Avid “Sibelius First” Brings Fast and Easy Music Notation Program to Home Musicians

New consumer music notation and composition software leverages industry standard scoring software to enable consumers to compose, score and share music

Tewksbury, Mass, January 7, 2010 - Avid® today introduced Sibelius® First, a consumer notation and composition software application that makes music creation fast and easy for virtually anyone. Sibelius First takes advantage of Avid’s Sibelius 6 toolset – the industry-leading professional scoring software –for its ease of use and innovative features. Sibelius First helps people easily notate, scan, play back, transcribe, arrange, print and publish their music, virtually eliminating the intricacies of musical notation that novice users might find cumbersome.

Sibelius First software is an ideal solution for creative people interested in making their own music, from the hobbyist composing music at home to the songwriter who needs to produce individual parts for their bands.

Sibelius First Features Include

• Magnetic Layout: enables users to cut score preparation time by automatically moving score elements into their perfect position.
• Dynamic Parts: automatically synchronizes any changes made to music and transposes according to the instruments they contain.
• Keyboard and Fretboard windows: allows users to input notes by clicking on keys, or by playing their computer’s keyboard like a piano, ideal for anyone unfamiliar with many of the basics of music notation.
• Chord symbols: enables songwriters to quickly add chord symbols for an entire lead sheet.
• Easy to Share: Allows composers to easily play back scores and create audio files for backing tracks, CDs and MP3 sharing.
• Online publishing – Allows consumers to publish music online in a form that can be played back, transposed and printed out directly within a Web browser. Consumers can also sell their music online at SibeliusMusic.com.

Pricing and Availability

Sibelius First software is compatible with Mac OS X 10.4 or later, Windows XP (SP2), Windows Vista, Windows 7 (32-bit or 64-bit), and is now available at major retailers and e-tailers for $129 USMSRP.