Quickly apply a sudden dynamic change such as “ff sub.” in Sibelius, Dorico, and Finale — and do it correctly.
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Parenthesize notes in Sibelius
When the need arises to parenthesize notes, you might resort to methods such as manually placing text or symbols. What you may not know is that placing notes in parentheses in Sibelius is much easier than that (and downright fun, too).
MuseScore 3.2 released with single note dynamics, more flexible automatic placement
MuseScore 3.2 has been released. Single note dynamics, more flexible automatic placement, percussion sticking, changing durations, and more improvements are featured in this latest update, along with design refinements and better performance.
Using tone clusters in Sibelius
Tone clusters are a shorthand notation for several adjacent notes played at once. In this comprehensive post, we’ll discuss many different ways to represent tone clusters in a notated score, and how to achieve those results in Sibelius.
Using the Pori chord symbol font with Finale [updated]
Steinberg’s handwritten music font Petaluma was made into a derivation for Sibelius called Pori. What if you want to use the Pori chord symbol fonts in Finale? We’re providing a custom chord library that will load up nearly every chord symbol you might want to use, along with the steps to set it up in your Finale document.
Update to angled slash chord fonts for Sibelius: new baseline, Scandinavian support, more
The Norfolk and Pori angled slash chord (ASC) fonts for Sibelius have been updated so that they are as easy as possible to use while adding even more features for power users. The baseline of the ASC fonts will better align with non-slashed chords, Scandinavian and Nashville Number System support is also added, and there are a number of other new features for chords in legacy mode.
View 2-page spreads in notation software and PDFs
Essential to any good printed part layout is the page turn. The easiest way to check for good page turns on-screen is to view the music as a two-page spread. We’ll quickly run through how to view music this way in all the major desktop music notation applications as well as in Adobe Acrobat and Mac Preview.
Spaces and the units of measurement for music notation
The space is the unit of measurement that defines the appearance of all other notational items. These basic settings in Finale, Sibelius, and Dorico matter as much as anything to affect how your music appears.
Finale version 26.1 released
MakeMusic has released Finale version 26.1, the first significant update since Finale v26 was released in October 2018. Articulations get further attention in 26.1, and there are also a few new MusicXML features.
Early music in Dorico is more than meets the eye
Dorico’s various dialog boxes, known as editors, allow users to easily customize areas of notation for specific types of scores. We explore the notation of a Handel secular cantata and an “ars subtilior” virelai. In both instances, Dorico is up to the task.