Microsoft and Avid have teamed up to help develop a new version of Avid's Sibelius music composing app that will be optimized for the Surface Pro 3 tablet.
In addition to multi-touch support designed for touchscreen devices, Microsoft says that Avid has put in a mode called Annotate in the new version of Sibelius that will work with the Surface Pen:
"Making notes in Sibelius with Surface Pen feels like writing down your thoughts with a real pen on manuscript paper. The new Annotate mode allows you to jot down reminders for yourself about music changes as you're composing and communicate edits and feedback to others, streamlining collaboration and review. Mark up items and write comments and instructions to arrangers, players, and students. Annotations attach themselves to the bar you're writing in so you'll never need to worry about losing your notes. Print and share copies of your score with your annotations, or switch off Annotation mode to print a clean copy of your score."
The Surface Pen will also allow Surface Pro 3 users to quickly add, select, edit or erase any music notes created in the Sibelius app. It will be launched later in the second quarter of 2015 for a monthly fee of $24.99, a 12-month subscription for $239 or a permanent license with 12 months of updates for $689.
This news comes on the heels of another music writing app, StaffPad, that was recently released for all Windows 8.1 pen and touch devices.
Source: Microsoft
