I Hate Finale

Sibelius beginners can discuss all things Sibelius here ("how do I...?").
Fulcanelli
Posts: 13
Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2007 10:53 am

Post by Fulcanelli » Thu Nov 01, 2007 4:43 pm

I'm a music teacher and depend heavily on music notation software to prepare lessons. Earlier this year I bought a full edition of Finale 2007 and I have to say, I have never used such a horrible program. It does everything (maybe too much) and is totally user UNfriendly. Nothing makes sense in that program and even the manual that came with it is totally useless. The man in the Finale forum is good, but when I have an issue, I can't wait half a day to resolve it. I bought the program because other musicians in online forums said it was the best. So I invested hundreds of dollars into a program that is horribly designed. I probably spend more time trying to resolve issues than score music. I am not new to computers and have been working on them for fifteen years. Normal office-type programs, photo editing, art programs are no problem for me. But FINALE is a pain in the, well, you know what I mean.

Has anybody here used both Finale and Sibelius? I teach guitar and use mostly standard notation and TAB. Is Sibelius any easier to use? No, is Sibelius TONS easier? Is it intuitive and is it laid out in a logical sequence of commands? Is it filled with secret hot keys that make things easier, but only if you remember all the short-cuts?


Rachmaninoff
Posts: 53
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2007 11:38 am

Post by Rachmaninoff » Thu Nov 01, 2007 11:23 pm

A lot of people use Finale, some friends of mine use Finale and they think it's the best, and they do everything on Finale. I guess it's just a matter of taste: before you buy Finale or Sibelius, you should try the demo versions, so that you get the "feel" of both, and then you can choose wich one you like most.

I've tested Finale before Sibelius, and when I tested Sibelius, it appeared much more intuitive to me. Yes, TONS easier. But that's my point of view, other people may have different opinions. That's why they make those demo versions. Take some free time to download and test them.

Good luck.

MelloCello
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2018 8:13 am
Sibelius Version: Finale
Operating System: Mac

Post by MelloCello » Mon Oct 15, 2018 8:18 am

I have never experienced a program more nightmarish than finale. Every single idiosyncrasy of this software was painstakingly crafted to absolutely infuriate the user. How a program as absolutely unintuitive as this can exist in the 21st century is beyond me. If only my school gave me the option on which software to purchase

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