Former Sibelius Programmers Developing New Notation App

Steinberg VST 3.5Steinberg today announced that it has a new notation tool on the way, being built by the people that previously created Sibelius.

Here’s what Steinberg’s Daniel Spreadbury has to say about the project:

It’s rare for an established development team to get the chance to develop a whole new application in the same area as their previous one, and we believe our combined experience gives us a unique perspective on how to design a new application that will overcome the limitations of existing programs, escaping the legacy of code that is 20-plus years old.

We have a vision for a flexible, powerful music notation application that is equal to the task of notating today’s most challenging art music and capable of producing graphical results of the highest quality, while providing an environment for composing and arranging that is as close as possible to the simplicity of writing music with pencil and paper, or improvising at your instrument. I will share plenty more details about how that vision translates into design considerations in future posts.

Steinberg is the ideal home for our new venture, and we are beyond delighted that its leaders asked us to join their team. Steinberg builds tools that change musicians’ lives, and that comes from a deep understanding of what musicians need, often before they know they need it. Every one of our new colleagues that we have met shares our passion for music and delivering to customers what they want. We are looking forward to contributing directly to the amazing portfolio of products and technologies that Steinberg has built over its near 30-year history.

Avid recently put Sibelius into limbo, when it cut loose Spreadbury and his team. Today’s announcement doesn’t change that, but does guarantee that there will be some competition in the world of notation apps.

via peter kirn

6 thoughts on “Former Sibelius Programmers Developing New Notation App

  1. This is great news! As someone who has tried Finale and Sibelius and found things to like and not like about either; I’m glad to hear that a new option is coming. Moreover, if they are responsive to feedback from users, that will be a huge plus. How can I get on the beta-tester list?!

  2. Save your hard-earned music money and get the open-source alternative that does everything you need: MuseScore. http://musescore.org/ It was used for the Open Goldberg project, which provided a new engraving for Bach’s Goldberg Variations–a true testament to its capabilities.

    1. Musescore is rad, but frankly using the Goldberg variations as your prime example of a notation program’s capabilities is a bit like showing off your new computer by pointing out how fast pong runs on it.

  3. Muse Score is really good, and it is such a great community. It’s not fair to presume it will do “everything you need” since everyone’s needs are different. It has it’s limits. But it is a continually evolving and great project.

    It’s not either or. I think Muse Score is fabulous for many tasks. Professionals who need notation as a central part of what they do will probably want to use MuseScore and another program.

  4. My dream: Sibelius (or the Finn’s new creation) full score on my stand. I load my next tune up for rehearsal and it loads instantly in the players ipads. If I need to correct a few notes, I do so and it appears instantly. On the job, need to skip 3 tunes and keep the rock-n-roll going? No problem, click desired tune and don’t even stop the beat. Ran across Daniel’s post here and this news made my day. Daniel was great on Sib chat, and was a good friend to all of us for lots of years.

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