Sebelius

patb

Blues Junior
I down loaded the free version in order to write out solos. The good news is that it won't let me screw up the time and of corse the finished product is legible ( no eraser smudges). In using the keypad or keyboard I'm finding it slow with a lot of little quirks. After 3 or 4 hours I can write notation but find it hard to delete or change and adding in the tab is a true exercise in frustration as it is difficult to change out the positions the software chooses. .
The videos gloss over a few things such as delete and the manual instructions don't always lead to success
I can see many hours of video and manual instruction before this becomes useful. Glad I didn't spend the $150.
Is anyone using this ?? Suggestions for an alternate.
I'm finding it's much faster to just manually write it out.
Thanks,
Pat
 

dvs

Green Mountain Blues
Have a look at MuseScore 3. I don't think it's significantly easier (or harder) to use than Sibelius, but it's open source and the full version is *free*. I don't use it all that often so every time I do I spend a fair amount of effort re-learning how it works. But I have found that the more one uses it the faster it gets. It will take some effort, but as you start to understand the quirks and constraints of the UI, it can be at least as quick as pencil and staff paper (that's true of either Sibelius or MuseScore, btw).
 
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Zzzen Dog

Blues Junior
I'm using Notion 6 that's associated with Studio One. once you get the hang of it it's not bad. Tab is just moving notes about to the right strings, it takes care of the corresponding fret number, based on the notes in standard notation.

I wouldn't use Notion if I were just tabbing out parts, my guess is there are easier products out there that are cheaper. For me the possibility of having instruments play my score within Studio One is intriguing, and it's much cheaper when bundled in with their whole suite of products, and using their monthly subscription services.
 

Silicon Valley Tom

It makes me happpy to play The Blues!
I have many computer software programs related to music composition, including Sebelius. My favorite is TablEdit, which I have used since 1999. It costs under $60 and upgrades are free forever. There is a free demo available. If you ever need technical assistance I must say that the crew at TablEdit is outstanding.

I am involved with many musical instruments and music genres. I have created over 2000 TablEdit files for my flamenco music, and many more for the other types of music I play. It is a good and stable tool, that saves me hours of time.

TablEdit Tablature Editor

Tom
 

ervjohns

Blues Junior
I have found Guitar pro is the best trade off for me in ease of use and capability. It is not simple and sometimes you scratch your head about some way the program handles like representing the correct number of beats for a complex bend. And also it is not free, but once you have the license the upgrades are frequent and free. I tried the free version of Sibelius and muse score but could not bond with either of them
 

Jalapeno

Student Of The Blues
After 3 or 4 hours I can write notation but find it hard to delete or change and adding in the tab is a true exercise in frustration as it is difficult to change out the positions the software chooses.
I use Sibelius 7 a lot for composing but I'm with the others about using a different notation program for what you are trying to do. Guitar Pro, if you want to pay for something, or one of the other free ones the other guys have mentioned. Sibelius is really for full score composing and it tends to be more difficult to use for simple stuff than other software programs.

Also, my opinion is that one should NEVER use the free programs from Avid. Their paid versions are good but the free ones suck, "ProTools | First" or "Sibelius | First" etc.

Here is a short video I made a couple of minutes ago that explains how you need to understand which MODE you are in and I also show one of the important editing things Avid removed from "Sibelius | First". The odd thing is that "Sibelius 7 First" is 95% of the full "Sibelius 7" (with basically only things professional film scorers would need removed) and "Sibelius | First" (the free one) is only about 50% capable. I used standard notation for the demo since that is how I work but I think you can input with the tab too. The version I use has a virtual guitar neck for input and a virtual piano for input as well. I'm not sure if the current version of First has that and I removed First from my laptop right after I made the demo video.

https://youtu.be/3RHgGxjqu-c


If you really otherwise like Sibelius (and preferably can find a DVD copy of "Sibelius 7 First") and have some questions just ask. I'm not on the forum as much as I used to be but I can usually answer questions as I use the software a lot.

Eric
 

patb

Blues Junior
Thanks to all that responded. I appreciate your time and experience.
Thank you Eric for convincing me not to pursue Sebelius for several reasons.
I'm thinking I will go with Guitar Pro. For $69 it will more than meet my needs and appears user friendly. I like that it is dedicated to "guitars".
Now if I just had some idea of what MIDI is................. aside from more $ .
Thanks again
Pat
 

MikeS

Student Of The Blues
Staff member
Thanks to all that responded. I appreciate your time and experience.
Thank you Eric for convincing me not to pursue Sebelius for several reasons.
I'm thinking I will go with Guitar Pro. For $69 it will more than meet my needs and appears user friendly. I like that it is dedicated to "guitars".
Now if I just had some idea of what MIDI is................. aside from more $ .
Thanks again
Pat

For most of what it sounds like you want to do, you won't need midi. So do as I do... Make believe it doesn't exist and every time your read it hear "chocolate sprinkle fairies" in your head.
 
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