Good Program to Compose with?

[bass_drum]

hey! I was planning on doing some composition over the summer, but writing by hand takes a lot of time and is quite messy! so do you guys know of any good computer programs that I can use to write otu sheet music with? Thanks!

[Aaron Saunders]

Sibelius and Finale are the biggun's. Check out www.torcomp.com -- great student prices...I'm picking up Sibelius 4 in a couple weeks.

[mjolnir]

IMO, Finale is good if you want to do some serious composing in instrumental notation for an entire ENSEMBLE, ie. trumpet, trombone, sax, etc. etc.

If you're looking to just do rock-type composition for a regular band setup (drum, bass, rhythm, lead, vocal) Guitar Pro 5 is a fine choice. It lets you compose in tab if that's what you read, and it will let you add every freakin' effect you can think of to every part right on the score (wah effects, slap-pop effects, bends, trills, vibrato, tap effects, etc.) and it'll play it for you including the effects in MIDI.

[bass_drum]

hey guys! sorry to bring up a dead thread but...

I have been told that programs like sibelius and finale are meant to be used with a midi instrument, and rather than clicking the notes on the staff manually, you are supposed to play the midi instrument and the computer will register what you play onto the staffs. Is this true? If so, what programs are good for manually clicking in the notes. Btw, I need a program to do jazz/experimental stuff, (drums, bass,guitar, trumpet and alto sax).

Any tips for me?

Thanks in advance!

Justin B.

[BassChuck]

Originally Posted by bass_drum

hey guys! sorry to bring up a dead thread but...

I have been told that programs like sibelius and finale are meant to be used with a midi instrument, and rather than clicking the notes on the staff manually, you are supposed to play the midi instrument and the computer will register what you play onto the staffs. Is this true? If so, what programs are good for manually clicking in the notes. Btw, I need a program to do jazz/experimental stuff, (drums, bass,guitar, trumpet and alto sax).

Any tips for me?

Thanks in advance!

Justin B.

You can enter notes with MIDI on these programs, but you don't have too. I've used Sibelius for years to compose for all kinds of groups from rock band, jazz bands and orchestras and have never used MIDI input. Sibelius has very easy keystroke entry, once you get used to it (doesn't take long) its very fast.

[mjolnir]

What the guy above said applies to Finale as well. It's possible to use a MIDI keyboard with it, but there's several other ways to input your music, all of which, with a little practice, are fast enough for anythign you want to do.

[leftyforlife]

id try giving guitar pro a try, you can get yourself a free demo off their website
http://www.guitar-pro.com/en/index.php

[cowsgomoo]

Originally Posted by bass_drum

I have been told that programs like sibelius and finale are meant to be used with a midi instrument, and rather than clicking the notes on the staff manually, you are supposed to play the midi instrument and the computer will register what you play onto the staffs. Is this true?

I use Sibelius, and can confirm that manual entry of notes by mouse isn't that hard...

it's certainly a lot quicker than writing out music with ink on manuscript paper

[Bassist4Life]

I vote for Finale. It's expensive, but it's worth it IMO.

Joe

[Aaron Saunders]

Originally Posted by cowsgomoo

I use Sibelius, and can confirm that manual entry of notes by mouse isn't that hard...

it's certainly a lot quicker than writing out music with ink on manuscript paper

No kidding...

I was futzing around with Sibelius at my music teacher's place a few weeks ago -- note entry is very easy with the mouse, I found. Once you have your right and left hands coordinated, it's very fast. You select different note values, or sometimes even markings (accents, dynamics markings, etc.) with your left hand on the number pad on the right side of the keyboard. Then with your right hand, you click where you want the note (or the accents/markings) and they appear. It's really very intuitive, there's an onscreen number pad so you can have a visual WHILE you're doing this, and at that point your note entry is only limited by the coordination in your hands. Very cool stuff.

[Thursday]

Bump

[fretlessman71]

So what are the differences between the TEN DIFFERENT VERSIONS of Sibelius 4? Am I going to regret getting the cheaper versions and wish I had gotten a commercial one?