Music Writing Programs

[MattyO 62]

Hi all!

I just wanted to ask if anyone has any opinion on the best music writing software available. I remember using Sibelius at school, but I'm looking for something that has the use of a full orchestra and something I can jack my keyboard into.

Thanks,

Matt.

[Next_Spielberg 0]

Hi all!

I just wanted to ask if anyone has any opinion on the best music writing software available. I remember using Sibelius at school, but I'm looking for something that has the use of a full orchestra and something I can jack my keyboard into.

Thanks,

Matt.

From my experience, Sibelius has support for full orchestra (Though the sampling isn't the best by default), and I've connected my keyboard to it for note input. I'm using version 4. I personally like Sibelius but haven't used Finale or anything else. I also tried Rosegarden for Linux at one point but I couldn't get MIDI to work with the laptop's soundcard.

[ChuckM 1]

Personally, I like Midinotate Composer. It's a lot cheaper, and very straightforward in its controls.

[arathornion33 0]

Sibelius all the way. I've been using Sibelius for years, and I can say it is the best. The learning curve in Finale is insanely difficult, and Sibelius is so much for "free", feels like your working with pencil and paper. Sampling could be better, but if you upgrade with Garritan or something, it sounds great.

[Henry B 50]

Finale isn't that difficult. You just need a lot of patience to overcome the beginner's hurdles. Do some online tutorials or (as I did) take a course on it. Heh.

[Joe Brausam 215]

I prefer Finale over Sibelius. It may be "harder" but it is extremely powerful and ca tdo practically whatever you want - if you can figure out how!

[Luke Skywalker 1,797]

Music writing program.

Sounds like Media vetures.

Press button and voila, the music is written

[Next_Spielberg 0]

Music writing program.

Sounds like Media vetures.

Press button and voila, the music is written

The command for that is generally Ctrl + C followed by Ctrl + V. I actually somewhat enjoy the MediaVentures score; It's just that it has been featured in too many films. I had to watch Gladiator recently, and there was the wailing woman and Pirates of the Caribbean(Imagining a ship full of undead pirates invading Rome can be a bit distracting.). I noticed several action cues that were not only orchestrationally the same as the music in PotC, but the notes were upwards of 80% identical. This is where music notation software can be dangerous to a composer's artistic integrity. It makes it so easy to "compose" by copying entire cues and tweaking them. A good composer should always ask themselves, "Why am I copying this part?" If it's because you would have done the same thing with pencil and paper, the computer has just saved you half an hour of clicking. If it's because you're out of ideas or just don't want to put forth the effort to write original music, the computer is making you lazy. One of the reasons I enjoy Williams music as much as I do, is that there is a lot of variation in the music. There are developing musical ideas, not simply theme repetition. When I write, I try to incorporate as much variation and interleaving of musical ideas as I can. It makes for better music. What are everyone else's thoughts on this?

[Maglorfin 196]

Been using Noteworthy Composer for years.