If you use Sibelius or Finale, you’ve likely encountered plug-ins, maybe without even realizing it. Plug-ins are small computer programs that run within the software that can look at the score and transform it nearly instantly. Plug-ins have access to a wide variety of settings, and they make it possible to automate tedious tasks correctly and consistently. Sibelius ships with dozens of plug-ins, and many more are freely available to download.

Most of those nuggets were written by Bob Zawalich, who for decades has amassed an output of 500 public plug-ins for Sibelius. You might already know Bob’s work from his helpful presence on Sibelius forums, or from his many Scoring Notes blog posts, or even from hearing about him on this podcast. But do you know the man behind the code?

On this episode, Bob Zawalich joins Philip Rothman and David MacDonald to talk all about his fascinating life and early career, and the key moments that led to him being one of the most important contributors to our  community of music notation software users.

More from Scoring Notes and NYC Music Services:

Bob Zawalich's posts on Scoring Notes
Sibelius Plug-ins and Feed, maintained by NYC Music Services, originally assembled by Bob Zawalich