Very Easy to Use

I had been using (and increasingly frustrated with) a competing notation software product for about ten years when I tried a demo of Sibelius, both their regular package and this Sibelius First package. In both cases, I was significantly impressed with how much easier and faster I could make the sheet music I needed to share with my fellow musicians, and I ordered a copy after working with the demo for a couple of days. This "Sibelius First" package does offer fewer features than the full Sibelius package, but it has everything that I need on a regular basis. I only wish I had discovered its ease of use sooner!

It's perfect !

Sibelius First is perfect to me. It's running with pro tools m-powered 8 with re-wire. Very smooth. All I need. I don't need to buy Sibelius 6. First is complete. Awesome !

A good product, but plan on a learning curve

Lot's of criticisms out there. Most of them are unduly harsh. True enough, you can't just launch yourself into this product and have instant music. You have to take the time to read the manual and get used to the features. But when you pay those dues up front, the results are gratifying. The fact is, if you are a music hobbyist like me you can do just about anything you want with Sibelius First. I especially liked how easy it was to create first and second endings. I also like the ease of the playback feature and how easy it is to add and change voices. Printing with this software is a breeze.

I can't compare Sibelius First with any notation software other than an ancient version of MusicTime that I have used off and on for years. Sibelius is a significant improvement. Several methods for entering notes are available. They take getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, you can move through pretty quickly. (I haven't yet tried entering notes from a MIDI keyboard.)

There are some unexpected quirks in the software. For example, when I try to add an extra note to an existing chord, I find that when I add the new note the other notes in the chord disappear and have to be re-entered. Not sure yet why that is. But so far I have found that as I read through the manual I can discover why the software is doing what it's doing and how to make it do what I want it to do. I'm sure there's a simple fix to that chord problem; I just haven't looked for it yet.

Bottom line: this software will do pretty much anything you want it to do in terms of musical notation. At least at a hobbyist level. But be prepared to spend some time with the manual. Also, be aware that there are tons of shortcuts that can speed things along. But it's going to take some time to figure them out and get used to using them.

Sibelius First

I have a substantial IQ, so I must say that Sibelius First is not as "intuitive" as they advertise. The learning curve is going to be much steeper than I had anticipated.

When attempting to use my Roland FP-7f with Sibelius, I can get the software's sample to play, but as of yet, can not get my own composition from the computer to the kekyboard. I know it will work, but can not determine the 'how to' from the manual.
The manual should be reworked in this fashion. T: Triplet - How to create a triplet; more step by step instruction instead of run-on paragraphs (for the musician who's not well-versed in computer or MIDI areas.)