- Composer Lev Zhurbin shares his laptop tips for Sibelius
- Avid’s Buzz blog features Sibelius guest blogger
- Hornist Marc Papeghin: “Sibelius 6 is just the best”
- Sibelius helps shape Tauk’s “Brokedown King”
- How Sibelius helped bring a Fritz Lang film score back to life
- Interesting links for 10 Aug
- Sibelius training sessions in New York on 25 September
- Headliner.fm: “Nobody does it better than Sibelius”
- Interesting links for 6 Aug
- Weekend poll: printer preferences
Sibelius First and Sibelius 6 comparison
In addition to the features of Sibelius First, Sibelius 6 also offers:
- Fully-flexible Magnetic Layout collision avoidance (new in Sibelius 6)
- Live Tempo for "conducting" tempo playback (new in Sibelius 6)
- Version tracking and comparison (new in Sibelius 6)
- High-quality Sibelius Sounds Essentials sounds
- Ideas hub
- Panorama view
- Compose to video
- Unlimited staves
- Extract instrumental parts as separate files, plus many other features for orchestral/band music
- Features for creating worksheets & exercises
- 'Arrange' feature to help with arranging & orchestration
- Over 130 plug-ins - extra features which do useful things
- Many more notations, e.g. very long & short notes, special symbols, unusual instruments
- Publishing features to make your scores look completely professional.
Here is a comprehensive table of the differences between the two programs.
(Features which are the same in both are not listed.)
General features |
Sibelius First |
Sibelius 6 |
| Types of music | Simple/moderate music of up to 16 staves | Scores & parts of any size or complexity; worksheets & exercises |
| Available as | Single copy only | Single copy (educational discount available), 5-pack, site license, network license |
| No. of computers you can install a single copy on | 1 | 2 (for use by same person, e.g. desktop + laptop) |
| On-screen manual | Short (about 200 pages) | Full (about 730 pages) |
| Technical help | Limited | By phone, email, fax & web site |
Notation |
Sibelius First |
Sibelius 6 |
| Accidentals | Normal & double only | Normal, double, quarter-tones, bracketed |
| Articulations | Common ones only | Full set |
| Bar numbers | At start of system only; can't restart bar numbering | Range of formats |
| Barline types | Single, double, repeat only | Single, double, repeat, dotted, early music |
| Bars, irregular | No, except pick-up bars | |
| Beams, cross-staff (in keyboard music) | - | |
| Beam/rest groupings | Fixed | Customizable |
| Brackets & braces | Fixed | Customizable |
| Change transposition of tranposing instruments | - | |
| Chord symbols (appearance and MIDI/text input) | Fixed | Customizable |
| Cue (small) notes | - | |
| Dotted notes | Single dot only | Single / double / triple dotted |
| Guitar chord diagrams | Limited | |
| Guitar scale diagrams | - | |
| Guitar tab | Basic only | Full |
| Instruments | Common instruments only, with fixed number of staves | Full customizable range |
| Jazz articulations | Scoops and falls only | Scoops, falls, doits and plops |
| Lines, custom | - | |
| Multi-arc slurs | - | |
| Note values | 32nd (demisemiquaver) to whole note (semibreve) | 512th note (7 beams) to "long" (double breve) |
| Noteheads, custom | - | |
| Ossia staves | - | |
| Page numbers | Automatic | Customizable |
| Special symbols | - | |
| Split multirests (in parts) | - | |
| Staves | Up to 16 per system | Unlimited number |
| Stemlets (half-stems) and ‘feathered’ beams | - | |
| Tuplets | Duplets (2:3) to nontuplets (9:8) | Any (e.g. 2, 7, 44:31, nested tuplets) |
Playback |
Sibelius First |
Sibelius 6 |
| Edit MIDI data | - | |
| Built-in sounds | Limited - included GM soundbank | Full range of high-quality sounds in Sibelius Sounds Essentials |
| Live Tempo (conduct playback by tapping) | Limited - playback only | Record, edit, clear and playback Live Tempo |
| Playback markings on specified repeats | - | |
| Playback of hairpins, rits & accel | Fixed | Adjustable |
| Playback of fermatas | Fixed | Adjustable |
| Words which affect playback (e.g. legato) | Fixed | Editable |
Utilities |
Sibelius First |
Sibelius 6 |
| Arrange - automatic arranging & orchestration | - | |
| Comments (‘sticky’ notes) | - | |
| Compare different scores or versions | - | |
| Copy and paste to Word and other programs | Low resolution (96dpi) only | |
| Display timecode | Single format | Customizable format |
| Edit Dynamic Parts | Limited | Full |
| Edit word menus | - | |
| Export a log of changes to a score | - | |
| Export lyrics as text file | - | |
| Export to previous version | - | |
| Filters (for editing similar objects) | - | |
| Find | - | |
| Focus on staves | - | |
| Graphics export (for e.g. creating worksheets) | - | |
| Highlight music | - | |
| Ideas Hub | Limited - no library | Over 2000 library ideas |
| Import MusicXML files | ||
| Instrument changes | - | |
| Keyboard shortcuts | Fixed | Customizable |
| Lyric verses allowed | 5 | Unlimited |
| Lyrics from text file | - | |
| Menus | Fixed | Customizable |
| MIDI file export | Type 1 GM only | Type 0 & Type 1 for any device |
| Note input options | Limited | Full |
| Panorama (scroll view) | - | |
| Paper & desk textures | 6 | Over 60 |
| Part extraction | - | |
| Paste As Cue | - | |
| Plug-ins | 8 | Over 130 |
| Properties window (to edit individual objects) | Limited | Full |
| Rehearsal marks | Default only | Fully customizable |
| Repeat structures | Default only | Fully customizable |
| Rulers | - | |
| Special page breaks | - | |
| Swap voices | - | |
| Versions | - | |
| Video (inc. timecode and hit points) | - | |
| Viewing options for Magnetic Layout, page margins, note colors, full screen, etc. | - | |
| Worksheet Creator | - |
Publishing |
Sibelius First |
Sibelius 6 |
| Advanced layout features | - | |
| Auto Layout options | - | |
| Edit fonts | Limited | Full |
| Edit staff types | - | |
| Edit text styles | - | |
| Engraving rules, edit hundreds of | - | |
| Headers/footers | Limited - no footers | |
| House Style import/export | Import only | |
| Magnetic Layout | Fixed | Fully customizable |
| Manage Dynamic Parts | - | |
| Manuscript papers (preset score layouts) | Few; can't create your own | Many; can create your own |
| Note spacing rules | Fixed | Customizable |
| Reset position/design of objects | Limited | |
| Set default object positions | - | |
| Staff spacing | Manual adjustment only |
Click here to compare Sibelius 6, Sibelius Student and Sibelius First.
Improvements in this version
If you are currently using the previous version of Sibelius First, why not upgrade?
Take advantage of the following improvements:
- Create scores for up to 16 staves (was 12)
- Score Starter templates help inspire you to you write in a wide range of styles
- Magnetic Layout – automatic collision avoidance
- Use VSTand Audio Units virtual instruments and effects
- Automatic page and staff size adjustments to fit music
- ReWire sync to DAWs and sequencers
- Automatic chord symbol recognition
- Repeat bars that play back
- Automatic cautionary accidentals
- Three new plug-ins
- Many types of MIDI devices supported