A Song for Ariel

Eitan Katz composed a song in memory of Ariel Avrech, who he knew. Ariel's father, Robert, has posted the track, Haneshama Lach, on his weblog, Seraphic Secret.

Final Answer?

Yitz responds to Chaim's final response:

If Chaim gave up, Yitz hasn't. You see, Chaim responded to me on his own blog, the link is provided below. I understand he doesn't want to discuss this issue any further, and he has every right to do that. But similarly, I believe I have every right to respond to the points he raised in his "final" post.

Firstly, I mentioned other examples of musical plagiarism besides that of Chabad - MBD's use of Carlebach's "Tov Lehodos" as "V'Chol Ma'aminim" and Pirchei's outright theft of his "Eilecha."

To be very clear, I NEVER accused the Lubavitcher Rebbe ZT"L of anything, nor do I intend to do so now. I am not a Lubavitcher [Moshichist or otherwise], nor am I a Lubavitch-basher, which Chaim seems to be so paranoid about. And I don't have a lack of respect for the Lubavitcher Rebbe ZT"L, I think he was a great man, and many of us, myself included, owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to him for his spearheading the outreach movement in America in the 1950s with his first shaliach, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, who, together with Zalman Shacter, was sent to the college campuses, actually by the Rebbe Maharyatz. [And of course, this outreach movement was developed exponentially by the Rebbe ZT"L in the years that followed and spread throughout the world, and continues to this day].

The difference between the MBD, Yehuda!, Tzlil v'Zemer, etc. ripoffs of "secular music" and what Pirchei did to Reb Shlomo's "Eilecha," or the Chabad ripoff of the Vishnitz "V'hayu Limshisa" for their "Yifrach b'Yamav Tzaddik" is one of degree, not of kind. I cannot fathom how Chaim sees that stealing a song note-for-note, changing the words perhaps [for with Eilecha, even that wasn't done!] is different depending if the source is another Jew's musical composition or if it belonged originally to the goyim. Why even the famous "Chabad" tune, "Shamil," has its origins in a Ukranian peasant folksong! [See the liner notes to Andy Statman's "The Hidden Light" for more about this].

What do I mean by public perception? Simple. Chabad has an organization called "Nichoach - Niggunei Chassidei Chabad." They have put out numerous recordings of Chabad music. According to this website, http://www.chabad.fm/457/5705.html , there are some 16 recordings. They average about 10 songs per recording, so we're talking about some 150 or so songs. If you look at some of the song listings, you will find the following: on "disk 2", there's "Niggun L'Rebbe Michel miZlotchov." Aha, credit is given! Disk 3 has "Kol baYa'ar", a niggun known to be from the Shpoler Zeidie, although I don't believe his name is mentioned. Same disk contains the previously mentioned Twerski tune, "Hoshia es Amecha." Disk 8, lo and behold, contains "Yifrach b'Yamav Tzaddik."

Now, Chaim, when they sang this tune at Lubavitch Farbrenghens, I have no right to claim that the Rebbe ZT"L, or anyone else, should have gotten up and announced, "Hey, Chevra, this is a Vishnitz niggun." Absolutely not. But - here's the rub - when you put out a recording of "Niggunei Chassidei Chabad," don't you think that THERE is the place to note that the niggun is a Vishnitz one? Come on, let's be honest and truthful here!

And one more thing, if there are so many ORIGINAL Chabad niggunim, why do they have to seek out tunes of others for the Rebbe's birthday niggun [which Yifrach b'Yamav was]? What's wrong with using a niggun from one of the Rebbes or Chabad Chassidim? [With all of this, I do NOT hold the Rebbe ZT"L responsible, but rather those individuals that run or work for Nichoach. And I can't believe that they bothered to ask the Rebbe if they should give credit for something, and that the Rebbe said, "No."]

No, I am not looking for Rebbes or Roshei Yeshiva to make announcements about who was the composer of each and every niggun they sing. But when you put out a recording, for gosh sakes, which purports to be of a SPECIFIC group's music, isn't it g'nveivas da'as NOT to mention that a particular tune comes from another group or individual [Carlebach]? And what about copyright laws and such - is every song, just because it became popular, allowed to be copied?

Chaim gives up

here.

6/29/05 mini Link Dump

Jewschool has a Matisyahu/Rolling Stones mashup.

Here's Menachem Butler:"Berkeley and Wakarusa"

Here's a new CD packaging idea.

V'karasa Lsakrfys, "Oneg!"

The artist formerly known as Benny K'ton and Boruch Kohn of Oneg has a new project, Sakrfys, and has dropped his stage names.

Megadeath's got "The Beat"

Ben Bresky emails that he recently interviewed Megadeath's Dave Mustaine -- the band appeared at this year's Metalist festival near Tel Aviv. To listen to and download the full interview, go to www.IsraelNationalRadio.com and click on The Beat with Ben Bresky.

Here are some excerpts:

Israel National Radio: My first question is how did this all get set up?
How did you end up coming on the Metalist festival in Israel?

Dave Mustaine: Well, the way things happen is we have an international agent and he was contacted by Yuri the promoter here. Yuri contacted him and asked if we wanted to do this festival. I really wanted to play Israel for numerous reasons. My Mom was Jewish and I had been here a couple times, once working, once for personal reasons. I find the country to be
fantastic, the people to be amazing. The turmoil that's going on in some of the hot spots in some of the country don't scare me. Although it is frightening to think that life and safety are at risk, I know that what America sees on TV about Israel is not reality. The rest of the country here is so fantastic and beautiful and the people are so loving and passionate.

Israel National Radio: You have a song on the new album called Truth Be Told in which you talk about Cain and Abel and Osama bin Laden. That could be considered Israel oriented.

Dave Mustaine: Well I've mentioned Israel in songs before, in Holy Wars. Holy wars don't necessarily have to start in Israel. It can be anywhere. There are so many holy wars taking place in the world right now anyway. People are dying for a cause. It's so unbelievable. It's hard enough to live as it is right now with people dying from just aging and disease and everything that people would randomly kill innocent people for a cause. You know I read something in the Turkish newspaper today that they had sentenced some guy that was planning on blowing a plane up into the national monument of the person who had founded the Republic of Turkey. There was supposed to have been literality tens of thousands of people celebrating there and this guy was going to crash a plane there. I'm thinking, what makes people think like this? I mean, people, they'll live
and die for their causes. But to me, my life is much more easier. I love playing music. I love entertaining people. My whole thing is about bringing joy to people's life. I've been an angry man for a long time and I still get angry, but that's not one of the things that brings me happiness. I'm not happy being angry. I know that's a dichotomy, but you know what I'm saying.

Israel National Radio: Did you have any kind of Jewish upbringing?

Dave Mustaine: No. No I didn't. Although my Mom was Jewish, I didn't have any Jewish upbringing. I know a little bit about it. I'm a Christian. I've learned a lot about the history of the country. When I came here for my vacation, I got to see a lot of the country that, you know, goys just don't see. I mean, for me to come through here and be able to go in and see some of the private stuff that you can only see with a military pass, was fantastic for me.

Credit Fraud

E writes:

Another miscredit I can't stand, is on the cassette of Miami Experience 3, it actually says in plain English that "Modim" on the album is preformed and COMPOSED by Yehuda! which just is not true, as everyone knows the song is by Martin Davidson.

Of course, theres always Eli Gerstner's trademark "Lecha Dodi" with its dramatic and identifiable intro music; the chorus of "Everlasting Love."

Yet more...

Yitz responds to Chaim (see previous post):

"Whoever quotes something in the name of its original speaker, brings Redemption to the World." [Megilla, 15a]. This is the issue I'd like to discuss.

It seems that we're not communicating here. I was not accusing the Lubavitcher Rebbe Zt"l of anything, as I don't view him as the responsible for the public's perception of who composed which niggun.

Some of the earliest recorded Jewish music was that of Modzitz [1956 - first Melave Malka album], Shlomo Carlebach [1959, HaNeshama Lach - Songs of My Soul] and Chabad [I don't know which year their first album appeared]. The Modzitz albums, to my knowledge, always contained copious liner notes as to which Rebbe composed which niggun, in which year, and a brief description of the niggun.

Regarding R. Shlomo Carlebach, let me share the following quote with you: "Basically, I only have the right to sing my own melodies. But I want you to know that there is something which is so deep in my heart: 'cause when the old Modzitzer Rebbe came to America the first time – I think it was 1940 or 1941 – he came via Siberia, and my brother and I, we were little kids. We were walking Friday night, and this is the first niggun I heard him sing. It got so deep in my heart, and it's clear to me in my heart, that if I have anything to do with singing or even have the privilege of making up a song, it's only because of Modzitz." - [from the "Shabbos in Shomayim" recording, Tape 2, Side B, Track 2]

My understanding is that Chabad, on their album liner notes and in their Sefer HaNiggunim, also credited the composers of many of the niggunim, whether it be one of the Rebbes of Lubavitch, or a Chassid like R. Hillel Paritcher, etc. I know that "Hoshia es Amecha" was never credited to Rav Avraham Twerski, because decades later, people were asking me who composed it, and I didn't know either. I asked a number of people, one friend told me it was Rav Twerski, but I did not stop there. I called Rav Mottel Twerski, R. Avraham's nephew, who told me that his uncle did indeed compose it. Rav Mottel did tell me that on the album it was noted that the niggun did not originate in Chabad.

Furthermore, on a double-cassette album called "The Precise Melodies of Chabad Rebbes," the following is noted: [the brackets contain my translation of Hebrew words that were left out of the English notes]. "Among hundreds and thousands of Chassidic melodies, there are unique [and holy] ones which were composed by the Rebbes themselves, or which the Rebbes chose and made their own. These are the 'Niggunim Mechuvanim - Precise Melodies.' Every detail of such a melody is exact and purposeful [relating to the Upper Spiritual Worlds]. Niggunim Mechuvanim reveal the highest levels of the soul in which every Jew is constantly connected to G-d." It seems to me that when they want to, Chabad can be very "precise" about niggunim.

I would be very happy for Chaim to show me and this blog how Reb Shlomo Carlebach "took an old Chabad or Russian Niggun and uncredited the original author." I can also testify that when Reb Shlomo sang melodies of others, he preceded them with: "This is not my niggun - it's from the Holy Rebbe Levi Yitzchak Barditchever", etc. This, too, we have recorded evidence for.

What happened "baal peh" between Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneersohn and Reb Shlomo Carlebach, I doubt if any of us will ever know.

My point here, though, is one of public perception. How many people know that the "Chabad" tune for "We Want Moshiach Now," was actually composed by Reb Shlomo as "Mkimi," or that "Yifrach b'Yamav Tzaddik" was originally a Vishnitz niggun? The basic perception is that unless credit is given in some form, of which "liner notes" is only one example, the niggun is that of the singer's or at least the group he belongs to or represents.

I'm still wondering if anyone has an answer for me regarding the Chabad rikud tune which can be found here:
http://www.kesser.org/audio/rikud-ab.mp3

Some of my Modzitz colleagues maintain that Rebbe Shaul Yedidya Elazar of Modzitz, who was known to have only sung Modzitz niggunim [his own, his father's and his son's], sang it. I've even heard that he "gave" it as a present to Lubavitch when 770 opened. Can anyone confirm this?

Still More Reader Emails On Plagiarism

Velvel emails:

Borrowing a few bars, is often a wink to the audience, and done in the spirit of tribute. I see this very often in secular music, too.

Also, look at recent versions of Jewish wedding songs that have intros taken directly from popular "oldies" songs and TV show theme songs. The band leaders can't possibly think that they can pass these intros off as their own.

Chaim responds to Yitz:

To try to compound Chassidic Niggunim to "liner notes on an album" is completely wrong. The Rebbe did not sit in a studio with Larry Gates and think of thank you notes and credits to "Chabad Albums"

If you're accusing The Rebbe of "un crediting Shlomo Carlebach" I think you're off base. How do you even know it went one way or the other, maybe Shlomo Carlebach took an old Chabad or Russian Niggun and uncredited the original author. Who decided as wonderful as Shlomo was, who decided everything he composed was fully original. If your giving Shlomo that benefit of the doubt, wouldn't it be kind to at least extend the same basic credit to The Rebbe that at some point he did give credit, or ask permission from Shlomo?

Despite that, Chassidic Niggunim, or any Rebbe'ish or Religious Niggunim are still on a completely different level than the Chasidic Pop/MBD types ripping off Non Jewish Music and serving it up as their own.

E writes:

In all this plagiarism talk, no one mentioned one of my favs, the "Od Yishama" on Dveykus 2, note for note a copy of "WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A DRUNKEN SAILOR?"

E also writes:

Another thing I can't stand is the selective sanctification of certain songs. "Baruch Hagever" was sung for years by various Modern Orthodox groups but was only first "sanctified" when Aaron Teitelbaum put it on a Dedi album and suddenly the yeshivishe velt (ruling party of Jewish Music) had it on their radar (with its new note for note copy addition of the love theme from Flashdance and Berlin's "Take My Breath Away" with the words 'Yimloch Hashem' as the intro song and opener to the "Baruch Hagever Medley" listed on the Dedi album as "traditional", while all the other songs have composers credited). This is on the same album that credits an Abba song as "nigun mbeit abba."

Another sanctification example is the classic "Lo Alecha Hamlacha Ligmor" a song hugely popular for many years in all camps and youth group circles except the yeshivish, due to the tune's association with the non orthodox movements (see here for some song history ) something which has suddenly changed now that it appears on a recent "acapella" recording by Lev Tahor.

One thing I might add, since I have played the "where is that song really from" for many years is an example that really gets my goat. I'll never forget attending the Miami Experience 4 on Chol Hamoed Pesach and spending half the night wracking my brain attempting to figure out where the dramatic introduction to the famous "Shiru Lo opener" was copied from. It was not until Chanukah time, when the album release enabled me to hear it again, that I suddenly realized that the music Yerachmiel Begun used was the same exact tune and intrumentation copied (albeit lengthened and over dramatized) from the theme music "The Emissary " to the prime time television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine from the mid 90's, composed by Dennis McCarthy.

Whew!

Haintige Gedolim

Oy!

More Reader Comments On Plagiarism

Yitz responds to Chaim.

"Basically unconfirmed"? Could Chaim please show me the liner notes on the Chabad albums where credit is given to either Rav Avraham Twerski, or R. Shlomo Carlebach, or the other sources I've mentioned?

It's very nice that the Lubavitcher Rebbe zt"l credited the French National anthem to his adaptation of Ha'aderes v'Emuna - but let's face it, EVERYONE knows that tune, and that the Rebbe Zt"l didn't compose it!!! The closest Chabad came to giving credit was on "Hoshia es Amecha" they wrote that it wasn't their niggun.

As to his other comment about Jewish music originating from "villages in the old country," I don't claim to be an expert, but I believe there's a difference from INFLUENCE to completely adapting a tune, or a major part of a whole song, which is basically plagiarism. To this, let me quote from someone a bit more expert than I, R. Velvel Pasternak:

"As with most Hassidic music born in Europe, many of these melodic motifs were influenced by the music of the surrounding culture. The Rabbis of Modzitz were however, able to weave a distinctive musical and Judaic fabric into their compositions of dances, marches, waltzes and extended niggunim..."

"The second Modzitzer Rebbe [Rebbe Shaul Yedidya Elazar Taub zt"l] was, in a true sense, a composer. His niggunim were not merely the simplistic folk-type melodies of many of his predecessors. A number of them were intricate, musically structured, and quite lengthy. He thought in terms of instrumental colorations and often suggested that accompaniment of strings, winds and horns would enhance his niggunim." -- [The Music of Modzitz, pp. 7, 18]

He also writes:

Another thought about "musical influence." I was intrigued by the comparison of the intro to the S & G "El Condor Pasa" to Carlebach's "Kvakoras" in Samuel Katz's post. Has anyone noticed a similarity between the second part of Carlebach's "Barcheinu Avinu" and the second part of the famous song from "The King and I" - "Just Whistle a Happy Tune"? I noticed this when I listened to Musa Berlin's recording of the Carlebach tune, without the words...

"Yet Another" writes:

A few thoughts regarding the recent discussion of plagiarism in Jewish music:

1) Taking an entire secular song, note for note, giving it Jewish lyrics and passing it off as your own original (see: MBD) is reprehensible plagiarism. It's also pretty low to trick those who avoid "tumadik" music (whatever that means) by giving them "tumadik" music disguised as Jewish.

1a) Another infamous example: Tzlil V'Zemer "Let Us Grow" is The Pet Shop Boys' "It's a Sin".

2) Taking a folk song and transforming it into a Jewish niggun (see: old chassidish niggunim) is different from 1 above because a) it's based on a folk song, which is public domain and intended to evolve; as opposed to a pop song under copyright; and b) has a level of genuine spiritual uplift missing from 1 above.

3) Taking an entire secular song and giving it parody lyrics (see: Uncle Moishy) is called filking (look it up) and is very common. There is no claim that the song is original, therefore it's not gnaivas daas as in 1 above.

4) Borrowing a few bars, whether consciously or subconsciously, is extremely common in songwriting and AFAIK isn't usually considered plagiarism.

5) As for Andrew Lloyd Webber, well, this article is an interesting addition to the discussion: The New Yorker: Fact He's notorious for borrowing, especially from his own stuff :).

Now, when are you going to enable comments on your blog :)?

I'd started writing a post on these distinctions, but YA makes the point well. I do disagree with #4 though. Borrowing a few bars consciously is definitely plagiarism. If it done subconciously, I'd not fault the composer, but the courts have pretty consistently held that the rights to the song -- and any royalties earned -- should belong to the original composer.

Challah Back

Jewsrock.org's blog, The Yiddish Invasion,picks up our discussion of plagiarism in JM. They don't have permalinks, though, so you'll need to scroll down.

And speaking of "borrowed" music, was the intro to "Stairway to Heaven" lifted from "Jewish" music?

Ghost Notes

Here's the Pac Man Electric Guitar

Joseph and the Borrowed Technicholor Dreamcoat.

Psachya Septimus writes:

Who really wrote that song - you don't really want to open this one up, do you?
In lieu of sending a REALLY long e-mail, I'll just give one example. There are three separate Jewish songs that were "borrowed", in whole or in part, from the musical "Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."
1) The coda ("coata?") of "Coat of Many Colors" - you know, the part that goes "Red & blue & yellow & pink & orange & chartreuse & etc, - was inserted by Uncle Moishy into a song about the "colors of Hashem".
2) The first bars of the chorus of "Those Canaan Days" are also the first bars of Miami Boys' Meheira (yes, THAT Meheira!).
3) "Close Every Door" was taken note for note by MBD, given Yiddish words, renamed "Lichtiger Shabbos", and can be heard on his "Just One Shabbos" album.
Re the last one - I remember playing a wedding where the guy under the chupa decided to sing "Mi Ban Siach" to the tune of "Lichtiger Shabbos". He did, too - giving it the full Yeshivish kvetch-&-shuckle treatment. I couldn't help wondering what Mr. Lloyd Webber would have thought of the performance.

I'm sure we'd all love to see that "really long e-mail."

That's Finale!

In response to my Sibelius post yesterday, Finale has announced a new upgrade, Finale 2006. Create Digital Music comments.

Takana Musings

A few of this season's gigs have inspired the following takana-related musings.

1) Is an affair considered "takana compliant" with regard to music if the "Jewish" band (one of three) consists of five musicians or less?
2) Does it make a difference if the American band leaves the stage for the hora set?
3) Does the string section need to leave the stage too, or can they just take a break?
4) How about if the American band mimes along with the Jewish band?
5) What about if the American band knows some of the tunes and plays along for only those songs?
6) How about if the second band is a "shtick band" like a steel drum band, bagpipes, or mariachis?
7) What if each band has five musicians or less and they don't play at the same time?
8) Even if all of these cases are deemed non-compliant, can one of the takana signators attend only the part of the affair where the "takana compliant" Jewish band is playing?

(We should note that the last question is moot because, based on personal observation, many of the signators DO attend non-compliant weddings.)

We Want Credit Now!

Chaim writes in response to Yitz:

While I'm the first to call people out on anything to do with lying, I don't know if I feel comfortable with the blanket statements from Yitz regarding who did or didn't give credit. What he is writing is basically unconfirmed. I do know that the Lubavitcher Rebbe turned the old French National Anthem into Hoaderes V'Emunah that was/is very popular at times like Hakofas Simchas Torah time. As far as I remember he DID credit it. And it's commonly known in Chabad that the Rebbe felt very strongly about the ability to take something non spiritual and turn it into something holy. I can not tell you if Shlomo Carlebach was ever credited for We Want Moshiach Now, but does that really fall in the same category as your run of the mill Chasidic Pop singer note for note taking a non Jewish song and trying to pass it off as holier than thou "Kosher Music" ?

If you want, you can take plagiarism even further as practically all Niggunim have some origins from music that was popular in the villages in the old country that these rebbei'm lived. It's a new shtus today, that they think Jewish Music has to be some sort of heavenly divined inspiration that came to you while you were on your digital keyboard still in tallis and tefilin.

Downloading Musings

Hirhurim on downloading music.

Sibelius vs. Finale (for A.G.)

A few months back, I wrote about my frustration with Finale, the music engraving software I'd been using. I wrote that I’d been considering Sibelius, a competing program that I’d heard nice things about.

After downloading the demo and fooling around for a bit, I recently decided to try the program. I bought the competitive upgrade from J&R for just under $150. At that price point, it wasn’t much of an investment when compared to the cost of Finale’s frequent pricey upgrades. I haven’t had much time to play around with Sibelius yet. So these are my initial impressions.

This is one smooth program!

Here are my thoughts as they relate to the specific issues I noted in that post.

Their GUI is terrible; it's not intuitive, and certain functions are either hidden, or are much more complicated to use than they ought to be.

I’m finding Sibelius’ GUI intuitive and easy to use. The numeric keypad navigation is easy to use, the one-key shortcuts are great, and it’s much simpler to do many of the things I need in fewer steps.

Many of their features simply don't work as advertised. One example, a number of years back, I upgraded to their new version, which promised the ability to scan directly into Finale. The function simply didn't work even on simple lead sheets that had originally been notated in Finale. I met the developer of that software --it was licensed from Smartscore -- and he told me flat out that it didn't work well.

I haven’t tried to use the scan any sheet music yet, but I have been able to open Finale files easily. Sibelius didn’t recognize some of the layout or text info in the file I opened, but it was quite easy to make those changes.

Their MIDI functionality is often sketchy and frequently doesn't work.

I’ve had no trouble so far with Sibelius’ MIDI functionality. Additionally, Kontakt Player Silver, the sample playback software included with Sibelius is far superior to Finale’s playback.

Hyperscribe often doesn't accurately play back edits made to existing notation.

“Flexi-time” input seems more accurate than Finale’s “Hyperscribe” and playback reflects edits made to existing notation.

New versions of Finale are not backwards compatible by design. This means that if I'm working on a project with someone else where we are sharing files, and one of us upgrades, the other has to upgrade as well in order to open files created on the newer version.

Sibelius 3 allows users to save files in Sibelius 2 format. This kind of backwards compatibility is useful if you’re working with someone else on a project and either of you upgrades. Once, I upgraded Finale while I was working on a collaborative project and the person I was working with was unable to open my files. I couldn’t even resave the new files in the earlier version of Finale I had.

Here are some of the random things I’ve noticed:

1) The manual is well written and is easy to understand. The writer injects humor throughout which is a nice touch. It is well-organized and I’ve had no trouble locating information.

I find it harder to find things in Finale’s manual, and it’s not written as clearly. Also, Finale has stopped including manuals with their upgrades, which is a huge nuisance, especially when they add new features/functions that didn’t exist in previous versions.

2) The GUI is set up so that, unlike Finale, you don’t have to keep switching tools to do different actions.

3) The global edit feature seems much easier to use. (i.e. enlarging all chord symbols.) Ditto the setting up/importing house styles.

4) It’s much easier to adjust 1st and 2nd endings

5) The screen redraws accurately and quickly throughout. Finale’s response is sluggish.

6) I don’t get “out of margin” messages when I print. (This may just be a Finale glitch with my printer driver.)

7) Inserting dashed barlines is much easier.

8) Rulers move with you --adjusting in real time -- making it much easier to adjust page layouts.

9) Creating instructionsand symbols like D.S. is much easier.

10) The defaults for many items are musically intuitive. For instance, in Finale, the default setting for rehearsal markings is in the middle of the bar. Since rehearsal markings are not supposed to be on the staff, having them appear there is silly. Sibelius places them above the bar in a logical place. (You can edit these preferences in Finale, but it shouldn’t be necessary.)

11) I’ve been able to duplicate my Finale layouts/fonts easily in Sibelius. In fact, I think the Sibelius versions look slightly sharper. Sibelius’ Inkpen font seems to be a bit crisper than Finale’s Jazz font.

12) Chord symbols stay even if you delete the note they’re attached to.

13) The opening window let’s you easily choose a recent file via a drop down menu.

14) Sibelius recognizes repeat signs during playback of a score and plays them. There’s a way to make Finale do this too, but it’s a hassle.

15) I’m not missing the annoying save prompt Finale always opens when I open a file to view it prior to printing it and haven’t made any changes.

I’ll try to post an update when I’ve had a chance to spend some more time with Sibelius.

Clarinet teacher?

It's help a reader day here at Blog in Dm.

A reader writes:

I'm looking into learning how to play the clarinet - just for personal pleasure mind you. And I don't have the foggiest idea where to find a teacher. Do you have any suggestions? I would need a female teacher who could teach me in the evenings after work or on Sundays during the day. Also it would need to be someone who understands that while I understand the rudiments of reading music (took some flute in grade school and was in choir through high school), I am basically a beginner. I would need someone in Manhattan or Brooklyn. It doesn't have to be someone frum - although it would be helpful.

Anyone?