Notation Programs' Output Comparison

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jrethorst
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2016 9:39 pm
Sibelius Version: 6
Operating System: Mac

Post by jrethorst » Fri Apr 08, 2016 10:16 pm

Some years ago I created a PDF document using Sibelius and five other music notation programs to compare their output. Keeping in mind that reasons for choosing a program are largely of user interface and feature set, it's also worth comparing the look or "personality" of the finished score. As I told Abraham Lee, a notable music font designer who was interested in the project:

> The original point of the doc was to show what each program, using more or less its
> default settings, looks like. Although most of the programs are flexible enough that
> their output can be made to look like the other programs', some parts, e.g. music
> font and slur curves, may be less flexible. It's difficult to call it a rigid comparison
> since anyone's notion of defaults can differ. All of the entries were done by people
> pretty well versed in their respective programs, but it's interesting how the
> personality of the pages varies.

He replied:

> I couldn't agree more! It really is amazing to see how each application embeds its
> own personality into the score's appearance, beyond what is "correct" or not.
> Truly fascinating, indeed!

This eight-page PDF file, "Six Music Notation Programs", with the six versions of a one-page arrangement for solo classical guitar, is at:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/643 ... %20v.2.pdf

and it has received some interesting attention and discussion on various websites.

It's ready for an update, first to include the newer program MuseScore, and secondly to include output from current versions of the other programs. Although the present document is privileged to have LilyPond done by Han-Wen Nienhuys, one of the program's creators, and Sibelius done by Daniel Spreadbury, formerly that program's lead developer, they were not done using current versions.

The arrangement in MIDI is at:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/643 ... ure%29.MID

I don't own the current version of Sibelius. If anyone who does would like to do an update, I'd appreciate it. You'd receive credit in the introduction: if you do engraving as a business this could be a helpful reference for you. And it's an interesting project.

Thanks,
John


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