Transcription software

[Drum Dog]

I just viewed the video of Virgil going over Alien Hip Hop on his Mac and was wondering if anyone knows what kind of software he uses for his transcriptions? I'm looking for a good transcription program. I have a Mac with OS X (10.2.8)

[jimi]

Finale (which Virgil has) or Sibelius are the industry standards

[Christopher]

Yeah, exactly what Jimi said. However, I notice that there a lot more people using Finale.

[John Rizek]

Finale runs in Windows ?

[drummaman1]

There is a Finale 2004 for Windows.

Sibelius has a few more features, and the "midi engine" (what plays the notes with a string or woodwind patch, etc) is very true to life. In my practice with both programs, I found Sibelius a little more easier to use, but they both have a significant learning curve. Their manuals only scratch the surface of the features of their programs. Finale '97 (even back then) had at least THREE notation guides totaling over 1000 Pages!!! Imagine now!

I think picking between Finale and Sibelius is like picking favorite children. They are both excellent music-notation software programs. Use either what you can afford (they are both mega-expensive, Sibelius being a little more) or what you can get from a friend. They have them both for Windows as well as Mac, so you dont need to swtich platforms if you dont want to.

Hope that helps. If any info is incorrect, please correct. Thanks!

[John Rizek]

Thanks man, great explanation.