Avid Technology > Case Studies > Aaron Alter: Accelerating Music Composition with Sibelius

Aaron Alter: Accelerating Music Composition with Sibelius

Use Cases

Smart Campus

About The Customer

Aaron Alter is a composer whose pieces have been played across the US and Europe. He maintains an online presence through various platforms, including Facebook, SoundCloud, ReverbNation, and his own website. He is also a board member of the Carlsbad Friends of the Arts in California. Despite his success in music, Aaron also has a 'real world' career as an established software and engineering consultant with his own firm. He grew up in Chicago, playing piano in jazz and rock bands, and later studied at Northwestern University and Princeton University. He has received a fellowship from the Boston Symphony's Tanglewood Festival and a grant from the New York State Council for the Arts.

The Challenge

Aaron Alter, a composer and technical consultant, faced the challenge of creating music for modern performances and recordings while maintaining his full-time career. He needed to establish a creative presence in the music industry, despite having limited time due to his demanding consulting job. The traditional method of composing music, which involved writing everything by hand, was time-consuming and inefficient. This made it difficult for him to expand his second career as a composer and produce new music regularly.

The Solution

Aaron turned to Sibelius, a music notation software, to speed up his music composition process. The software's versatile and intuitive scoring and notation tools allowed him to create scores faster, thereby expanding his creative potential. Sibelius' unique ability to 'get out of the way' and let him create was particularly beneficial. Its features, such as the ability to drag slurs, make multiple edits, create dynamic markings, and produce professional scores and sheets, were critical to making changes quickly. This enabled Aaron to get his music in front of players more quickly and tailor it with the dynamic markings and nuances that performers and directors need. The software's quickly-accessible keyboard commands and customizable layout capabilities also contributed to speeding up the composition process.

Operational Impact

Sibelius has had a significant impact on Aaron's music composition process. It has not only sped up the process but also enhanced the quality of his compositions. The software's intuitive tools have allowed him to explore new sounds and harmonies, influencing his compositions and bringing a new style and energy to his music. His recent works, such as the 'My New Beginning' series, have been recognized in competitions, demonstrating the quality of music he has been able to produce using Sibelius. Furthermore, the software has enabled him to clearly communicate the message behind his music, making it easier for performers to interpret and play his pieces. Overall, Sibelius has been instrumental in helping Aaron pursue his passion for music while maintaining his full-time career.

Quantitative Benefit

Sibelius has enabled Aaron to compose music in a fraction of the time it would take using traditional methods.
The software's features have allowed him to make multiple edits across staves and sections, publish different orchestrations, and create professional scores and sheets quickly.
Sibelius has helped Aaron expand his second career as a composer, with his pieces being played across the US and Europe.