Sibelius Software have announced a major upgrade to their hugely popular Mac and Windows package that incorporates a ton of new features. Sibelius’s developers have also rewritten the Mac version from the ground up so that it’s not only compatible with Intel Macs, but also adheres to Apple’s latest design guidelines. That means Mac users will find that Sibelius 5 (which now requires Mac OS 10.4 or later) is faster and far more responsive than previous versions. Meanwhile, the Windows version is said to be Vista-compatible, with an interface that takes full advantage of Microsoft’s Aero technology. The software’s playback capabilities include full support for VST and Audio Units plug-ins, allowing you to use any combination of software instruments and effects to play back your scores.
A proprietary new technology called Soundworld intelligently decides how instructions in the score should be mapped to instruments and samplers, so as long as the necessary XML metadata is available, the user can simply rely on Sibelius to choose the most appropriate sounds installed on his or her machine. The sample set supplied with Sibelius has also been completely overhauled in version 5 and now totals some 3GB. It uses NI’s Kontakt Player 2 as a front end, with much improved loading times and functionality. There’s a full GM sound set taken from M-Audio’s Session instruments, and a wide range of high-quality samples from the likes of Sonivox and Garritan. A new mixer incorporates auxiliary and master effects slots, and Sibelius can now export its audio playback off-line, glitch-free and faster than real time.