The Sibelius Group has announced the Mac OS X release of Sibelius 2, its music notation software. The developer said that its software is the first music notation software to be released natively for Mac OS X.
Sibelius 2 for Mac OS X incorporates more than 200 new features and enhancements. The software now incorporates a feature called “Arrange,” which will arrange and orchestrate music automatically. The Arrange feature was partly designed by Michael Price, whose orchestration credits include the HBO production “Band of Brothers.”
Note input has been reengineered and is faster. The developer said that Sibelius 2 enables users to utilize almost every feature in Sibelius 2, including copying and pasting and moving lines and staves, without touching the mouse. Playback has also been enhanced with improvements to Rubato and Rhythmic Feel, which adds human-sounding playback.
Sibelius 2 also makes it easier to import color and graphics — professional covers and color graphics can be added to worksheets; notes can be colored according to pitch, a useful tool for music teachers; and users can highlight areas of a score to mark up sketches, make coursework or highlight practice areas.
The Sibelius Group has also released PhotoScore Professional 2 for Mac OS X. It’s a new version of the company’s optical music recognition software that enables users to scan printed music into Sibelius 2 — once it’s scanned, the files become fully editable Sibelius data that can be transposed, rearranged, played back and printed. It’s actually the advanced version of the “Lite” software included with Sibelius 2. The developer said the pro version can scan and read faster and more accurately than the lite version.
Sibelius 2 carries a suggested retail price of US$599 and PhotoScore Professional 2 costs $100 more, when purchased with Sibelius 2 — or $199 separately.