RIP Finale

[soundbylaura]

I don't know anything about this but thought some of you might like to know:

It’s the end of an era in music notation software. 35 years after its introduction as Coda Music Technologies’ Finale, the landmark scoring software is at the end of its life. Developer MakeMusic is offering a steeply discounted crossgrade to Steinberg’s Dorico, and says Dorico represents “the bright future of the music notation industry.”

https://cdm.link/2024/08/finale-music-n ... ce-dorico/

[Geoff Grace]

Wow! “End of an era” is right. I’m shocked.

I guess it makes sense that the old code made it too difficult to do more than incremental updates, that software could become elderly and need to retire.

Best,

Geoff

[wst3]

I've been using Finale for a long time, back at least 25 years, I've stuck with it because it is comfortable, I know (roughly) how things work, and the upgrade fees have not been usury, although the last couple had a questionable ratio of fixes and features to cost. And maybe I've been lucky, but almost all the features I wanted showed up.

At the same time I've taken a swing at Dorico on more than one occasion. And I still use Notion when working with Studio One (I really do with the integration was a little smoother). (and whatever happened to Sibelius? Did Avid kill it?)

Anyway, I just never got on with earlier Dorico releases. I've downloaded the current demo, we'll see what we will see I guess, but I am hoping I can figure it out this time around. Of course that might also mean migrating to Cubase, which I'd really rather not do.

I survived the end of the Amiga, and the end of Cakewalk, and the end of Sound Forge, so I'll survive this too. I guess???

[Daryl]

Anyway, I just never got on with earlier Dorico releases. I've downloaded the current demo, we'll see what we will see I guess, but I am hoping I can figure it out this time around. Of course that might also mean migrating to Cubase, which I'd really rather not do.

One of the issues for people trying out Dorico is that they totally misunderstand the way the program is supposed to work. It's actually easier for people who have no knowledge of score notation programs...! I made the mistake of trying to use it like Sibelius, until I very quickly realised that this was a bad idea. Once I'd figured out which bits were like Sibelius and which weren't I had a much easier ride.

Certainly there are things that are easier in both Sibelius and Finale than they are in Dorico. This is likely to improve with each update. However, there are things that Dorico can do that Sibelius and Finale can't and would never be able to do. For someone working in music preparation and under a deadline, Dorico is the clear winner, and by many hours. Certainly we couldn't have made the deadlines on the Acolyte in any other program.

[wst3]

Daryl - guilty as charged, but some habits are challenging to break<G>... since I really have little choice in the matter I am going to learn to use Dorico, and take advantage of the benefits, and hopefully step over the impediments!

[Erik]

Sound Forge is dead ??!

[wst3]

Sound Forge is dead ??!

Might as well be, development has slowed to a crawl, and Magix does not do much to promote it, focusing on the less expensive versions instead. I simply don't trust them to keep the platform afloat. If I'm wrong that'll be good news.