Sibelius All models User Guide

Sibelius Manual

Setting up Sibelius . . . . . . . 2

Starting a Score . . . . . . . . 3

Basic Note Entry . . . . . . . . 4

Adding Text & Markings . . . . . . 5

Altering the Layout of Your Score . . . . . 7

Basic Shortcuts In Sibelius . . . . . . 10

Excerpts from Sibelius Quick Start Manual by:

Robin Hodson, Eastern Region Manager, Sibelius USA [e-mail],
or 201 370 0936

This edition: August 2005

Setting up Sibelius (Mac shortcuts in italics if needed)

2

In this section, you’ll ensure that the program is set up the way you like to use it, every time you
want to turn it on.

1 MIDI settings This is all testable by going to: Play>Playback and Input
devices. Generally speaking, please only choose ONE device to use for playback. If all you see is
your soundcard, then use that!

2 General Display Options The icons in the top right of the screen allow you to choose
which floating windows you wish to see whilst using Sibelius: you choose! Obviously only use
the windows that you NEED, and turn off windows when you don’t need them. This includes
the keypad, navigator, playback window, parts window, properties box, Kontakt player and
mixer. There are shortcuts to do this also.

3 Preferences Go to File>Preferences (Sibelius>Preferences on Mac). There are
many choices here for layout, most of which are fine to leave as they are. Windows users: you
may wish to go to the “Mouse” section, and check the box that says “Enable copying with
mouse” – this allows you to copy notes, measures, objects etc by clicking BOTH sides of the
mouse button at once.

4 Note Input Options This is important too: find this in the Preferences section (see 3
above), as well as Score Position. Sibelius will remember these settings in the future.

5 Flexitime Input (live recording) these options for when you want to record live are
all in Notes>Flexitime Options: please check inside BOTH pages/tabs that appear, as choosing
carefully will vastly improve the accuracy of live transcription.

6 Live playback velocities This feature vastly improves the quality of playback of your
live performances, and of MIDI files if it is activated. To turn it on, go to View and click on Live
Playback Velocities. Then, when you enter notes live or open a MIDI file, you’ll see the velocities
(volume levels) of all the notes in your score, which you can adjust by going to Play>Transform

Live Playback. If you don’t want to see the velocities displayed on-screen, go to the floating
PLAYBACK window, and click on the “lightening bolt” you see there.

7 Saving scores Please be careful to remember WHERE you save scores in your
computer’s hard drive. On windows they are typically saved in My Documents>Scores on your
computer, but you can choose instead to create your own folder, perhaps on the DESKTOP, where
you typically save your scores. You can also SEARCH for a score you might have lost in your hard
drive by going to START>Search (windows users), and typing “*.sib” in the search box – that
finds ALL the Sibelius files on your hard drive. Mac users, hit Command + F once you have
hidden Sibelius: this launches the “Find” feature to allow you to search for files on your Mac.

8 Tutorial Videos Purchased versions of Sibelius v4 have excellent “quick start”
videos that you can watch before trying anything: you’ll find these in the Quick Start Dialog box
that should open whenever you launch Sibelius.

Starting a Score in Sibelius v4 (Mac shortcuts in italics)

3

1 Launch Sibelius, and click NEW to start a new score - follow the various steps in the set

up wizard to create a score.

2 Always start by choosing a template score. At this stage, you can add, remove or reorder

INSTRUMENTS in your score by hitting the button that says “Add Instruments”.
Choose any number of instruments by selecting the family, then the instrument, and then
clicking ADD. Keep choosing instruments until you have what you need, then click OK.
Follow the remaining pages to complete the score setup wizard.

3 Once your score appears on the screen, you can add more blank MEASURES if you

need, by hitting Control + b (Command + b)

4 If you need to change or add a TIME signature, Hit ESCAPE, then hit T to choose a time

signature (4/4 is the default already chosen). Click on the first measure of your score to
add the time signature.

5 If you need to change or add a KEY signature, Hit ESCAPE, then hit K to add a key

signature in the score. You can see your score as a transposing score by clicking the
ICON at the top of the screen with two flats on it. Click the same icon again to revert to a
non-transposing score.

6 If you have forgotten to add a Title or other kinds of TEXT, you can find these in the

CREATE menu. Add a tempo marking by selecting the first measure of the score, typing
Control +Alt T (Command +Option T), then right clicking (Control +click) to get a
submenu of all you need.

7 You can MOVE around the score around by pressing and holding the mouse inside the

gray box in the BOTTOM LEFT of the computer screen (the NAVIGATOR). You can
also press and hold the mouse on any white space on the score itself to drag the paper
around. Also use the PAGE UP/PAGE DOWN/HOME/END keys.

8 Also note: you can ZOOM in or out of your score at any time by hitting Control and “+”

key a few times (+ key is found near the P key) or Control and the “–“ key (Command

and “+” key or Command and the ”–“ key).

9 You can also add/delete or re-order the instruments in your existing score by hitting i

on your computer’s keyboard, and following the steps in the instruments box that appears.

10 You can adjust the volume levels of each staff by hitting m (the Mixer). Each staff has

its own slider for volume. Hit m to close the mixer again.

11 To PLAY back your score, hit the ESCAPE key twice, then hit p to play your score from

the beginning and Escape to stop it playing. A green cursor will follow the score – this
can also be controlled by hitting SPACEBAR to start and stop. Use the playback floating
window to control tempo, metronome, location to play from etc. There is also a timeline
in the playback window (below the icons) which you can click and drag with your mouse
to advance through the score. The shorter horizontal line controls TEMPO.

Basic Note Entry

4

Basic Note entry A (Click notes into your score with a mouse)

1 Hit escape key
2 Choose note value on keypad (box in bottom right of screen) with mouse
3 Click on any measure with mouse – keep clicking to add lots of notes
4 Use arrow keys to change pitches of any blue notes just added
5 Hit Control + z (Command + z) if you make a mistake
6 Hit escape key when done

Basic Note entry B (Type notes into your score using computer keys)

1 Hit escape key
2 Select empty measure with mouse
3 Hit N, then choose note value on keypad (box in bottom right of screen)
4 Type a, b, c, d, e, f or g on computer keyboard (or number zero on number pad for rests)
5 Use Control (Command) + arrow up or down to change octave of note
6 Hit escape key when done

Basic Note entry C (Step time entry with a MIDI keyboard)

1 Hit escape key
2 Select empty measure
3 Hit N, then choose note value (on keypad on screen) with mouse – or use numeric keypad

on right of computer keyboard to select note value on screen
4 Play pitches on MIDI keyboard – hit zero on number pad for rests also
5 Hit escape key when done

Basic Note entry D (Live recording with a MIDI keyboard)

1 Check your recording options: go to Notes>Flexitime options
2 Hit escape key
3 Select empty measure
4 Hit round red Record button or Control+Shift + F (Command + Shift + F)
5 Play live, but listen carefully to the metronome
6 Hit escape to stop recording
7 Hit Control + Z (Command + Z) to undo recording

Extra hints

1 Use the r key to repeat selected notes/measures/passages
2 Use the numbers along the top of the computer’s keyboard to add pitches to selected

notes/measures/passages
3 To paste anything, select object, note, measure or passage, move mouse to destination

place, then hit Alt (option) + click with mouse to paste (or windows users can click both

sides of mouse to paste – please set up this feature first – see p2, step 3)
4 To change length of selected note(s), choose different value on keypad
5 Don’t forget that the keypad on the screen can also be accessed from the NUMERIC

KEYPAD on your computer’s keyboard
6 For Voice 2 notes, hit N and choose a note value on keypad, then hit 2, 3 or 4 at the

bottom of the keypad on screen (or use shortcut Alt + 2,3 or 4 on main computer

keyboard, then enter notes: they will be GREEN. You can also select an existing note or

notes and change its voice the same way. All voices are color coded. Rarely use voices 3

and 4!!