User talk:Peter Gibson

Alan Gray Nunc dimittis

Hi. I think you've made a slight mistake in your version of Alan Gray's Nunc dimittis. I've just followed your score whilst listening to it being sung on the BBC's Choral Evensong on Radio 3, and in bar 151, the Can treble line sings "For mine" to the notes C and Db, rather than the two C's you've written. In the organ part it has C and Db as well. DTOx 02:22, 21 December 2006 (PST)

Sibelius7

Hi Peter, I noticed that you've been writing !Sibelius7 (with an exclamation mark). What exactly does that mean? :) —Carlos  00:07, 8 March 2012 (CST)

This all boils down to ancient (computer) history. When the brothers Ben & Jonathan Finn started writing their score notation program (named after a more famous Finn: Sibelius), they chose to write for Acorn's RISC OS operating system. On that system the application directory name is always prefixed by a !, thus instructing the OS how to handle that object (that is, run it). Accordingly, after several updates Sibelius 7 was released. They then moved platform to Windows (and Mac Os later in parallel) starting with Sibelius.

So far, so easy; until further updates saw the recent release of Sibelius 7 for Windows / Mac Os, leading to the need to distinguish between the old Acorn Sibelius 7, and the new Sibelius 7 for Win/Mac.

As all my source files are Acorn Sibelius 7, I chose to differentiate by using the RISC OS application name convention; anyone familiar with RISC OS should recognise that immediately.

Just to add to the fun, Sibelius for Win/Mac versions 1.1 to 4 can import !Sibelius7, later versions cannot (AFAIK).

Peter Gibson 13:33, 8 March 2012 (CST)

Peter, thank you for this thorough explanation! Would you mind if part of it were added to ChoralWiki:Sibelius so others may learn about the differences? (or, if you feel like doing it yourself, please go ahead! :) —Carlos  12:19, 9 March 2012 (CST)

I have just taken a look at ChoralWiki:Sibelius; the reference to Sibelius running on Windows, Mac and Acorn is a little misleading in the context of the current versions. I will try to put up something a little more precise over the next few days (singing and other choir-related activities allowing!)

Peter Gibson 16:32, 9 March 2012 (CST)

Hi Peter, that will be great! I could try to update that page myself but I'll defer to your superior knowledge of the matter. :) —Carlos  10:31, 10 March 2012 (CST)

By the way, yesterday I intended to raise a question about the best way to visually present the version info on the works page, but forgot about it. You said that people familiar with RISC OS will easily identify the !Sibelius label, but perhaps we should try to make it recognizable by a broader audience. What about using "Acorn Sibelius 7" instead? Would it be good enough for you? If you agree, I can run a ReplaceText on all pages so you don't have any extra work. —Carlos  10:47, 10 March 2012 (CST)

Carlos, Using "Acorn Sibelius 7" sounds as if it will fit the bill perfectly, and avoids me having to deal with such arcana as application directories, !boot files and !run files; all very interesting stuff, but not closely related to choral singing!

Replacement Sibelius page suggestion is part-way towards my suggested expansion of ChoralWiki:Sibelius. Comments?

Peter Gibson 11:52, 10 March 2012 (CST)

Hi Peter, just read your suggested text, it's excellent! I could easily understand the differences between versions/platforms. You may update the Sibelius page with your text at any time. Thanks again! —Carlos  15:32, 11 March 2012 (CDT)