CREATING A NEW SCORE

You create a new score by using the new score dialog. There are two ways to reach it. Which one you use depends on whether you have just started Sibelius or whether you have been looking at another score.

The new score dialog

This dialog has five pages. You move between each page by pressing the next button or previous button. The shortcut keys for these buttons are Alt+N and Alt+P. When you use these shortcuts the page of the dialog will change and you will be placed on the next or previous button.

The five pages of the new score dialog and what they are used for are listed below.

  1. Manuscript paper: choosing manuscript papers, paper size and page orientation.
  2. House style: choosing a house style and font.
  3. Time signature and tempo: choosing the time signature, pick-up bar, tempo and metronome mark for the start of the score.
  4. Key signature: choosing a key signature for the start of the score.
  5. Score info: choosing a title, composer, lyricist and copyright to appear at the top of the first page of the score.

You can do most of these things from the score itself however, the new score dialog allows you to do all of these things in one place. It is recommended that you use this dialog instead of adding things one by one into the score, which takes a lot more effort.

You don't need to fill in all five pages of the dialog. You can press the finish button at any point and the score will be created with the properties that you have specified.

Manuscript papers

A manuscript paper is like a template. You can save a score at any time and then create a manuscript paper based on that score. Everything in the score, including the instruments, page layout, time signature, tempo, key signature and even the notes and rests will be saved as a manuscript paper. This means that you can quickly open a score which is identical to one which you have already created without replacing the old one. Creating new manuscript papers is easy but will be covered later. For now, all you need to know is that when you choose a manuscript paper various properties of the score will be automatically set.

Suppose that you had created a manuscript paper with a time signature of seven eight time, a pick-up bar, a tempo of Adagio, a metronome mark of eighth note = 100, a key of D flat minor, and the instruments: clarinet, contra-bassoon, electric guitar and bongo drums. If you chose this manuscript paper, then all of these properties would appear in the new score dialog.

All of the manuscript papers which come with Sibelius are very simple. There are never any notes in them and every bar will contain one bar rest. The time signature is usually four-four time, the key is C major and there is no pick-up bar or tempo. The only differences between the default manuscript papers will be the instruments they contain and which house style is used.

The first page of the new score dialog contains a list of available manuscript papers. There are a lot of manuscript papers which come with Sibelius and you can add your own to this list.

To choose a manuscript paper simply tab to the list box called “manuscript paper” and use the arrow keys to select the one you want. The papers are organised in alphabetical order. You can also type the first few letters of the paper that you want. For example: to select string quartet just type in the letters “str”. Doing this will probably select string orchestra but you can then use the arrow keys to move to string quartet, which should be the next item in the list.

Instruments

The manuscript paper you chose will already contain some instruments but you may need to add more or remove some of those which are already there.

You add and remove instruments by using the instruments dialog. This can be opened from the main score at any time by pressing the letter I but there is also a “change instruments” button on the first page of the new score dialog which opens it. When you’ve finished adding instruments you will be returned to the new score dialog.

For more information on adding instruments read Instruments dialog.</p>

Paper size and orientation

There are two more options which you can set from the first page of the new score dialog.

The “page size” combo box contains a list of the available papers sizes which you can use. Some of these are specifically designed for music printing and are used by publishers. To choose a different paper size, tab to the combo box and use the arrow keys to select a new option.

If you’re planning to print the score on a large sheet and fold it into a booklet, then the paper size you choose must be the size of the folded sheet and not the open sheet. For example, in the UK A3 paper can be folded to give two sheets of A4. In this case you would choose A4 as the paper size and not A3, even though A3 is the size of the paper in the printer.

The last option on the first page is the paper orientation. This is controlled by two radio buttons called “portrait” and “landscape”. To switch between the two options, tab onto one of the buttons and use the arrow keys to select the other button.

Scores are normally printed as portraits and not landscapes, although there are special cases in which landscape is preferred.

In case there is any doubt as to what these terms mean; portrait paper is positioned with the shorter edge at the bottom and top with the longer edges running up the left and right sides. In other words, portrait paper is taller than it is wide. Landscape paper is positioned so that the longer edge is at the bottom and top with the shorter edges on the left and right sides.

Once you’ve chosen the manuscript paper, page size and orientation, tab to the next button and press it. This will take you to the second page of the new score dialog.

House style and font

The house style controls how the score is laid out on the page. It determines the text fonts, music fonts, margins, distances between staves, page numbering and many other things besides. It is also the house style which contains the instrument definitions which are available from the instruments dialog, as well as the playback dictionary, which determines how Sibelius interprets any text which you add to the score. The house style is discussed in more detail within other chapters where relevant. All you need to know for now is that choosing a different house style will dramatically change the appearance of the score.

You can change the house style of an open score at any time by importing a new one, however the manuscript papers available from the first page of the new score dialog already have a house style assigned to them. The pre-assigned house style is shown on the second page of the new score dialog.

The name of the house style includes the type of music it is for, the music font which is used to draw the notes and other musical symbols, and the text font which is used to write text throughout the score.

Unfortunately, it is difficult for visually impaired musicians to truly appreciate what each house style looks like. You would be well advised to ask a sighted assistant to help you choose the write house style before you commit to printing the score. That said, when you are creating the score in the first place you can do a lot worse than simply going with whatever house style has been attached to the manuscript paper that you chose on the first page.

For this reason you may often find that you don’t use any of the options which are available on the second page of the new score dialog. However, if you know which house style you want then you can change it on this page.

The main text font which will be used in most of the text that you add to the score can also be changed on this page of the dialog. Which font you choose will depend entirely on what the musical style is and on who will be reading your score. Professional classical musicians will expect the score to conform to certain publishing standards and Times New Roman is the font which will normally be used in these cases. In jazz the text is often handwritten and Sibelius offers the “ink pen” font for this purpose.

If your score is being prepared for partially sighted musicians then you will need to think carefully about which font you should use. Many partially sighted people find serif fonts like Times New Roman difficult and the more elaborate fonts like copper plate should be avoided. You should really ask the reader which font they prefer but in general, the simple “sans serif” fonts are best. Arial is always a safe font to use.

To change the house style and main text font, do the following:

  1. Tab to the “house style” list box.
  2. It will currently show “unchanged”, meaning that the house style is the one from the manuscript paper.
  3. Use the arrow keys to choose the desired house style.
  4. Tab to the “main text font list box.
  5. Use the arrow keys to choose a new text font.
  6. Tab to the next button to move to the third page of the new score dialog.

Initial time signature

The third page of the new score dialog lets you choose a time signature for the score.

You’ll find a group of eight radio buttons which come immediately after the cancel button when you tab round the dialog. The first seven of these are commonly used time signatures. The last button in the group is called “other” and when this is checked two more edit boxes will become available which let you specify the top and bottom numbers of the time signature. The box for the top number is called “numerator” and the box for the bottom number is called “denominator”.

For example, to choose a signature of 6/8, Tab round the dialog until you come to a radio button which sounds like a time signature and then use the arrow keys to select the button called “six eight”.

To choose a time signature of 15/16 do the following:

  1. Tab to one of the time signature radio buttons.
  2. Use the arrow keys to select the “other” radio button.
  3. Press tab to move to the “numerator” edit box.
  4. Type in the number 15.
  5. Press tab to move to the “denominator” combo box.
  6. Use the arrow keys to select 16.

Beam and rest groups

Next to the radio buttons for choosing a time you’ll find a button called “beam and rest groups”. This button opens another dialog which lets you choose how Sibelius will group eighth notes, sixteenth notes and thirty-second notes.

These options will affect how the horizontal beams between notes are drawn. These concepts are quite advanced and are covered elsewhere.

Pick-up bars

Pick-up bar is one of the many terms used to describe an incomplete bar which is needed in pieces which begin before the first downbeat. For example, “Greensleeves”, “Happy birthday” and the American national anthem all begin with a pick-up bar.

To create a pick-up bar you must first tab to the check box called “pick up bar” and press space to check it. An edit box will become available and you will automatically be placed in it. This edit box has no name but when you tab onto it you will hear the message “length of pick up bar edit”. When in this box, you use the numbers from 1 to 6 to enter the length of the pick up bar. 1 enters a thirty-second note, 2 a sixteenth note, 3 an eighth note, 4 a quarter note, 5 a half note and 6 a whole note. It doesn’t matter which number keys you use. That is to say, you can use the keys on the number row or on the keypad.

The unusual thing about this dialog is that when you enter a note JAWS will speak a letter which represents the note. W means a whole note, h a half note, q a quarter note, e and eighth note, x a sixteenth note and y a thirty-second note.

For example, if you press the number 4 then JAWS will say “q” and a quarter note will appear in the box.

You can also add notes together to obtain more complicated durations. For example if you press 4 followed by 2 a quarter note and a sixteenth note will be entered with a plus sign between them. In this case JAWS would say “q+x”.

You can also press the period key (delete on the number pad” to input a rhythm dot. For example, pressing 3 then Period would create a dotted eighth note. This will be spoken as “e dot”.

Tempo text

The third page of the new score dialog lets you choose the tempo text which will appear above the first bar of music. To choose the tempo text, Tab to the “tempo text” combo box and then either use the arrow keys to select a word or type the text in directly.

The words in this menu are taken from a variety of languages including English, Italian, German and French. For this reason you may find that JAWS does not correctly pronounce all the words. If you ever have any doubt as to what the term is, hold down the JAWS Key and then tap the up arrow key twice quickly. The word will then be spelt out for you.

If you choose a word from the list of tempos which Sibelius offers then the metronome will be automatically adjusted to fit the new tempo. For example, “Adagio” creates a metronome setting of 60 quarters per minute and “Allegretto” sets the metronome to 100 quarter notes per minute. You can override this metronome setting by creating a metronome mark as described below.

Metronome mark

The third page of the new score dialog lets you add a metronome mark to the start of the score. To do this, do the following:

  1. Tab to the “metronome mark” check box and press space to check it.
  2. Two more edit boxes become available.
  3. Tab to the “note length” edit box. This box works in the same way as the edit box which you use to determine the length of a pick-up bar.
  4. Use the numbers from 1 to 6 to choose a note length. You can also use the period key to dot the note. As with the “length of pick-up bar” box, the notes will be represented by letters.
  5. Tab to the “notes per minute” edit box.
  6. Type in the number of beats that will be played in one minute.

It is important to stress that the beat length makes a difference. If you change the beat length from quarter notes to half notes the piece will play back at twice the speed.

If you choose not to add a metronome mark, then the score will play back at 100 quarter notes per minute. This is sometimes called "100 BPM" (beats per minute) but it is important not to confuse this with a metronome mark. A BPM setting does not specify the length of the beat (it is always assumed to be quarter notes), whereas a metronome mark contains both the number of beats and the length of those beats.

Once you’ve added a metronome mark you can press the next button to go to the key signature page.

Initial key signature

The fourth page of the new score dialog lets you choose the key signature which will appear at the start of the score. The key signature is the only thing which can be set from this page, which contains a group of two radio buttons and two list boxes.

The two radio buttons let you switch between major and minor keys. It’s important to choose the right type of key because this will determine how Sibelius spells notes which you play in from a MIDI keyboard. This is one of the significant advantages of Sibelius over MIDI sequencers. There is a difference between D sharp and E flat and Sibelius will use the key to decide which should be used.

Once you’ve chosen the type of key, Tab to one of the two list boxes. The first contains sharp keys and the second flat keys. Both lists have eight keys in them. The keys with the most sharps or flats are at the bottom of the lists and the key at the top of each list has no sharps or flats.

These two list boxes have an unusual property. You can use the up and down arrows to select each key in the list however, if you use the right or left arrows you will be taken to the other list of keys. For example, if you tab to the sharp keys list, down arrow to D major and then press the right or left arrow key, you will be taken to B flat major. The important fact to remember is that Sibelius will add the key signature that you last moved to using the arrow keys.

You’ll notice that the first key shown in the sharp keys list is either C major or A minor, whereas the first key shown in the flat keys list is “open key/Atonal. You must not confuse these options. A minor and C major are proper keys which have rules that Sibelius will follow, whereas The open key option should only be used if you’re writing a piece in a modern style which has absolutely no key signature.

Once you’ve chosen a key signature you can press the next button to go to the score info page.

Score info

The final page of the new score dialog is closely related to the “score info” dialog which you can find in the file menu when a score is open. Both that dialog, and this page of the new score dialog let you set various properties of the score, such as title, composer, lyricist and copyright.

The dialog contains five edit boxes and one check box. The check box is called “add title page” and it is very important that you do not check this box. If it is checked then a blank page will be added to the front of the score which will cause various problems for Sibelius Access.

The first four edit boxes let you enter the title of the score, the name of the composer, the name of the lyricist and the copyright date. Any text that you type into these boxes will appear at the top of the first page of the score. If you don’t want to add this information at this point in time then you can simply leave the boxes blank and press the finish button to create the score.

Any text which you put in the “other information” edit box will not be display in the score. This information is only intended to be read by you and other Sibelius users.

Once you have entered the score info you can press the finish button to create the score.