Sonar and Sibelius on one machine

[Andrew Sigler]

Hi folks,

I’ve used a dual-computer system connected by midi-over-lan for composition for many years. Computer one (the “Sibelius” computer) drove computer two (the “Sonar” computer) which housed the sequencer and samples, and I used a KVM switch and WinVNC to access both programs simultaneously.

For many years there was peace in the land.

About a year ago I bought a new “Sonar” computer, and among other things the new system uses Windows 7. I’ve since had issues with visual latency (bizarre!) on the Sibelius machine over the VNC connection which slows my workflow, plus one of the main reasons for the dual computer setup initially was technological, (modest RAM and CPU strength years ago) so I’d like to simply put everything on one computer. Plus, it would be nice to have a pared down version of the whole setup on a laptop for portability.

I write and arrange in Sonar, then open up Sibelius and enter everything there. In the past I’ve been able to go quickly back and forth between the two programs to make sure that as I enter material into Sibelius I’m not making any mistakes. I set up the MIDI outs in Sibelius to the ins in Sonar, so I can go into Sonar and play a flute part, then pop over to Sibelius and hear the same part driven by Sibelius. Works great for me. However, when both programs are on a single machine I can’t get Sibelius to release its drivers when it’s in the background, so anytime both programs are open Sonar goes silent.

I’ve tried a number of solutions to no avail. Rewire is audio only on Sibelius, so until they include MIDI support that avenue is closed…and even if it opens up it seems that it won’t address the driver sharing issue.

Any thoughts, comments, brilliant insights would be greatly appreciated!

Andy

Sonar X1d Expanded
Sibelius 7.1.2
Intel i7 @ 3.2 Ghz
12 GB RAM
LOTS of EWQL libraries

[jspencer]

Just curious, why would you want to run both at once? If it's for notation reasons, Sonar Expanded has notation integration with Sibelius.

[Andrew Sigler]

Thanks for your comment!

My understanding re:notation integration is the ability to export xml files to Sibelius, which is great but not for the way I work. I prefer to notate manually (I know...a bit tedious) and like to be able to A/B the results quickly between the two programs.

Is there further integration or other features that I've overlooked?

[peter5992]

Hey Andy:

Hope you are doing well. Maybe not what you had in mind but what if you run Sibelius standalone on the 'old' computer and just swap midi / xml files, perhaps over a network?

[Andrew Sigler]

Hi Peter!

Yes, long time no see What you describe is what I used to do (and what I'll probably continue to do) but I'm still going to look for a way to do it on one computer...


Then there's this today as well....yikes!!

http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddi...shut-down.html

[peter5992]

Originally Posted by Andrew Sigler

Hi Peter!

Yes, long time no see What you describe is what I used to do (and what I'll probably continue to do) but I'm still going to look for a way to do it on one computer...


Then there's this today as well....yikes!!

http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddi...shut-down.html

Yeah, I saw that --- I can understand Avid's move to divest its consumer products but this totally does not make any sense to me.

I was actually kind of hoping that maybe with Sibelius 8, or Pro Tools 11, PT and Sibelius might be seamlessly integrated such that you could go back and forth in one and the same project. Right now we should keep our fingers crossed that there is still going to be Sibelius going forward ...

[reddiesel41264]

Play tab on the ribbon >> On setup click the little arrow symbol to open playback devices >> click Audio engine options >> uncheck Use virtual instruments and effects. That's how I disable audio in Sibelius 7

[Andrew Sigler]

Hi David,

Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately, it still renders Sonar mute until Sibelius is shut down on my system.

-Andy

[reddiesel41264]

Oh, that's a shame

[aptmusic9]

Whats ur audio driver? I think most cards are "multi-client" provided both apps are the same sample rate and driver.