If you’ve been following our coverage of Graphical MIDI Tools, you’ve watched James Barx — whose work on that plug-in you may have known under his earlier name, Santiago Barx — steadily expand what’s possible for Sibelius users who want DAW-like MIDI control inside their notation software. Velocity editing, graphical tempo curves, hit points, a free tier: each update has demonstrated that there’s continued demand for this kind of nuanced playback shaping within Sibelius.
Now James is broadening his ambitions considerably, with a rebrand under the ScoringWorld moniker and a Custom Tool Program. The first three public tools from that program are now available at our Notation Central marketplace.
That’s not all; the flagship Graphical MIDI Tools plug-in has itself received an update, and stands at version 2026.5.
The ScoringWorld Custom Tool Program
The premise of the Custom Tool Program is that most composers, arrangers, and music preparers have at least one aspect of their daily workflow that doesn’t map cleanly onto what Sibelius provides out of the box. James’s approach is to work directly with those users: an initial meeting to study the workflow and sketch out possible solutions, followed by a build phase where a working prototype typically comes together within two to three weeks.
From there, a fine-tuning phase ensures the tool does exactly what it needs to do. When the tool is finished, the user has a choice: keep it as a private studio tool, or contribute it to ScoringWorld’s public catalog through an affiliate program. The three tools described below represent the first to cross that threshold from private commission to public release — each one born out of a collaboration with a working composer or performer who had a specific, real-world need.
The three Custom Tools
Graphical Harp Tool
The tool with the most appeal for those working in traditional and film orchestra contexts, Graphical Harp Tool lets you write harp glissandos and construct pedal diagrams visually within Sibelius.
Anyone who writes for harp regularly knows how painstaking it can be to assemble that notation by hand. Of course, regular Scoring Notes readers will no doubt be aware of the many existing tools already available to users wishing to extend Sibelius’s default capabilities in this area; Bob Zawalich has even devoted an entire e-book to the subject of notating for harp in Sibelius, which we provide for free on Notation Central. There is also a specialty font designed by Jawher Matmati expressly for this purpose; it’s called HP Diagram and is also available (for $5) at Notation Central.
Still, what’s been missing from Sibelius is something analogous to what first appeared in MuseScore Studio 4.1, and, later, in Dorico 5.1.10, allowing the user to effectively work graphically with an in-application harp pedal visualizer. Graphical Harp Tool bridges that gap and more. It was originally created by ScoringWorld on commission from Lior Rosner, a composer and arranger for film, television, and concert music.
When you select two notes in Sibelius and open the Graphical Harp Tool. The pedals are automatically set according to the current key signature. Clicking the Apply button inserts a glissando with the corresponding accidentals. The tool will give you a helpful preview of the diagram, and clicking Insert Diagram inserts the diagram into the score.
James has designed the tool with Graphical MIDI Tools in mind. Corresponding MIDI notes (added as hidden text) cover the complete glissando range for accurate playback.
Walking Bass Tool
The Walking Bass Tool automatically generates jazz walking bass lines from the chord symbols written in the staff. It represents a real time savings if walking bass writing is a fixture of your work — whether you’re a jazz arranger, a lead sheet prep specialist, or a film composer who needs a convincing bass foundation in a hurry.
Select a passage with chord symbols in your bass staff, click the big Stomp button, and a walking bass line will be created automatically. You can prioritize the third, fifth, or octave at the beginning of each bar, depending upon your preference.
Although most bassists in the jazz milieu will be capable of improvising walking lines, the Walking Bass Tool is ideal if you need to create a chart for someone not comfortable improvising, or to create an audio demo.
Native American Flute Tool
Created with Tim Land, a Native American flute player and engineer from California, the Native American Flute Tool automatically inserts fingering charts and supports Nakai TAB notation — the tablature system specific to the NAF. For film composers or arrangers working in this idiom, having fingering charts and Nakai TAB integrated directly into the Sibelius workflow removes a difficult manual step.
Fingering charts can be created easily using the flute diagram interface by clicking on the holes to indicate fully covered positions, and by using Shift + Click for half-covered holes.
When you select a passage and click the Auto button, the tool will automatically apply the corresponding fingering charts to each selected note.
The fingerings are based on standard positions provided by default and can be fully customized. You can override the automatic presets with your own custom fingerings. Click the Presets button to reveal the Preset Manager drawer.
GMT 2026.5: what’s new, and a key compatibility note
Alongside the Custom Tool Program launch, ScoringWorld has also issued a Graphical MIDI Tools (GMT) 2026.5 update with two workflow improvements worth knowing about.
First, GMT now opens the full staff while you work: the selected passage is still the focus, but the surrounding track — notes, automation curves and all — stays visible on either side of the window, giving you more context as you edit.
Second, per-note velocity editing has been added, so when you’re working with a chord and need to assign different velocities to individual notes, you can select those specific notes and have the pencil tool act on them alone.
The more significant news in 2026.5, though, is a compatibility change: GMT now requires Sibelius 2024.3 or later. GMT has moved entirely to Sibelius Connect for its communication with Sibelius, and the legacy shortcut-key method is no longer supported. As we covered when the free GMT Lite tier launched, Sibelius Connect has been available since Sibelius 2024.3 — and if you’ve been using a recent version of Notation Express for Sibelius, you may already have it configured. But if you’re running an older version of Sibelius, this update requires an upgrade before GMT will work.
Availability
All three ScoringWorld custom tools are available now at Notation Central for $19.99 each: the Graphical Harp Tool, the Jazz Walking Bass Tool, and the Native American Flute Tool.
Graphical MIDI Tools — in both its free Lite edition and the full $79.99 paid edition — is also available there, as always.
