Hi John,
I can't answer this rationally, or don't want to try. It's simply the
way my mind thinks of music, and it did so when I wrote everything by
hand.
Chuck
On Aug 1, 2008, at 6:14 PM, John Howell wrote:
At 5:43 PM -0700 8/1/08, Chuck Israels wrote:
BUT, time value selection precedes pitch (and that's the only way
it can work in Sibelius), and that is a deal breaker for me. When
Finale catches up (as it seems to have done pretty well in Simple
Entry) AND provides the same functionality either in Speedy, or in
Simple with a pitch before duration option, we may have the best of
both worlds. Greg has become fluent in data entry in Sibelius, but
he is copying existing manuscripts, so the "thought process" order
doesn't matter. He can enter the duration first with no hitch in
his thinking. For me, as a composer/arranger, that doesn't work,
so I don't get the conventional wisdom that Sibleius is for
composers and Finale is for copyists.
You know, I've really tried to understand this particular complaint,
and I'm afraid I really can't. When we did everything by hand we
all, always, entered duration and pitch simultaneously, right?
(Placement on the staff = pitch; note shape/color = duration.)
Which means that ALL the computer programs have taken a single act
(but one often requiring several pen strokes) and divided it into
two separate acts, right?
So why should one way be "better" than the other (whatever "better"
means)? It isn't as if we're hardwired by nature to think one way
or the other, is it?
Maybe I don't see a problem because I came from Mosaic, in which you
selected duration first, and it never bothered me a bit. So
although I didn't LIKE Sibelius' entry methods to start with, I had
no problem learning and using them.
Maybe it's just something that can't be explained, a disinclination
to learn new methods, but heck, everything I DO on a computer forces
me to learn new methods!!! Sometimes I even understand them!
John
--
John R. Howell, Assoc. Prof. of Music
Virginia Tech Department of Music
College of Liberal Arts & Human Sciences
Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A. 24061-0240
Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034
(mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED])
http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html
"We never play anything the same way once." Shelly Manne's definition
of jazz musicians.
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Chuck Israels
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Bellingham, WA 98225-5836
phone (360) 671-3402
fax (360) 676-6055
www.chuckisraels.com
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