In this page I will list the tools I have created to enhance my work and that may be useful to you in your endeavours. These tools include notational ones for Sibelius and/or for Dorico, or layout and graphical ones for Adobe InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop. I will list them here and they will all link to their respective page on Gumroad where you will be able to safely conclude your purchase.
Notational Tools
Metagrid Viewset for Sibelius
It’s with great pleasure that I present to you the first complete viewset for Metagrid (purchase your copy here) that covers the entirety of the Avid Sibelius application. Once properly setup it will allow you to control Sibelius from your iPad, taking advantage of all the features one would normally spend ages looking for in the ribbon.
The setup process is very easy and explained in the included README file, which I kindly advise you to read thoroughly before installing (unless you are a veteran user of Metagrid). I also advise that you backup any of your pre-existing views for Sibelius, should you have any, in order to avoid any data loss. The best feature I am so proud of is the Keypad scene, where one can finally have all the Sibelius keypad layouts in one single screen! This is the only place where clicking on a button will also change the layout in Sibelius! It’s pretty cool to behold!
How does it work?
Launch Sibelius and Metaserver on your Mac and Metagrid on your iPad and, well, that’s it! You will see seven scenes at the bottom of the screen, through which you can tap to navigate to the different sections of the program. Unfortunately, due to the limitations of Sibelius‘s UI, it was not possible to have a view automatically show up when you select something in Sibelius. Should this change I will gladly update this viewset.
Customisation
Metagrid assumes—sadly—that every user is equipped with a UK/US layout keyboard, which was not the case for me at the moment of programming this product. Luckily, Sibelius automatically translates the keyboard shortcuts to the keyboard layout you are currently using.
Still, some keys react badly to the Shift modifier in some locales (languages layouts) so it may be possible that in your personal configuration some buttons will seem like they do not work. Your best option is to change the shortcut assigned in Metagrid and in the Keyboard Shortcut in Sibelius for that precise button.
In my personal layout a couple of buttons needed to be wired to Keyboard Maestro (a separate software not needed to use this viewset successfully) but, luckily, it was only a 2 of them.
Should you not be liking something in this viewset you will be able to change and customise anything you want, from actions to shortcuts, from buttons to colours. This viewset is not something I am imposing to the music notation world as a fixed and final truth, rather I am sharing my personal setup, hoping someone will find it useful and will want to contribute to the amount of time spent in setting all of it up.
NOW compatible with Metagrid PRO!
Staff Paper
This is my customised staff paper. To get your hold on it, for free, you just need to follow me here with your e-mail address and the staff paper will be delivered automatically to your mailbox in just one hour!
Stravinsky’s Firebird Sibelius Template
This is the first installment of a hopefully long series dedicated to making the life of arrangers easier. The score is presented uncondensed but already has—hidden—all the coupled winds and brass instruments ready for using the Reduce function, along with all instrument changes and strings divisi staves already set.
The layout of the score follows the Boosey & Hawkes score of the 1919 version of Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite and is not only locked in place but has an invisible rhythmic grid at the bottom of the score that makes the bars of the appropriate size. This will allow arrangers who prefer to print their score and work by hand to already have the space perfectly laid out for them.
This document comes in three versions with different music and text fonts, in order to satisfy a broader audience’s taste!
Wind Fingerings Templates for Sibelius
In my journey through contemporary music notation, I have found the need to design fingering patterns for wind instruments playing microtonal pitches. I initially designed only those I was needing at the time, soon realising, though, that a more comprehensive system was needed.
There are dedicated fonts out there that are able to draw this kind of things in one way or another, but I wanted something that could work across all my machines directly from Sibelius, without a single external element needed. I wasn’t sure this was possible, until I tried, and managed to do it!
The result is the already completed Clarinet Fingering Template and the in-progress Oboe Fingering Template. Both are designed to have a FREE (pay-what-you-want) version with the basic fingerings for 12-EDO systems, and a PREMIUM version containing fingerings for 24- and 48-EDO systems.
Here below you can see a few examples of what this looks like:
Graphical Tools & Templates
Coming soon …
Music Preparation Services 