Avid Technology

If you've been into music for a while, you might remember Avid Technology as Digidesign. They are still the same brand that has been building and nurturing 2 of the top music software packages, Pro Tools and Sibelius for many years. Avid's ethos is to create tools that help creators tell stories, whether in audio, video or on a score. Over the years, both Pro Tools and Sibelius have won major accolades including a Grammy award.

Pro Tools

The first version of Pro Tools was released in 2001, and offered a massive 4 tracks of audio! They soon added a sequencer and more tracks and by 1997 they had eventually reached 24-bit with 28 tracks. At this point, the digital revolution was really starting to take off and Pro Tools became the DAW of choice for many professionals in the studio, replacing conventional recording hardware.

Digidesign was acquired by Avid in 1995. It was a great match-up, as Avid was already highly regarded for its professional video editing tools. Since then, the Pro Tools platform has continued to grow and cement itself as the most widely used DAW in professional Studios around the world. It's audio editing functionality and audio processing engine is unparalleled in performance and with the option of Pro Tools HD hardware, the setup proves to be the perfect solution for the professional recording studio.

Sibelius

Sibelius has been the number 1 choice for Score Writing since its release in 1993 for Acorn computers. While other score writing software packages have come and gone, Sibelius has always been the professional choice, with an unprecedented number of features and a relatively smooth and simple workflow.

Believe it or not, it wasn't till september 1998 that a version was released for Windows computers and it's been popular ever since, with many publishing companies and famous modern composers using the programme to produce professional scores. Sibelius was aquired by Avid in 2006, and its continued both as a standalone product and integrated with the Pro Tools score editor.