Sibelius yields new songs, new discoveries
for David Finck

For David Finck, music is not only a vocation, but a lifelong education. Yet despite his success, Finck will be the first to admit that each step came with the obligatory learning curve—in becoming one of the most sought-after bassists in New York, in making the transition to becoming an equally sought-after arranger and producer, and as a relatively new Sibelius user.

Hailing from a musical family, Finck began playing bass at age 10, studying with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra while still in high school. He graduated from the Eastman School of Music, and shortly thereafter began touring with Woody Herman and his Thundering Herd. Since then, he has built a reputation for diversity, moving comfortably between jazz, pop, Brazilian and classical genres, while amassing appearance and recording credits that read like a “Who’s Who”—Dizzy Gillespie, Aretha Franklin, Sinead O’Connor, Natalie Cole, Rod Stewart, Herbie Hancock, Al Jarreau, Tony Bennett, Ivan Lins, Paquito D’Rivera, George Michael, Rosemary Clooney, Andre Previn and Elton John.

Finck is currently working on a Brazilian-themed project with American singer Christy Barron, mapping out parts for piano, bass, drums, two horns, vocal and Brazilian percussion.

 

“I’m using the program primarily to generate lead sheets,” he explains, regarding his newest composition and arranging partner, Sibelius 4. “I still like to write things out by hand, or at the piano, because I often like to experiment with the harmony. It’s slow and deliberate, because I’m a bass player, not a pianist. When the song starts coming into shape, I enter it into Sibelius using the computer keypad, or with a small MIDI keyboard when traveling. Being able to hear your work is a great fact-check, and if the singer decides she wants everything a half-step higher, you can change the entire composition with the push of a button. What’s more, the print outs are clear, which is great—I have terrible calligraphy!”

Finck had examined other music notation programs, but found them to be either technically overwhelming or incomplete. “I had previewed one program on the Internet,” he says, “and amazingly, it didn’t contain any jazz chords—no flat 13, no sharp 11. For me, those are staples. John Oddo, who was Rosemary Clooney’s long-time accompanist and arranger, introduced me to Sibelius, and it blew me away.”

Not only the program, but also many of its peripherals, have also turned out to be valuable tools. “The guide is incredibly user-friendly, especially for people like me,” he explains. “After all, we’re musicians, not computer experts, and we hate to read pages of instructions. The website is also terrific. It’s fascinating to learn that there are so many enthusiasts out there, and that you can get help from all over the world, literally. In my limited use, I’ve found out that there are many ways to do something.”

 

Finck has also discovered the archival benefits of the program. “I’m in the process of building a library of songs and arrangements in Sibelius so they can be downloaded and printed when needed,” he says. “Right now, everything lives on my laptop, but I’m going to load everything to a second computer. The program is also really easy to back up, so every few months I burn an archival CD.

“I know I’m only using about a tenth of the program’s capabilities,” he adds, “but every couple of weeks, I find myself getting deeper into the program. A lot of people—and I was one of them—think that music software is daunting, completely out of their realm. But it’s just the opposite. It’s always good to work in a new medium like this. You not only learn a lot about new technologies that make your work easier, you also learn a lot about yourself as a musician.”

For more information, visit http://www.davidfinck.net.

To date, there are more than 100,000 Sibelius users worldwide, including television composer Alf Clausen, musician Pat Metheny, composer Sammy Nestico, choral composer John Rutter, guitarist Andy Summers and conductor Michael Tilson-Thomas.

Notes to editors

• Sibelius is the world's market leader in music notation software.

• Sibelius was founded in 1993 by Ben and Jonathan Finn to sell music notation software for the Acorn computer. The Sibelius notation software was released for Windows and Mac in 1998/99.
• Since then the Sibelius Group has developed 11 music products for the professional, educational and home user, ranging from Internet publishing to guitar software.

• Sibelius has customers in over 100 countries.

• Sibelius is used in 50% of schools in the UK , Australia and New Zealand.
• Sibelius is endorsed by the Royal Academy of Music and is used by all the major music academies and colleges: The Royal College of Music, Trinity College of Music, The Juilliard School, Berklee School of Music, The Sibelius Academy in Finland , The Royal College of Music in Stockholm
• The world's leading music publishers, including Music Sales and Hal Leonard, all use Sibelius technology
• Sibelius is headquartered in London , UK , with a US subsidiary, Sibelius USA Inc., in Walnut Creek , California and a new Australian subsidiary, Sibelius Australia Pty Ltd, based in Adelaide.