Sibelius - Music Composition Software

Compose at lightning speed

From a score-safe Review mode and idea-sparking loop playback, to better performance and timesaving workflows, Sibelius (formerly the “paid” version of Sibelius | First—learn more) gives you the power to write beautiful scores quickly using easy music composition software.

April 2019

Keep scores safe in Review mode

With the new locked-down, read-only Review mode, copyists, engravers, orchestrators, publishers, and teachers can have peace of mind knowing that you can’t accidentally edit or move anything out of place as you review a score. Freely navigate compositions and add comments to communicate rehearsal notes, feedback, or directions to an editor, engraver, or student. You can even annotate parts directly with a stylus or Surface Pro pen.

Spark ideas with loop playback

When composing, sometimes the best way to come up with parts is to improvise different melody lines, riffs, and chords over a section of music. Sibelius now enables you to select any part of your score for loop playback, so you can quickly experiment. You can even slow down the tempo during loop playback for easier rehearsal and lesson practice—ideal for students and teachers.

Find plugins fast

Sibelius makes composing, arranging, and engraving scores even easier through a variety of available plugins (most are free!) that can add functionality to the software or perform complex tasks for you. And now it’s easier to find the plugins you need with new search capabilities built into the Install Plug-ins dialog.

Notate and play back parts in unison

Got multiple instruments playing the same notes and melody lines in your score, such as an ensemble of violin or trumpet players? Instead of hearing only one voice play, Sibelius now supports playback for n players with Sibelius Sounds, NotePerformer, and other compatible sound libraries, enabling you to hear all of the richness and distinct nuances of having multiples of the same instrument part play together in unison.

January 2019

Navigate scores more easily

With new Go to Bar and Go to Page commands, you can have Sibelius jump to your specified section and immediately start playback without requiring an extra step—ideal for quickly hearing and comparing parts to keep your music writing and arranging momentum flowing.

November 2018

Experience better performance

With a complete upgrade of its underlying infrastructure, Sibelius is now even easier to use than ever. From interface improvements that align with native Mac and Windows OS experiences, to better user interaction, faster performance, and support for high-res displays and screen readers, Sibelius sets the stage for today’s modern workflows and the excitement tomorrow’s technology brings.

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Get intelligent note respacing

Need to reset note spacing? Sibelius now only respaces multi-voice bars when adding or removing notes when the “Respace multi-voice passages during note input and editing” feature is on, so you can type-set your music precisely as you intend it to appear.

June 2018

Work more gracefully with grace notes

Save crucial score preparation time and perfectly align grace notes across multiple voices on the same staff, without needing to manually fix spacing and collisions. With improvements made to the way Sibelius handles grace notes, you can now add grace notes of any value to any rhythm in any voice in perfect alignment, enabling you to create better looking scores faster.

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April 2018

Make multiple text changes simultaneously

Need to add or update expression text in more than one part of a score? Select multiple staves or notes and add or edit expression text to all instruments at once. You can do the same to add or edit technique text and other text types.

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Engrave scores faster

For engravers, you can now spend less time on reworking note spacing and more time finessing a stellar score. With improvements made to the way overlapping notes in multiple voices are automatically spaced, Sibelius generates better note legibility and accuracy as the music is being composed, so you can turn around beautiful scores faster.

Add comments directly on a score

With the Annotate feature, you can draw directly on a score and communicate edits, instruction, and feedback to others, streamlining collaboration and review. All annotations are grouped intelligently and always remain attached to the bar to which you’ve added them.

January 2018

Supercharge your workflow

Sibelius offers many new feature enhancements to boost your composing, arranging, and music preparation efficiency. It’s ideal for copyists to mark-up scores quickly and engravers to get the exact layout you need.

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Share and promote your work to the community

Share scores, get feedback, find collaborators, and showcase your skills to an extensive network of creative artists and media pros in the Avid Artist Community. You can even sync your Sibelius | Cloud Sharing scores with your Community portfolio.

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Expand your Cloud Sharing storage

Get more space to share and store more music—beyond the 20-score limit—with a premium cloud storage plan for Sibelius. And if you’re a Pro Tools user, you’ll be able to host cloud collaboration projects in the same space too.

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