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Sibelius | First
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Sibelius
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Sibelius | Ultimate
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GENERAL features |
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Ideal for... |
Composing simple scores with up to 4 instrument parts (staves) | Composing simple/moderate music with up to 16 staves | Composing, arranging, and publishing scores and parts of any size and complexity; creating notation worksheets and exercises for education |
| Availability | Available for free for anyone to download and use | Subscribe monthly or annually, or purchase and own a perpetual license | Subscribe monthly or annually, purchase and own a perpetual license (educational discount available), trade-up from other notation software, or get network licensing |
| Number of computers you can install a single copy on | N/A | 2, for use by same person (e.g., desktop + laptop) | 2, for use by same person (e.g., desktop + laptop) |
| Software updates and support | Download the latest update as it becomes available | Access all new releases and Standard support through a subscription or renewable 1-Year Software Updates + Support Plan (included with new perpetual licenses) | Access all new releases and Standard support through a subscription or renewable 1-Year Software Updates + Support Plan (included with new perpetual licenses) |
Compare
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Sibelius | First
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Sibelius
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Sibelius | Ultimate
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NOTATION |
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| Accidentals | Normal and double only | Normal and double only, bracketed | Normal, double, quarter-tones, bracketed |
| Metadata | Common ones only | Common ones only | Full set |
| Bar numbers | Limited | Limited | Full range of formats |
| Barline types | Single, double, repeat only | Single, double, repeat only | Single, double, repeat, dotted, early music |
| Bars, irregular | No | No, except pick-up bars |
+ |
| Beams cross-staff in (keyboard music) |
+ |
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| Beam/rest groupings | Fixed | Fixed | Customizable |
| Brackets and braces | Fixed | Fixed | Customizable |
| Change transposition of tranposing instruments |
+ |
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| Chord symbols appearance and MIDI/text input | Limited preset options | Limited preset options | Fully customizable |
| Cue (small) notes |
+ |
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Dotted notes: single, double, triple |
Single dotted |
+ |
+ |
| Guitar chord diagrams | Limited | Limited |
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| Guitar scale diagrams |
+ |
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| Guitar tab | Basic only | Basic only | Full |
| Instruments | Common only | Common, jazz, and world instruments only, with fixed number of staves | Full customizable range |
| Jazz articulations: scoops, falls, doits, and plops |
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| Lines, custom |
+ |
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| Note values: 512th note (7 beams) to "long" (double breve) | 32nd note to breve |
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| Noteheads, custom |
+ |
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| Ossia staves |
+ |
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| Page numbers | Automatic | Automatic | Customizable |
| Special symbols |
+ |
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| Split multirests in parts |
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| Staves | Up to 4 | Up to 16 per system | Unlimited number |
| Stemlets (half-stems) and "feathered" beams |
+ |
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| Tuplets | Duplets (2:3) to sextuplets (6:4) | Duplets (2:3) to nontuplets (9:8) | Any (such as 2, 7, 44:31, and nested tuplets) |
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Sibelius | First
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Sibelius
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Sibelius | Ultimate
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Playback |
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| Advanced notation interpretation |
+ |
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| Edit MIDI data |
+ |
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| Included sampled sounds | N/A | High-quality Sibelius Sounds (10 GB library) | Full range of professional-quality orchestral, jazz, pop, marching band, and percussion sounds in Sibelius | Ultimate Sounds (36 GB library) |
| Espressivo 2.0 | Presets only | Customizable rhythmic feel | |
| Live Tempo (conduct playback by tapping) | Limited—playback only | Limited—playback only | Record, edit, clear, and play back Live Tempo |
| Playback markings on specified repeats |
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Playback of hairpins, rits, and accels |
Fixed | Fixed | Adjustable |
| Playback of fermatas | Fixed | Fixed | Adjustable |
| Words that affect playback (e.g. legato) | Fixed | Fixed | Editable |
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Sibelius | First
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Sibelius
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Sibelius | Ultimate
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Utilities |
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| Annotate |
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Arrange: automatic arranging and orchestration |
+ |
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| Comments (sticky notes) |
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+ |
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| Compare different scores or versions |
+ |
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| Copy and paste to Word and other programs | Low resolution (96 dpi) only |
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| Display timecode | Single format | Customizable format | |
| Edit Dynamic Parts | Limited | Full | |
| Edit word menus |
+ |
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| Export a log of changes to a score |
+ |
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| Export lyrics as text file |
+ |
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| Filters for editing similar objects | Quick filters only |
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| Find |
+ |
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| Focus on staves |
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Graphics export (for creating worksheets and other content) |
+ |
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| Highlight music |
+ |
+ |
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| Ideas Hub | 300 library ideas, with the ability to capture your own ideas (editing not supported) | 300 library ideas, with the ability to capture your own ideas (editing not supported) | Over 2,000 library ideas, with the ability to capture and edit your own ideas and add to the score/library |
| Import MusicXML files |
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| Instrument changes |
+ |
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| Join scores together |
+ |
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| Keyboard shortcuts | Fixed | Fixed | Customizable |
| Lyric verses allowed | 2 | 5 | Unlimited |
| Lyrics from text file |
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| Note input options | Fixed | Limited | Full |
| Panorama scroll view |
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+ |
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| Paper and desk textures | 40 | 40 | Over 60 |
| Part extraction |
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| Paste As Cue |
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| Plug-ins | None | 38 included | Over 140 included |
| Inspector window to edit individual objects | Full | ||
| Rehearsal marks | Default only | Fully customizable | |
| Repeat structures | Fixed | Customizable | Fully customizable |
| Rulers |
+ |
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| Score Starter: (40 genre-specific templates) |
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| Slide notes and rests |
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| Special page breaks |
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| Timeline window |
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| Swap voices |
+ |
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| Versions | Latest (head) version only | Save, view, and print only |
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Video, including timecode and hit points |
Add video, add/edit hit points |
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| Viewing options for Magnetic Layout, page margins, note colors, full screen, and more |
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| Worksheet Creator |
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Sibelius | First
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Sibelius
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Sibelius | Ultimate
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Publishing |
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| Advanced layout features |
+ |
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| Auto Layout options |
+ |
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| Edit fonts | Limited | Full | |
| Edit staff types |
+ |
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| Edit text styles |
+ |
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| Engraving rules (edit hundreds of) |
+ |
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| Headers/footers |
+ |
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| House Style import/export | Import only |
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| Intelligent Rests |
+ |
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| Magnetic Layout | Fixed | Fixed | Fully customizable |
| Manage Dynamic Parts |
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| Manuscript papers (preset score layouts) | Includes a few; can't create your own | Includes a few; can't create your own | Includes many; can create your own |
| Multiple staff size | Fixed | Fixed | Fully customizable |
| Note spacing rules | Fixed | Fixed | Customizable |
| Reset position/design of objects | Limited | Limited |
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| Set default object positions |
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| Staff spacing | Fixed | Manual adjustment only |
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Sibelius | First
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Sibelius
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Sibelius | Ultimate
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Exporting and Sharing |
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| Audio recording export | WAV, AIFF, and MP3 | WAV, AIFF, and MP3 | |
| Avid Scorch optimized export (app available on the iTunes App Store) |
+ |
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| Email score as .sib or .pdf |
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| Graphics file export | PDF export only | Standard bitmap and vector formats (SVG, EPS, PNG, JPG, BMP, TIFF, GIF, and PDF) | |
| MIDI file export—Type 0 and Type 1 for any device |
+ |
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| MusicXML file export (compressed or uncompressed) |
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| Previous version export |
+ |
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| Publish directly to ScoreExchange.com |
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| Scorch (browser plug-in) web page export |
+ |
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| Share to YouTube, Facebook, SoundCloud |
+ |
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| Sibelius | Cloud Sharing | 10 scores | 20 scores | Unlimited (up to 1 GB storage) |
| Video file (export your score as) |
+ |
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Sibelius | First
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Sibelius
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Sibelius | Ultimate
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System requirements* |
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| Minimum requirements | Avid-qualified Mac or Windows-based computer (get the details) | Avid-qualified Mac or Windows-based computer (get the details); the 10 GB Sibelius Sounds library is an optional installation | Avid-qualified Mac or Windows-based computer (get the details); the 36 GB Sibelius | Ultimate Sounds library is an optional installation |
| Other | Internet connection required for software download and activation | Internet connection required for software download and activation; ASIO-compatible soundcard required for Sibelius Sounds (Windows requirement only) | Internet connection required for software download and activation; ASIO-compatible soundcard required for Sibelius | Ultimate Sounds (Windows requirement only) |
* If you have an external hardware MIDI playback device, please check to ensure a compatible sound set is available—see the list of sound sets supplied with Sibelius | Ultimate.
** Please note that if your computer doesn't meet the recommended requirements for Sibelius | Ultimate or Sibelius Sounds, you can still use the library, but may find that you can’t use as many sounds simultaneously and that sounds may take a long time to load.