Do you spend hours (days?) behind the computer writing music for your students or as your primary business?  It is now possible to control your Sibelius or Finale music notation software with something other than your traditional keyboard or MIDI device.  Several companies now make specialize keyboards (mainly aimed at video game players) that allow them to simplify and make more ergonomic the movements that they must use to control their games.  It turns out that you can use these same pieces of hardware to greatly speed up and simplify note entry when creating music in Finale or Sibelius.

Using specialized keyboards by such companies as Belkin, the task of switching between the various keypad layouts in Finale and Sibelius are simplified and placed in an orientation that soothes your tired hands rather than inflaming your carpal tunnel.  In an article posted at metmagazine.com, Joseph Ruszkowski points out just how easy and useful this little trick can be.  Using the Belkin Nostromo SpeedPad , composers can dynamically assign all of the needed note durations and articulations to individual keys controlled by the left hand using a comfortable glove shaped controller.  Perhaps the best part of this new hi tech solution is that the Nostromo sells for less than $30 at most retailers.  Visit the Belkin Nostromo Speedpad link earlier in this paragraph to see what I mean.