Buying a keyboard for Sibelius

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chrissansum
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Dec 26, 2022 9:15 pm
Sibelius Version: 2022.12
Operating System: Windows

Post by chrissansum » Mon Dec 26, 2022 9:22 pm

I am a newbie to Sibelius. I have keyed a few scores in using the computer keyboard, which is quite time-consuming. Does buying a controller keyboard make inputting scores a lot quicker? I am mainly interested in creating piano scores. I have a small apartment lm, and am wondering whether it is easy enough entering a score using a 49 note keyboard, or whether it would be a big advantage to buy a 61 note keyboard? Thinking of something small and basic like the M-Audio Keystation 49. Would that be a good investment?

Thanks for any help!


andyg
Posts: 1727
Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2006 8:55 pm
Sibelius Version: 7.1.3 and 6.2
Operating System: Windows

Post by andyg » Tue Dec 27, 2022 9:36 pm

If you're thinking of saving time by playing things in 'live', you'll find that there's always a lot of tidying up to do - and sometimes an awful lot. You'll need an 88 note keyboard to play in piano scores, you might just get away with 76, but 61 won't cut it.

If you're thinking of using the keypad to select note values and then the keyboard to select the notes, that's a system that many people do use. A 49 note keyboard like the M-Audio will suffice.

Bottom line, however, is that if you take the time to master keyboard input, that time spent will pay itself back over and over. OK, I read that you're a newbie, I've been using Sibelius since version 1 for PC - a long time. I can input via keyboard very fast! None of my Sibelius students have been taught to use anything other than keyboard input.

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