Composing Music

[moe.ron]

Ok, I have composed this music in my head. Problem is my reading writing skills in music is at the beginning level. Is there any software that could help me put the music in my head into paper?

[WCUgirl]

Finale is the most popular one.

Before Finale came out, I used MusicTime, but we're talking like 1994.

[moe.ron]

Have you tried Sibelius 3? So far, I'm debating wether to get Finale or Sibelius 3.

[WCUgirl]

I have not tried Sibelius. I do have a friend who probably has used both, so I can ask him which of the two he prefers.

[JupiterTC]

I've only used Finale, but I know several people who have used Sibelius. From my understanding, Sibelius is a lot more user friendly. Finale can be pretty tricky, but both programs are pretty expensive.

[_Lisa_]

You can try some programs for free as they offer free downloads on their web sites. I've used Finale before but I had a hard time understanding it at first.

I've heard of Virtual Composer before, I think you can get a free trial download. I guess its worth a shot before investing in a really expensive music composition software.

[Rio_Kohitsuji]

Fruityloops

Pretty easy and it's a free trial on download.com .

[RedRoseSAI]

Ah, the great Finale vs Sibelius debate. We spend a lot of time on that at my company. Honestly, these days it comes down to a matter of preference, much like Toyota vs Honda or Pepsi vs Coke. I'd recommend trying the demos and going with the one that feels better to you. BTW, if you don't want to spend $250 (if you're a student, I can get you an educational discount...no need to spend $500) Finale does have two scaled down programs called PrintMusic ($59) and Allegro ($179). PM me if you'd like more information.

Fruityloops is a pretty cool loop-based music creation program, similar to Acid by Sony. It's not for creating sheet music.

[SweetyD]

I'm a music major and I do all my work on Finale.. I just find Sibelius too unfriendly.. and it doesn't always do what I think I'm telling it to. My music theory prof who is also a jazz composer also prefers finale, but the school does own both so people can pick what they please.

[moe.ron]

Anybody ever tried Band in a Box?

[Optimist Prime]

I just got something, I forget what it's called because I haven't used it yet because I bought a guitar the same day and have been learning cords. I need to go home and practice fingering, work is so boring today.

[RedRoseSAI]

Originally posted by moe.ron
Anybody ever tried Band in a Box?

BIAB is awesome. It's fabulous for creating harmonies. Just enter your melody, and it does the rest, in a variety of styles to choose from. I've played around with it, and had no trouble getting around the software. It's only $60, so it's not much of a risk.

There's also a MegaPAK version which has more styles, soloists, etc. The MegaPAK comes with a MIDI fakebook which has about 300 songs (jazz, classical, etc.) already loaded. You can also get the MIDI fakebook on its own.

BTW, Finale currently comes with a BIAB engine which will do some auto-harmonizing, although I don't think it's as comprehensive as Band-in-a-Box itself.

[RedRoseSAI]

One more thing...

I don't know if you're still mulling over Finale vs Sibelius, but given you said your sheet music writing skills aren't that strong yet, you might want to go with Finale. It has a feature called "Mic Notater" which allows you to sing the music into a microphone, and Finale will write it out. You can hook up either program to a MIDI keyboard and plug notes in that way, too.

[moe.ron]

Decided on Finale.

[cashmoney]

Originally posted by moe.ron
Ok, I have composed this music in my head. Problem is my reading writing skills in music is at the beginning level. Is there any software that could help me put the music in my head into paper?

Seriously, you gotta stop smoking weed.


ETA: Tell me what kind of music you're composing and I'll give you plenty of options.