Sibelius Quick Tip: Tidy up!

When I first started using Sibelius 6, it quickly became evident that Magnetic Layout will save time. A lot. The program finally has the ability to avoid objects going on top of each other.

It still won´t fix everything, and the case in point is the free room between the staves; if there´s not enough room, You just have to grab the staves with Your mouse and do the drag.

But here comes the second most important feature in the version 6 (I think) to rescue: Optimize Staff Spacing (From "Layout"). Just select Your whole score, and Optimize. Few seconds will go by, depending on the size of the score, and the result should be a much cleaner-looking score. Assign a keyboard shortcut, and use frequently whenever Your score begins to look too crowded.

Another tidy-up tip: If some notes seem to take up too much horizontal space, or if Your lyrics start to collide with each other: Run the "Reset Note Spacing" (again from "Layout").

Use these two features at the same time, and enjoy good-looking scores like never before!

Sibelius Soundset creation - EZDrummer

Thought I could share this, if someone finds use for a custom EZDrummer (by Toontrack) soundset. I´ll briefly walk through some of the aspects.

--EDIT: I have rewritten the text a bit, there was room to make the instructions a bit simpler.


First, download the soundset-file itself (a zipped archive):

EZDrummer_soundset

EZDrummer is a very easy library to get good results fast, and especially with Sibelius: A single note/key triggers multiple samples, so a same note repeated doesn´t sound like a machine gun...

There are a couple of steps to do, start by placing the soundset into the right folder:
-The soundset is a file with an .xml-ending, place it inside Your Sibelius user directory. In Mac it´s (user name)->Library->Application Support->Sibelius Software->Sibelius 6->Sounds, create Sounds-folder if it does not exist.

Now reboot Sibelius.

You also need to create a Playback configuration:
-in Sibelius, choose Play->Playback Devices. It´s best (necessary) to create a new Playback configuration and save it under a name that best describes the plug-ins You want to use.
Next find Your installed EZDrummer plugin (and other plug-ins You want to use together) and activate it. Go to Manual Sound sets tab, under Device choose EZDrummer (the plug-in), and under sound set choose EZDrummer. Tick "Use manual sound set" and under channel select desired channel, and on Program name choose "Basic EZDrummer". And don´t forget to click Apply. Phew....
--Warning: Playback configurations are not always recalled correctly when changing scores. So if in doubt, check here that a correct configuration is selected.--

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All that is left is to select a drumkit as the instrument (any type will do, jazz, rock...) and Sibelius should handle the rest. EZDrummer sounds can now be played using Sibelius´s default input keys and default Sibelius percussion noteheads. You can see these noteheads in Sibelius Reference on page 161 (v.6). I could have also used the General MIDI default keys, but I find the Sibelius layout comfortable, cause it relates to the actual "notes" in the treble clef. In other words, snare drum lives on C an octave above middle C.


I´ll try to answer any questions, leave feedback in any case!

best,

Jussi L.

Power tips for faster Sibelius use

Some miscellaneous tips to make using Sibelius faster in everyday composing/arranging.

Tip nr 1:

Use the Sibelius Arrange-feature (Notes->Arrange) to quickly spread out chords to a batch of instruments. You can also use the filters (Edit->Filter->Notes in Chords) to do same kind of thing, but the Arrange-feature has a special benefit: It doesn´t mess up Your tuplets.
Copy (or Cut) the chords You want to spread out, select the staves You want to arrange them to, and do the Arrange-thing, selecting either Reduction or Explode. Explore!

Tip nr 2:

Use the Re-Input Pitches to quickly change pitches in a harmonized line (if the rhythm stays exactly the same). Proceed as in inputting regular notes.
In Notes->Re-Input Pitches

Tip nr 3:

There is a keyboard shortcut for almost everything, and if not readily available, You can probably assign one yourself.
-For instance those noteheads with a slash, often used to notate rhythms in popular music: Input a note (maybe middle in the clef?), select it and press shift-alt-4 (main keyboard). And for the slashes without a stem, do shift-alt-3.
-Although Magnetic Layout is really best switched on almost all of the time, there are couple of occasions I will switch it off. If You really want to place some objects close to each other, or clashing on purpose. For this I´ve also assigned a shortcut that toggles magnetic layout on/off.
One such case is harp´s arpeggio lines, which really should be connected to each other.

The more You learn to use keyboard shortcuts, the faster You´ll work with Sibelius. If there is already a keyboard shortcut assigned to a function, You´ll find it in the menu listed on the right side. If not, make Your own (in Preferences->Menus and Shortcuts)


Feel free to comment!

Polishing the parts with Sibelius

Thought I´d share a couple of pointers about efficient score-and partwriting with Sibelius, really very simple things that ensures Your big session will go as smoothly as possible. Ideas in this text were further intensified by the last session with Philharmonia Orchestra, where I had to proofread and correct some of my respected colleagues work as well.

Imagine this: You have 70 players waiting in the studio, and suddenly the flute player drops his pile of charts, accidentally dropping the oboe player´s music as well. Well, now You have maybe 50-60 pages of music lying on the floor, all messed up. Did You remember to label every song and every page of every part? Uh oh...

--In Sibelius, select Create->Text->Other System text->Header (after first page), and click ON THE FIRST PAGE.
This makes sure that Your parts have the title also on subsequent pages as well.
Why click on the first page? The text is set to be invisible on the first page, that´s why it´s easiest to create on the first page as well. Now Your song has the title on every page, in Your score AND in the parts.
Another trick: In the parts, the title and the instrument name from page two forward collide if done like described previously. Solution: When creating the "Header (after first page)" as described above:
--press Enter in the beginning of the text, to make an empty line of text above the title.

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What if some players have a ritardando, and some don´t? With a big orchestra, finding the right place and penciling it in will take some time. And if time is tight, You´ll be better off to make it right from the start.

Sibelius makes an important distinction about System objects and Staff objects: System objects are the same for every part, whereas Staff objects are only meant for a one staff, really. So don´t write ritardando with a Staff text in Your score; it´ll be only on the one part/staff where it is attached.

With tempo markings, it really is best to use the System Lines:
--From Create->Line->System Lines (the right side), scroll down a bit to find a suitable line and click at the desired point.
With this method, every part has the same tempo marking in the right place, and Sibelius also plays a tempo change.

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And the last bit of advice: For really fast partwriting, upgrade to Sibelius 6. The new Magnetic Layout is really the closest thing to producing good-looking parts almost automatically. Difference to Sibelius 5 is really noticeable. (No, I´m not working for Sibelius/Avid).

I used to make some income in the early nineties by doing some music copyist work. This was with real paper, real ink pens with refillable ink tanks. Messy, no undo, no cut and paste..... Now it starts to feel that computers are here to really ease and automate the process. With Sibelius 5 there was still a lot more work to be done manually.

Really basic things, I know, but as it seems, it pays to get Your basics right....

Until next time


Jussi L.

Jari Sillanpää - New album recorded at Abbey Road

I was recently given a chance to participate in the making of finnish singer Jari Sillanpää´s new album, featuring London´s famed Philharmonia Orchestra. The album was recorded in Abbey Road, studio 1, about a week ago. All that remains is overdubbing the vocal parts and mixing the album (basically thinking...).

Now, this is something that I´ve been dreaming about; write for a big orchestra, one of London´s (no, make it the world´s) best, and record it in a studio that every music enthusiast the world over knows.

I wrote three of the arrangements together with Janne Huttunen (we work at the same music production house, Neomusic Ltd.). I was more responsible for the orchestration, while Janne did more of the arranging, although the boundaries blurred a lot in the process.

In the process I also helped to put some finishing touches on a couple of other people´s arrangements. In the next couple of days I wanna share some of the details that went into producing the score and the parts for this project.

Philharmonia Orchestra can be found here:

http://www.philharmonia.co.uk/

Oh, how did it sound? Well...absolutely gorgeous! Beyond my expectations, really. The room sounds beautiful, and the level of the sight-reading these players have is really something.