Call me fickle .. but Finale sorta looks better. Gives you more that feeling of writing on score paper. :D
I'm just starting out on Finale .. haven't bought the program yet .. just using the demo version and going through the tutorials .. I'm getting really into the idea of writing my music via score editor rather than midi because I have found that since using VI .. one doesn't need to do all the shoring-up that typically comes with midi libraries. One can write quantized notes in correct timing and it sounds very natural when played back.
The other advantage being that of course your score is then orchestra ready .. or close to anyways. Of course you all know this but it's a new thing for me.
The biggest problems I have in either Finale or Sibelius is to overcome the problem of Workflow. Neither program is all that intuitive out of the box and you need to know the short cuts and key commands to really get things done.
For instance .. changing the timing at a certain bar .. it's not obvious how one does that .. indeed I've been trying to find out for the last hour and I still can't do it :P. Whereas in logic one simply puts the Playback hairline in the appropriate bar and then on the transport bar you alter the bar structure to suit.
It's little things like that, that I like. Simple, easy and useful. I know, I know .. read the manual :D I am doing that too but I feel if they're going to improve these programs they might start with things like that. Would be nice to be able to click the mouse on the measures timeline (Or whatever you wanna call it) and have the hairline move to that point .. and play the music from there.
Either way I'm wanting to get further into this so I have to decide which program is going to give me what I want. I also need access to the expression controllers and if possible a way to see the score in midi form so I can get to grips with what I'm doing.
Do any of these do any of this?
I would press on with Logics score editor but I've spent the last 2 years trying to find a way to make it fit a full orchestra score and still haven't found how to do that. They seem to have aimed the logic score page at bands or very small ensembles.
Wonder if cubase is any better ... hmmm?
