Finale 2014 released; MakeMusic: “Others take music notation software development for granted”

[amazon asin=B00GK4VPFY&title=Finale 2014&thumb=https://www.scoringnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/finale2014.jpg&template=thumbnail-right]Today MakeMusic released [amazon asin=B00GK4VPFY&text=Finale 2014], the latest version of its flagship music notation program. Sporting the tagline “Own the Future,” MakeMusic is taking clear aim at Avid’s handling of Sibelius with their statement: “While others take music notation software development for granted, Finale is doubling down to provide you and your music a clear path to tomorrow.”

After initially trying to suppress the accidental release of product information, MakeMusic embraced the idea of sneak previews through a series of fun posts on the Instagram feed of senior product manager Justin Phillips:

Now with Finale 2014 out in the open, we can more surely discuss its merits. This being the Sibelius blog, after all, I won’t do a detailed review; the incredible Jari Williamsson does an excellent job of that. What follows is a comparison of Finale 2014’s marquee features with their Sibelius 7 counterparts. The intent is to be as objective as possible; after all, at NYC Music Services we use both Finale and Sibelius regularly, and personally I have been a Finale user since 1994 (version 2.0).

1. Full screen mode and Retina Display support for Mac notebooks. Finale 2014 is the first Finale version to support these features; Sibelius has always included a full screen mode on Windows and supported it on Mac with Sibelius 7. Retina support came to Sibelius over a year ago with version 7.1.3.

According to Justin, “The full screen mode uses Apple’s method for this, so we work well with Spaces and other full screen apps/multi-monitor support (especially in OS X 10.9).”

2. OS X Mavericks support. Finale 2014 supports it; Sibelius runs on Mavericks but with some problems. No details have yet been given regarding a fix, either by Avid or Apple. Note: Finale 2014 will only run on Mac 10.7 or higher (no Snow Leopard support).

3. New file format – but no 64-bit support. Finale 2014 (including FinaleScript) has been re-written on the Mac in Cocoa to modernize some of its dusty code and inconsistent dialogs; Sibelius 7 underwent a similar overhaul. Disappointingly, however, Finale 2014 is still not 64-bit. Sibelius 7 introduced native 64-bit support upon its initial release in 2011.

4. Backwards compatibility and “future-proofing”. Previous versions of Finale were unable to export files in earlier Finale file formats, commonly known as “backsaving”. The best option in recent Finale versions was to export files in MusicXML format, which lost a lot of native Finale data. This, coupled with the rapid yearly development cycle from 2000-2012, caused headaches for anyone collaborating and sharing Finale files.

In Finale 2014, MusicXML export has been retained, but there are two new advances. The first is that MakeMusic says that the new file file format “ensures that future Finale versions will all be able to share files with this same format.” In Jari’s review, he explains further by saying that “Finale 2014 should be able to read files from all future Finale versions directly.”

The second advance is a new option to export Finale 2014 — now with a native “.musx” extension — into a file in Finale 2012 format, which will have the “legacy” extension “.mus”.

Justin provided some additional information: “The plan for new .musx files is so that no export or save as is needed in future versions, so a file created in Finale 20XX can be opened in Finale 2014 with no special export needed.”

Of course, Sibelius has always been able to export files into earlier file formats — Sibelius 7 can export all the way back to Sibelius 2.

5. Newly designed tool palettes. Recent Finale versions offered a choice of 11 (yes, 11) styles of the tool palettes, each more garish than the next. Old-timers like me could even choose the “Traditional” option which evoked nostalgia for the days of the Macintosh Classic. Thankfully, these palettes have been redesigned, and the user’s ability to choose styles removed:

There is no analogous tool palette in quite the same way in Sibelius; love it or hate it, new Sibelius icons were introduced in Sibelius 7 via the Ribbon.

6. Support for open/atonal key signatures and “keyless” instruments. This has been a huge deficiency in Finale since its early days. If you had a piece in an “open key” where no key signatures were ever shown in the score or parts, you had to set each instrument to “Chromatic transposition”. Tedious, but possible — but if your score included sections with both open and traditional key signatures, the workaround multiplied to include placing Staff Styles on each of your transposing instruments during certain sections. And if you wanted to show your horns without a key signature and other instruments with key signatures, as is often done in orchestral music…serious Finale contortions awaited you.

Thankfully, Finale 2014 finally supports these options, and it may well be the case that the file format had to be re-engineered in order to accommodate these features. In any event, it’s welcome news that these options are possible in Finale, and Finale bests Sibelius by offering support for non-standard key signatures, as found in maqam and other types of music. Sibelius has always had true support for open keys and keyless instruments since version 1.0.

Finale 2014	Sibelius (all versions)

7. Automatically combined rests in multiple layers. This is a new feature in Finale 2014 that Sibelius doesn’t automatically support, activated by a setting in Finale’s Document Options and optionally controlled via a keystroke upon note entry. Both Finale and Sibelius have previously supported this through plug-ins (TGTools’s Join Rests of Multiple Layers for Finale; Bob Zawalich’s Hide Duplicate Rests for Sibelius).

It’s worth noting, though, that Sibelius will still more intelligently handle a situation where a rest is hidden in a voice for part of a measure; in Finale, one has to still manually flip stems, articulations, and other markings, in a tedious multi-step process:

Finale 2014	Sibelius 7

8. Improved handling of accidentals between layers. (Note: Finale “layers” are analogous to Sibelius “voices”.) In Finale versions prior to 2014, if an accidental occurred on the same note in multiple voices, one would be forced to choose between disabling Use Cross-Layer Accidental Positioning in Finale’s Document Options (resulting in poor handling of accidentals elsewhere in the score), or force-hiding the offending duplicate accidental in a voice and dealing with the consequences there.

Finale 2014 now intelligently handles these cases, as Sibelius already does:

Finale 2012	Finale 2014	Sibelius 7

Finale also always used to show an accidental when it was stated in another voice, even if it was not desirable (like in piano music). Finale 2014 improves this and offers a bit more flexibility than Sibelius regarding restating cross-layer accidentals by offering it as a per-instrument option in Staff Attributes > Redisplay Accidentals in Other Layers Within Measures. Sibelius offers this as a global option, when Restate accidental when seen in a new voice is switched off in Sibelius’s Engraving Rules > Accidentals and Dots > Cautionary Accidentals:

Finale 2012	Finale 2014	Sibelius 7

Cautionary accidentals in Finale 2014 are not automatic and must still be handled by the Cautionary Accidentals plug-in. Sibelius has automatically supported cautionary accidentals, with various attributes controlled in Engraving Rules since Sibelius 6.

9. Anchored measure-attached Smart Shapes. Finale 2014 takes incremental steps toward making lines (Smart Shapes) behave better. Measure-attached Smart-Shapes such as hairpins, trills, and 8va markings now have attachment points, just as expression marks do. This means that positioning will be better in linked parts, and for the first time in Finale, you can adjust the length of a measure-attached Smart Shape in a linked part without it affecting the score.

Hairpins and other measure-attached Smart Shapes now snap to an attachment point upon entry; once placed, they can be horizontally adjusted. There is no automatic collision avoidance or alignment in Finale 2014, nor does there seem to be a way to set the default vertical placement of hairpins and other measure-attached Smart Shapes.

Finale users have long had the ability to align dynamics on a case-by-case basis by calling up TGTools’s Align/Move Dynamics, which ships with Finale. If the score content or layout changed, the plug-in needed to be re-run, so it was best to do this near the end of the layout process.

Jari has demonstrated a group script called Fix Dynamics for a series of plug-ins he’s developing for Finale 2014, which appears to adjust for both collision avoidance and alignment:

 

While Jari’s plug-in will be a huge help for Finale users, having to accomplish these tasks on a case-by-case basis through a third-party plug-in pales when compared to Sibelius’s powerful Magnetic Layout feature, which was introduced with version 6 in 2009. Magnetic Layout not only automatically aligns objects horizontally, but also vertically, and it encompasses sophisticated collision avoidance as well, for which there is no comparable feature in Finale.

10. Improved percussion notation interface. Getting percussion notation to both look and play back correctly, all while trying to keep note entry from getting too complicated, is one of the most difficult challenges for notation software. Finale has long had the ability to map pitches and noteheads to specific MIDI pitches, which then call up a particular sound depending on the sample used. Finale 2010 improved some aspects of this, while confusing many users in the process.

Finale 2014 improves the user interface while keeping the underlying percussion map engine intact. Jari has an excellent write-up of the details. Sibelius’s way of handling percussion is not necessarily more or less complicated, or powerful, than the Finale way — it’s just different, and it hasn’t changed much in recent versions of Sibelius. (Interested users with 20 minutes to spare can learn the Sibelius method by watching my 3-part tutorial: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.)

11. Independent editing in Linked Parts. The Special Tools palette gives Finale users powerful customization options for things like stem length and shape, notehead shape, primary and secondary beam angle and placement, and so on. Until now, edits made with Special Tools affected both the score and parts, regardless of which was being worked on. Certain other tools, like the Speedy and Simple Entry Tools, were completely unavailable for use in voiced parts. Most plug-ins were also unavailable while working in a part.

Finale 2014 allows for greater independence between the score and the part, and also makes plug-ins available for use while working in a part. Again, Jari has the details. Sibelius has traditionally had more flexibility while working independently in a score or part. Although there is no voiced part feature in Sibelius like there is in Finale, Finale users will be disappointed to learn that because voiced parts don’t take advantage of this independence, the spacing problem affecting grace notes in voiced parts has not improved in Finale 2014.

12. Updated playback engine and more Garritan sounds. Garritan and Finale are both products of MakeMusic, the former being acquired in 2011. Garritan sounds have been bundled with recent Finale versions. Finale 2014 sports a new playback engine and includes some new instruments. Sibelius 7 included an all-new massive 38 GB library that is extensive, a resource hog, and underwhelming in terms of sound quality. Finale’s Garritan sounds are more lightweight and sound reasonably good for everyday use.

Frustratingly, it is still the case in Finale 2014 that entering notes in a transposing instrument in a transposed score will give aural feedback as if the score were in concert pitch. For instance, entering C-D-E-F in a Horn staff in Finale will, upon entry, sound as C-D-E-F but upon playback will sound as F-G-A-B flat. In Sibelius, you have the option to input either sounding or written pitches, but you will always get consistent aural result upon both entry and playback.

Both Finale and Sibelius support the use of third-party sound libraries, though only Sibelius supports ReWire, a feature added in Sibelius 6. Keep in mind that in you won’t be able to use any 64-bit sound libraries in Finale 2014 without an appropriate bridge solution.

13. Product support and price. Not so much a new feature as much as a recognition of commitment to customer satisfaction, MakeMusic offers unlimited complimentary technical support for current versions of ts notation programs, both by phone and online. Avid offers complimentary technical support for 90 days after purchase of Sibelius. After 90 days, individual Sibelius users must purchase an authorization code for $30 per incident ($40 for institutions) or $100 per year ($250 for institutions).

With an ever-increasing presence on the forums, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media, Justin Phillips deserves kudos for his quick responses and friendly customer engagement, as he has emerged as the leading official voice for Finale. Sam Butler is making a valiant effort as his Sibelius counterpart, but is surely limited by current circumstances, as well as by comparison with Daniel Spreadbury, who set the gold standard for customer interaction when he worked at Sibelius/Avid.

[amazon asin=B00GK4VPFY&text=Finale 2014 retails for $600], as does [amazon asin=B005FCW42K&text=Sibelius 7]. Discounted prices are available for [amazon asin=B00GIZ4LMO&text=academic users] and current Finale users ([amazon asin=B00GIZ4LMO&text=$350] and $139, respectively). Registered Sibelius users (or users of other commercial notation software such, as Encore, Notion, Overture, or Score) are offered a $139 competitive upgrade price. (Avid offers a similar Sibelius crossgrade for $200, although [amazon asin=B005I3IEK2&text=other retailers offer it for around $160].)

Final thoughts. Finale 2014 is a big and welcome step forward for longtime Finale users, and MakeMusic seems fully committed to Finale’s success, which is a great thing indeed for users of any music notation software. One can’t help but wonder what Finale would look like today had Sibelius not been around to provide competitive motivation through the years.

Whether by coincidence or not, most of Finale’s new features are designed to offer functionality that largely compares with what has been possible in Sibelius for quite some time. That these features are now the chief selling points of Finale lends itself to various conclusions — one of which is a recognition of the incredible talent that Avid lost when they downsized and eventually fired its London-based developers last year. One cannot help but recognize the foresight and skill that the former Sibelius development team had in conceiving workflows and features advanced enough that it took its main competitor more than two years to match them.

Whether Sibelius will keep pace with, let alone outpace Finale remains to be seen. Be assured that any developments regarding the future of Sibelius will be reported on this blog.

Of course, the folks from the former Sibelius crew haven’t vanished; they’re working hard in their new positions at Steinberg. Anticipation is high and expectations are great that they will create a next-generation music composition and notation product that will rival, and perhaps surpass, both Finale and Sibelius. For now, though, users needing the most advanced music scoring and notation features have the two longtime-leading products to choose from, and the feature gap between them has considerably narrowed.

(Updated 1:58 pm with additional comments from Justin Phillips)