Those of you who are non-musicians might not find this particular “Friday Fave” very interesting, but I’ve been spending so much time using this program (and loving *almost* every minute of it) lately that I just had to share. Sibelius – named after Finnish composer Jean Sibelius – is a scorewriter program that can do just about anything you could think of when it comes to producing or editing sheet music.
I actually have my mom to thank for my version of Sibelius. My contribution was my student discount, which she was able to apply when she purchased the program a few years back, during my undergrad days. I’ll say that the price is definitely a bit steep, but it has been worth every penny. I used Sibelius to create all of the sheet music for my songbook, after all!
The learning curve for this program is also steep, especially if you are used to more basic software like Finale Notepad (which is what I used prior to Sibelius). But the key is sitting down and experimenting; the more you use it and explore its features, the easier it gets. Here are some of the cool things you can do with Sibelius:
Scan in printed sheet music and edit it
Input music using a microphone, keyboard, or other MIDI instrument
Record playback and turn it into an audio file
Create worksheets (comes in very handy for studio teachers like me!)
And the list goes on and on. I haven’t even touched half of the plug-ins that come with Sibelius, but I’m hoping to get around to that someday. In the meantime, I’ll stick with my current project: creating sheet music for each and every Listen & Learn song written thus far. I compose my songs in lead sheet form, but now that I have more and more orders coming in for sheet music (you can place yours here), I decided to convert my entire library. I’ve been using Sibelius so often that I’m even having dreams about it, but hey, I could think of worse things :)
I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but it’s true: this Friday Fave is devoted to yet another piece of Apple technology. Again, let me remind you that I am in no way compensated for my frequent Apple/Mac related posts; I just really, really love their products :)
iMovie is a part of the iLife package that comes with every Mac, and I recently upgraded to iLife ’09. Up until then, I had used only the most basic features of iMovie to create the occasional YouTube video, but I have since discovered many more of the cool things this program can do. Experimenting with music tracks, still photos, transitions and titles has been way too much fun….it can almost get a little addictive!
I spent some time this week creating a video about my songbook, incorporating many of those aforementioned iMovie features. It’s definitely not perfect, but I’m still learning. Take a look:
What do you think? I had a blast making this video, from taking the photos, to recording the music, to even the tedious editing process. Now I just have to come up with excuses to create more like it…any ideas?
The first time I Skyped (yes, this is a legitimate verb), it was with some of my family who live in Denver, including my 3-year-old niece and 1-year-old nephew. It was so much fun; I got to hear Kaitlin sing some songs, and see how big Jacob had gotten since the last time they visited. And the best part is that it was completely free. Technology = amazing.
But it wasn’t until recently that I used Skype for professional purposes, and now I’m hooked! I met two of my good music therapy friends, Kimberly S. Moore and Michelle Erfurt, through the internet, and got to spend time with them in person at the AMTA national conference last November. While we were in San Diego, we decided to “get together” monthly to bounce ideas off one another and just talk MT. We had our first Skype meeting in December, and another one last night. As a result, we’re now working on an exciting project in which Skype will play an important role.
After last night’s meeting with Kimberly and Michelle, I spent some time Skyping with a music therapy student in Georgia who found me by way of Twitter and has since connected with me on Facebook. (Gotta love social networking.) Erin writes a blog that recently turned its focus to music therapy, so we had a lot to chat about.
So many aspects of my personal and professional life rely on technology and the internet, which makes me wonder: how did people ever get by without it?! If you browse through my previous Friday Faves, you’ll notice that many of them are some piece or type of technology, from the iPhone, to Garageband, to my awesome microphone. We’re living in the digital age, and I’m loving every minute of it!
After five days in warm, beautiful San Diego, I can’t say I was thrilled to come home to the cold, rain-soaked Midwest. But such is life, so here I am, back in Springfield, though I am about to leave and head north to the suburbs of Chicago (where it is undoubtedly colder and rainier). I have one more presentation to make, this time at a conference put on by the Illinois State Board of Education, before I can return my suitcases to storage.
I have had several requests by people who were not able to attend the national music therapy conference to see my presentation, so I am making it available to anyone who is interested. All you have to do is follow the link below to download a handout and my presentation slides, both in PDF form.
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask away. And for those of you who want to hear the full conference scoop? Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon to spill it!
When I joined Facebook as a 21-year-old graduate student back in 2004, I would have laughed at you if you’d told me that one day, my mother and I would be Facebook friends. Fast-forward to five years later, when I am Facebook friends with not only my mother, but her friends, my dad, my former professors, and my students’ parents. Not to mention hundreds of other people from all areas of my life.
Over the last couple of years, Facebook has transitioned from a neat way to keep in touch with friends from college, to a completely legitimate networking tool. I’ve befriended and exchanged ideas with other music therapists, explained music therapy to complete strangers via mutual friends’ wall posts, and created a nice network of people who read Listen & Learn or use the services of my private practice, Music Therapy Connections. My Facebook pageallows me to update my “fans” with new blog posts, information they might find useful, and best of all, it lets them get to know me as a person.
So thank you to everyone who has taken a moment to “become a fan” of Listen & Learn on Facebook, simply by clicking the Facebook box that appears in the left-hand sidebar of this page. (And if you haven’t already, please do so!) I also wanted to share a few other Facebook pages that you might enjoy:
If you can think of any I might have left out, or you have your own Facebook page that Listen & Learn readers might enjoy, please feel free to share in the comments section or send me an email. Happy Friday, everyone!
Welcome! I’m Rachel Rambach, board-certified music therapist and creator of Listen & Learn Music — educational songs and musical materials for children. I love sharing my work with you, along with my behind-the-scenes creative process, adventures in business ownership, and life as a mom of two.
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