2. TG Tools to work. These plugins save more time than I can ever imagine

On the other hand, this version does not appear to be as buggy as the previous versions. Although I did find a pile of bugs in the first 30 minutes of use that do not really change how I work.

I am guessing some or even most people will enjoy what Finale has done in 2009, but for me using it would be a GIANT step backwards in productivity.

See ya,

[BVD Press]

Sadly, I am still on 2006d. I decided that I would no longer upgrade unless my Mac's hardware or OS version required it. I really like the idea of some of the features added since, but when my address book was erased and some of my files damaged by the installed DVD in 2004 I have been really reluctant to upgrade until I hear only positive things on the forum. This is never the case with the MM! version of Finale. While Coda was not perfect by any means, they tried hard to fix Finale first, add to Finale second. MakeMusic! is just about adding features, and it never seems like major repairs are a priority to them.

Surprisingly, I will say something good about MM. The 2008 was a good release after they released their 2008a update. New copy and paste, linked finally worked well, mass edit tool, etc. were great advancements

2009 so far is a waste especially if you have large files (band, orchestra, etc.). Mine is now packaged and ready to ship back next Friday if an update is not released the issues above. Absolute killers for productivity.

[BVD Press]

Now, do you think that I would be pleased with 2008 (updated, of course) on my Intel Mac? 2006 functions on it - barely. It is slow and crashy - very unstable. I only went to it because moving to the new laptop forced me to. (You cannot register anything earlier than 2006 on an Intel Mac. Sheesh.)

Maybe I will purchase 2008 if it works on my Mac better and is pretty stable and quick after the update has been applied. What long term issues have yet to be resolved at this juncture? I really only care about engraving issues and basic playback for checking my work. All those other things are of no use to me. Linked parts sounds too good to be true. In 2008a does this feature actually work properly? I had heard that the initial iteration of this feature failed to deliver.

How say you, sir?

I like 2008a a lot and will be sticking with it. I have it on an Intel Laptop and G$ dual tower. The linked parts takes some time to get used to, but it does work quite well. The largest piece with linked parts I did was Barbara York's Concerto with Band. Worked great! There are limits and some pieces you have to extract, but overall it works great!

If you do wind up getting the 2008 version, please feel free to ask questions. Getting used to linked parts will take some time and using the manuals is not the ideal solution. Especially when you have some people around who could answer a question in a few seconds that may take quite a bit of time to figure out in the manual.


Sibelius: I like what Sibelius does, but am not ready to jump ship yet. I will be purchasing a new company in the next couple of weeks and may jump ship and re-engrave in Sibelius just for this company. If nothing else, I can do a few charts and see if I like or not. I do think it is a solid program, but prefer Finale's output much more.

[Chadtuba]

I'm hoping to purchase a notation software this fall so I find this all very interesting. Which program would you all reccomend to someone who has little to no experience with any of it in the last 10 years? I don't have midi keyboard just a basic laptop running windows xp I believe, but I'm a little tired of writing things out by hand

Thanks!

[BVD Press]

I'm hoping to purchase a notation software this fall so I find this all very interesting. Which program would you all reccomend to someone who has little to no experience with any of it in the last 10 years? I don't have midi keyboard just a basic laptop running windows xp I believe, but I'm a little tired of writing things out by hand

Thanks!

Without trying to push you in any direction, I would download the demos for programs and try them out. For what you do, one program may work better than the next. To stay mainstream, you may want to limit your choices to Finale or Sibelius.

Feel free to post what you will be doing and I am sure others can offer their opinions.

[Chadtuba]

Thanks for the info Bryan. I've used both of the demos a bit last year when I did a brass quintet arrangement for my alma mater and they both seemed to work equally well the little bit that I messed with them. I would anticipate that I will primarily be using for quartet/quintet arrangements with the occasional solo or original piece, but mostly small groups.

Thanks again!

[BVD Press]

I agree with everything Wade is saying. Like Wade, I count on Finale to make a living, but not just a small part but all of it so little things that slow me down "grate".

For Quintet or other small pieces, either program would be fine. Out of the box, Sibelius is a much quicker and easier to learn program. Getting into the programs a bit, I prefer Finale. This could be because I have used Finale over 12 years and know the program quite well.

In reality, either program will do the job. One can also move files between programs very easily with XML. I am not sure how XML will work with Finale 2009, but it was worked well in the past.

Look for deals as well. If you have Finale, you can get a full version of Sibelius of $99.00 for a limited time. Email me if you are interested:

bvdpress@snet.net" target="_blank

You just call or email (I think) your serial number to Sibelius and you are good to go. You don't lose the use of Finale so it is quite a good deal!

[sungfw]

I'm going to chime in with a slightly different point of view.

I do a fair amount of transcription and arranging for my church's brass sextet (2 trumpets, french horn, trombone, euph, tuba): reducing brass band arrangements, rearranging quartets/quintets to match players' technical facility and adding missing parts, transposing, arranging chorales/masses/oratorios, producing play-along practice files, etc.

I picked up Finale a number of years ago and used it for about a year. Truth be told, it was (and is) massive overkill for my purposes: it's Adobe CS3 Design Premium, when all I need is Photoshop Elements. If I were hoping to derive income from arranging, I would have stuck with Finale, but I'm not, so rather than shelling out for an upgrade, I switched to an inexpensive ($85) but very capable notation program (Harmony Assistant), which handles 95%-plus of what I throw at it with aplomb (updates are free).

All of which to say, if you don't need the capabilities of a full-blown professional engraving package such as Finale or Sibelius, a "hobbyist" level notation program may save you time (thinking here of the learning curve), and a fair bit of money: time and money better spent on other, more profitable things (like searching for the magic mouthpiece, for example ).