A number of years ago, I came across Wallander’s Noteperformer for Sibelius – I tried out the demo, and was sufficiently impressed to buy the product. I’ve tried all of the versions and updates v1-v3.xx, and it’s pretty successful as mockup tool for orchestral scores…. the sounds may not always be completely authentic, but the balances are pretty much spot-on… it’s a great tool for verifying that, and doing a quick mockup without having to resort to a ton of editing in a DAW or a bunch of hidden markings in the score….
So, here are a few examples, starting with an excerpt of Henri Dallier’s 1st Symphonie:
As you can hear, it’s pretty convincing – I’m sure the Spaces II reverb helps, too.
Noteperformer is now supported in Beta for Finale 25/26… It really gives me fits in Finale 25, so I haven’t used it much. It’s also working in Dorico as a Beta, better in Dorico 2.2x (and apparently in 3, with a few glitches).
I’m not really a Sibelius guy, I’ve used Finale since 1994… I love Dorico, but I’m waiting to upgrade to v3 until the first maintenance release – I’d rather use Noteperfomer and my other VST with that than the bloated old code from Finale or Sibelius.
But, for now it does work great for mockups and demos, and I know Sibelius well enough to manage.
Next, I thought I’d try something with a smaller and more intimate ensemble – I’ve always thought Louis Vierne’s Berceuse would translate well for Sax Quartet:
I’ll post more as time permits…. indeed a lot of fun.