Plug-in guru Bob Zawalich has added a new plug-in, Add Interval, that fills a void in Sibelius’s abilities to manipulate notes by interval.
Currently, one can add notes above existing notes, but only by diatonic intervals. It’s also possible to transpose by chromatic interval, but then one loses the original notes (in other words, there is no “Preserve Original Notes” in Sibelius’s Transpose dialog, the way there is in Finale).
Add Interval adds this functionality, by allowing intervals to be added using a fixed number of semitones, or by adding named intervals (like augmented 4th, minor 6th, etc.) to the selection. As Bob says, “this is similar to the Sibelius Interval Above/Below, except that Sibelius allows only diatonic intervals to be added.”
There are also companion plug-ins, Add Diatonic 10th Up and Add Diatonic 10th Down, which can be used to add the interval above the top selected note, or below the lowest selected note in each selected note or chord, respectively. These plugins require Add Interval to be installed, and can be edited to be used as templates for plug-ins for other intervals.
Download Add Interval here and Add Diatonic 10th here, or directly in Sibelius at File > Plug-ins > Install Plug-ins > Notes and rests.
Stay up-to-date on all the latest plug-ins and plug-in updates by visiting this blog regularly and looking at “Latest plug-in updates” on the right-hand side of any page.
Will Jones
“Currently, one can add notes above existing notes, but only by diatonic intervals.”
Actually, you can natively in Sibelius, but only in note input mode. For instance if you enter a note by pressing the ‘A’ key, you can select a flat/sharp/natural modifier and then press the interval, and it will be added as a chromatic interval. (e.g. ‘F’, Numpad-8, ‘C’ will give you a C#).
Don’t take this as saying the plug-in is useless. It’s not! You still can’t add a 10th+ interval natively, and if you come back to the note, you can only do it diatonically, etc.