Avid has released Sibelius 7, the newest version of the company’s flagship musical notation software that works with Mac OS X 10.6.7 or higher. The upgrade enhances music writing through intuitive and flexible workflows and improved tools for increased collaboration, according to Chris Gahagan, Avid senior vice president of Products and Solutions..

Complete with a newly recorded professional-quality sampled sound library, native 64-bit performance, full MusicXML interchange support, and advanced typography and graphics features, Sibelius 7 is more powerful and versatile than ever before, he adds. The new professional-quality sound library includes the Avid Orchestra, a specially recorded full symphony orchestra, a collection of rock and pop sounds from the Avid virtual instrument team, a 27-stop church organ from leading virtual organ creator Hauptwerk, and a selection of sounds from Sample Logic Rumble and Fanfare featuring 14-time world champion Drum and Bugle Corps, The Blue Devils.

Optimized for single-display systems, the new user interface in Sibelius 7 employs a graphical toolbar and dockable panels that don’t obscure the working area, putting all the software’s features at the user's fingertips. The redesigned mixer also allows finer control of playback than ever before, delivering more balanced mixes, says Gahagan.

Sibelius 7 offers complete MusicXML import and export, making the sharing of files with hundreds of music applications, including Finale, easier than ever. According to Avid, it's the world's first native 64-bit notation software, and has been completely rewritten to take advantage of the performance of today’s 64-bit hardware and operating systems.

Sibelius 7 sports publish and export demanding layouts and text-heavy scores with advanced finishing options, including direct PDF and EPS export. You can also sync with or import notation from Pro Tools or export scores as Scorch files, then share or publish them on the web or via Avid Scorch for iPad.

Sibelius 7 is now available for US$599. Current Sibelius customers may take advantage of upgrade options of $149, with multi-seat upgrade pricing from $60 per seat.

Customers looking to crossgrade from another notation product can purchase a crossgrade for $199. Avid also offers individual educator and student pricing for $295. In addition, students receive four years of complimentary upgrades.

This price and four years of complimentary upgrades also apply to Avid’s leading audio and video software, Pro Tools and Media Composer. Educational multi-user pricing is offered at $120 per seat. To learn more or to watch a video overview of Sibelius 7, visit Sibelius online (http://macte.ch/IfGNi).