Any Sibelius guitar-playin' MIDI types out there?

Poststructural Pub
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Finally dropped a bundle on Sibelius as my aging copy of Finale won’t work on my new box and I hate that program. I got ed discount but not crosstrade as my copy was part of an NPS grant and was registered to the non-musician who got it for me and others to compile music for grant project.

I have only loaded it thus far. Paid $$ for the scan program only to find out that Epson is not keeping up with a TWAIN driver for Snow Leopard, so I have to scan in Photoshop then open a tiff.

Anyway, is it even worth considering getting some kind of hexa-whatever pickup for my guitar so I can use that as entry medium? I don’t even have a midi keyboard and my skills suck at that anyway. What is the state of the art at this moment? Years ago, midi guitars were pricey and I never bothered. I have no intention of using the equipment for anything other than using it for notation…
Will it even work with nylon strings and, if only with steel, do you have to use elec. gtr strings?

I tried doing a search and I got outdated info or techie sales offers assuming I know what I need.
And, what is the deal with using a mic directly? How can that work? Do you need an interface box? I got plenty of mics but…

I have a ton of original arrangements, songs I wrote, gtr and flute arrangements, and on and on. I would like to get some output after struggling with Finale for years. I have well over two hundred Finale projects and left an old computer set up to export them for Sib. XML, right? The damn handbook that came with Sibelius doesn’t even mention opening Finale files..

Thanks.

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I can’t help with most of your questions, but here are a couple pointers:

  • you can download a full manual in pdf from the website.

  • midi entry can work, but only if you play very strict time. If you swing, it’s not so good, although quantizing can help. But if you play gracenotes, it’s either going to notate them as notes, or take them out. It’s also going to get confused if you change tempos.

  • sibelius is great for computer keyboard entry. You use one hand for the note names, and the other to change the note values, on the numeric keypad.

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Thanks, Piper. I did wonder why the handbook that came in box was so slight. Compared to 2004 Finale, I’m sure the interface will be much easier no matter what…