For Sibelius and Dorico users
From Sibelius or Dorico to Maestro
Sibelius and Dorico save in closed formats that no other program can read. The reliable route is MusicXML, the interchange format both export well: Maestro opens it and turns it into a document you can edit.
One score at a time
Export, open, save.
Sibelius .sib
- Open the score in Sibelius.
- Choose File → Export → MusicXML. Both the compressed (.mxl) and uncompressed (.musicxml) files work.
- In Maestro choose File → Open…, or drag the file onto the window, then save it as a Maestro document (.maestro).
Dorico .dorico
- Open the project in Dorico.
- Choose File → Export → MusicXML, with the full score layout. If the project has several flows, Dorico creates one file for each.
- In Maestro choose File → Open…, or drag the file onto the window, then save it as a Maestro document (.maestro).
Got a whole archive?
In Sibelius the “Convert Folder of Scores” plug-in (Plug-ins → Batch Processing) converts every score in a folder to MusicXML in one go. Then in Maestro you can open them one by one, or add them all to a setlist at once.
From the MusicXML file
What comes across, and what to check.
MusicXML carries the music and much of the graphics. What the format doesn’t describe, Maestro rebuilds with its own rules: it’s worth looking over the score before you print it.
Comes into the score
- Notes, rests, chords, voices and cue notes
- Ties and slurs, tuplets, grace notes
- Instruments with names, abbreviations, transposition and sound
- Clefs, key and time signatures, swing markings
- Articulations, fermatas, trills, tremolos, arpeggios and glissandos
- Dynamics, hairpins, octave lines, text and metronome marks
- Chord symbols and lyrics
- Repeats, endings, segno, coda and rehearsal marks
- Percussion, tablature, slash notation and measure repeats
- Braces and brackets, system and page breaks, paper size
Worth checking
- Beaming: Maestro recalculates it from the time signature.
- Fingerings and guitar chord diagrams are not imported.
- Of the free text on the page, the title and composer come across; other header text needs to be added again by hand.
- Spacing and the placement of markings follow Maestro’s rules, not those of the original program.
- Parts are recreated from the score: changes made only in the parts don’t come across.
I only have the PDF of the score: can I open it?
Yes, if the PDF was exported from a notation program (MuseScore, Finale, Sibelius, Dorico, LilyPond, Maestro…): open it with File → Open… and you get the notes, lyrics, chord symbols and dynamics, with the original PDF alongside on the Mac. For scans there is File → Import Scanned Score….
Why doesn’t Maestro open .sib and .dorico files directly?
They are closed, undocumented formats that change from one version to the next: no program other than Sibelius and Dorico reads them. MusicXML, on the other hand, is an open standard, and it’s what Sibelius and Dorico use to pass scores to other programs.
Do I need to keep Sibelius or Dorico?
Only to export. Once saved as .maestro, your scores open in Maestro with nothing else needed.
Does Maestro work like Sibelius or Dorico?
Not entirely: Maestro was made for people coming from Finale, with a tool palette and fast keyboard entry (Speedy Entry). The manual covers everything from the first note to printing.
Can I take a score back to Sibelius or Dorico?
Yes: in Maestro use File → Export MusicXML…, then open the file in Sibelius or import it into Dorico.
Is Maestro really free?
Yes, with no limitations, no subscription and no account, for Mac and Windows.
Open your first exported score.
Download Maestro, open the MusicXML file and pick up where you left off.