It’s been a little while since I mentioned the fine work that Jonathan Loving is doing, providing Sibelius compatibility for a number of third party virtual instruments and sample libraries by creating sound sets and other supporting files to go with them. Partly a labour of love, and partly a shrewd business move, Jonathan has […]
March 2010
Unpitched percussion in Sibelius, redux
My good friend Katie Wardrobe (@katiesw1 on Twitter – follow her!) has added another great tutorial on her blog, MusicTechTips, on the subject of creating drum parts from scratch. Once you’re ready for more fun with unpitched percussion, check out this earlier post.
How Sibelius can help musicians with dyslexia
Last Thursday I had the pleasure of running a break-out session at the British Dyslexia Association’s first Music Conference, which was held at the Royal Academy of Music. I was invited to speak about how Sibelius could be used by musicians with dyslexia, and over the course of a lively session we discussed a number […]
Understanding margins in Sibelius
In order to produce a good, consistent and attractive layout, there are many factors you have to consider. First you have to determine page size and staff size, and then from there you need to work out how to ensure there is sufficient white space around the edges of the page, and sufficient distances between […]
Mix and match music fonts
Sibelius includes four complete families of music fonts as standard, each of which has a slightly different look. Opus, the default music font family, has a modern look with elliptical noteheads and strong lines. Helsinki is more traditional in appearance, with rounder noteheads and finer lines. Inkpen2 and Reprise are handwritten in appearance, the former […]
Save time with six speedy Sibelius selection shortcuts
Here are half a dozen useful keyboard shortcuts for Sibelius that you should add to your arsenal if they’re not already engrained into your muscle memory. 1. Select More Being able to select objects in the score efficiently is one of the keys to working quickly with Sibelius. Edit > Select > Select More, which […]
Danny Elfman’s Alice in Wonderland score prepared in Sibelius
Tim Burton’s latest blockbuster, Alice in Wonderland, opened at cinemas last weekend. It marks his seventh collaboration with leading man Johnny Depp, but even more remarkably his fourteenth collaboration with composer Danny Elfman. Sibelius was used to produce the conductor’s score and all of the parts for Alice, and I talked to copyist Ron Vermillion […]
John Metcalfe on arranging Peter Gabriel’s “Scratch My Back”
This past February, Peter Gabriel released his eighth studio album, Scratch My Back, which is a striking collection of 12 songs made famous by a diverse range of artists – including Lou Reed, Elbow, Radiohead, and David Bowie – arranged for full orchestra. Peter Gabriel collaborated with pianist Jason Rebello, orchestrator and arranger John Metcalfe, […]
Strictly Composing winner Julian Pombo is a Sibelius Student
I was delighted to receive a letter here at Sibelius HQ from a young composer called Julian Pombo, who has won the Strictly Composing competition, which was organised as part of the UK government’s Tune In – Year of Music initiative. The Year of Music is designed to get children and young people across the […]
Avatar composer James Horner: “Without Sibelius, we’d be lost”
Check out this fantastic video taking you behind the scenes on the scoring and sound design of James Cameron’s Oscar-winning blockbuster, Avatar, which became the highest-grossing movie in history in an astonishing 20 days. And if you are one of the millions of people around the world who has seen the film, you will have been […]