FL Studio vs. Sibelius

FL Studio is great for quick audio editing, where you need to quickly make an edit to a song or add a new part to an existing song. Due to the included audio processing plugins, there is no need to purchase more to increase the software's capability. These features lend it to "out of the box" solutions, where quick implementation with no hidden costs is important. For serious audio editing and mix down, FL Studio is not well suited, as it is designed to be a good all round music creation software, rather than a dedicated audio editor.

Incentivized

It is simply easy to use and serves the function that it needs to serve. Once you get the hang of the basic functionality and a few of the keyboard shortcuts, it will be extremely easy and quick to write out music. The option to go back and transpose to another key without writing the whole thing out again is crucial.

Incentivized

• The price of FL Studio isn't too harsh for beginners, which is great.
• FL Studio has an infinite amount of features, samples, plugins and pre-sets.
• It's easy to move around the music blocks in FL Studio's timeline.
• It isn't too hard for beginners to adjust and get used to the interface.

Incentivized

• Once you get the hang of it, it will be faster than writing by hand.
• Very easy to transpose and write out band arrangements.
• "search" tool is very useful for figuring out what tool you need in each specific situation.

Incentivized

• The audio editing is made to be easy to use, and as such is missing some of the features included in more "serious" audio editing software.

Incentivized

• Barrier to entry could be a bit lower.
• Options for types of arrangements are somewhat limited and the interface is a bit convoluted.

Incentivized

I gave it the above rating because it is an incredible software for music creators and even though it might be hard to use at first, but once you get the hang of it, you will never be troubled again, and in all honesty, nothing comes easy life, especially if one yearns to become good at. Same applies with FL Studio. In conclusion, it is a great software.

Once Sibelius is purchased, the user is given one year of unlimited free customer service to help in using the product. After that first year, users can either pay to utilize customer service with questions or use online helps, which are very helpful. One of the bigger issues I had was getting the sounds to work properly because my Internet connection wasn't consistently working well enough to accommodate the large files, which were taking up to 10 hours to download. The download would fail, and then I'd have to start over. I wanted to get a CD sent to me but was told this would be very costly, and so I declined. I wasn't happy with the lack of customer service in that situation but was eventually able to get the files to download and the software working properly.

Incentivized

Audacity is a free open-source software that is only for recording and editing some audio, while FL Studio on the other hand allows you to create your own music, record your audio, edit your audio and many other features all for a small price. FL Studio has way more effects pre-sets than Audacity. Even though Audacity's recording features can come close to FL Studio, there are many other factors that led to me opting to invest in FL Studio. Many other music producers also recommended FL Studio; therefore, that's what I chose. I have used both software for almost 2 years each, first being Audacity and then I decided to get FL Studio and have been using it for all my audio recording, editing and music making ever since.

Incentivized

I have not used Finale exclusively, but I know friends/colleagues who have. In the past, it was complicated to transfer and edit any of the music they created for me because it would not transfer to Sibelius. As a result, I would have to request the edits I wanted and ask them to make the changes themselves. If I wanted to make any changes later, it was extremely inconvenient to do so, and I often chose not to, as I did not want to bother anyone other than myself to do any edits after-the-fact. Though it is now possible to transfer Finale files to Sibelius through creating .xml files and then importing as .sib files, the files still do not entirely retain all of the integrity of the original composition (as completed in Finale). Sometimes text and markings are missing, microscopic, or shifted once opened in Sibelius. Text fonts must often be edited. When working with other major music publishers, it has been extremely convenient and helpful to have the same software.

Incentivized

• Like I mentioned beforehand, it is slightly expensive but if you think of it, it is a lifetime investment.
• FL Studio is also essential to have if one wishes to create music of their own or background songs because that way, you won't have to pay someone to create music for you.

• Digital files are easily distributed to customers/no shipping costs.
• Collaboration with other sheet music retailers has been established and maintained.

Incentivized