Composing software

[cybermusic]

Hi, I am new here. I need help on a music software program that I will need for future works and "projects". When I started composing, I used a free program online called Musescore and made three decent (haven't had much people see so I do not know the quality) pieces. I still have Musescore right now and that is the only program I have available. I do orchestral compositions so I was thinking of getting Fianle instead since Garriten has good orchestral sounds. To those who know the price, Finale is fairly expensive with the best discount being at $225 while the original was $350. Musescore does not convert to MP3 files so it is very hard to share it and the sound quality is well......meh. Could anyone give me some advice on which software I should be getting for orchestral? Thank you so much for your time and concern.

[Versilaryan]

Finale and Sibelius are the two big ones people use. Unfortunately, both are fairly expensive, even with educational discounts.

Does Musescore export MIDI? If it does, you can use any DAW (like REAPER, which has an unlimited free trial), import the MIDI, and then use sfz and free soundfonts to get a better sound.

[Dr_Dissonance]

If you really really want notation software at a lower price than 1bizzallion, you could always try Notion. Works with most vsts!
http://www.notionmusic.com/products/notion3.html

[Kiwibomb]

It's not really about the DAW, but more about what you use to make sounds. Like I use FL Studio. It comes with pretty much only crappy sounds to use, but you have to acquire and build apon your collections of samples and VSTs

Take this for example: http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/469910

This gentlemen used FL Studio, which is one of the most simple DAWs out there, and is highly recommended for anyone starting music that is MIDI based. While it's not the most versatile DAW and does a lot of things that are strange to most DAWs like ProTools, Reason, etc, it's VERY good for learning the ropes. He also use an crapload of VSTs to accomplish his sound. From his list, he used LA Scoring Strings, Cinematic Strings, Cinematic Strings Monster Staccatos, Eastwest Orchestra Gold XP, Project Sam Symphobia, Project Sam Trumpets, Project, Sam Trombones, VSL French Horns, Symphony of Voices, Eastwest Choirs, Stormdrum and Stormdrum 2, Epic FX, and True Strike, not to mention EQing and mastering VSTs that he may have used.

Obviously, finding, collecting and purchasing VSTs can take a lot of time and money(unless you use Pirate Bay). I have well over 50 VSTs that I use for instruments alone, and literally thousands of samples and soundfonts. But doing all this is well worth your time and money when you use the VSTs well.

As for DAWs you can use immediately, REAPER and FL Studio have unlimited free trials, though they have their limits, because you didn't pay for them. For FL Studio, you aren't able to use a lot of the VSTs that come with the program like Sawer, Toxic Biohazard, etc. It does come with some good free ones though, like Harmless and 3xOSC. The major drawback is that you can't save your work. You either have to drop it or export it when you're done.

[CGEyeGuy]

Try LMMS and use these

Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra

http://sso.mattiaswestlund.net/

however you will need a sfz player

http://www.cakewalk.com/Download/sfz.aspx

They are really nice soundfonts

Sometimes SFZ doesn't like to work with multiple instances so try this as well

Found it! Thanks Versilaryan!
http://forum.cockos.com/showpost.php?p= ... stcount=10 <-SFZ

[senntenial]

IMO sonitina is alright, but doesn't sound very professional at all. In the link that Kiwi posted, the description said some things about the instruments used. Though unless you obtain these things magically, they'll cost A TON of money.

[Kiwibomb]

IMO sonitina is alright, but doesn't sound very professional at all. In the link that Kiwi posted, the description said some things about the instruments used. Though unless you obtain these things magically, they'll cost A TON of money.

Yes, but how many people do you know have actually bought all their VSTs? I can't think of one person I know that has purchased every single one. Just sayin'.

[Dr_Dissonance]

I have...

[CGEyeGuy]

IMO sonitina is alright, but doesn't sound very professional at all. In the link that Kiwi posted, the description said some things about the instruments used. Though unless you obtain these things magically, they'll cost A TON of money.

I would rather practice with free instruments before investing.

Also...............

Man, how do you get such good sounds? What VSTs do you use? This is great.

Here is a bunch of soundfonts I have been using recently
Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra

http://sso.mattiaswestlund.net/

however they are in sfz format and will need an sfz player
http://forum.cockos.com/showpost.php?p= ... stcount=10
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an edited version of Cakewalks sfz player

http://www.cakewalk.com/Download/sfz.aspx
Cakewalk's sfz player tends to crash when more than one instance is called of it so I use the edited version.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The other orchestral soundfonts I use are:
http://the-filmmusic-group.deviantart.c ... -224143947

I have...

LIES jk

[Whitetail]

Every single plugin I use I have purchased legally.
You do realize legitimacy is a thing.

[Matthew N.]

Every single plugin I use I have purchased legally.
You do realize legitimacy is a thing.

No offence Whitetail, but why are you trying to turn this into a topic about you?


Anyway, I use FL Studio because it is compatible with every VST (known to me) out there and is rather easy to use.

[Whitetail]

I'm not, I typed that up before that other guy posted a second response after Dr Dissonance - I had a second part but it wasn't anything anyone else hasn't already said relevant to the conversation.
It just irks me a bit when people act like no one buys any of the products they use, or even worse ridicule people for doing it.


Though if you started composing on sheet music I wouldn't suggest switching to something that just does piano roll like FL or any other big DAWs (Ableton, Cubase, etc. - most of them don't have a notation based interface or if they do it's piss poor (like Pro Tool's, which is sluggish and a pain to use)). Like Vaf already said, Finale or Sibelius are the best choices here.

[WavesOfParadox]

I do fine with MuseScore then exporting as MIDI into a DAW then using VSTi's. Also, concerning the MP3 thing, you can just convert it from WAV.

[Kiwibomb]

Every single plugin I use I have purchased legally.
You do realize legitimacy is a thing.

Yeah yeah, and I feel terrible about stealing, but you gotta do what you gotta do... wait no I don't, music is a hobby... D:

[senntenial]

Not to get off topic, but I really don't care whether or not people pirate. All of my software for composing music is completely legitimate, and te reason is that I believe if you are serious about production and use the tools, you should purchase them. Of course, we might not always have the money for the stuff aimed at selling towards rich producers, so I really can't bust people on that.

Anyway, Sibelius is quite nice despite the price. I don't do scoring that much but my father uses it quite a bit being a music teacher, and it has some nice features.
In terms of DAWs I LOVE fl studio with a burning passion, so be sure to check it out.

[Dr_Dissonance]

Every single plugin I use I have purchased legally.
You do realize legitimacy is a thing.

Yeah yeah, and I feel terrible about stealing, but you gotta do what you gotta do... wait no I don't, music is a hobby... D:

Guess I should just pirate all my games and music and movies then, because hey. They're hobbies...

[WavesOfParadox]

[Captain Ironhelm]

Everything I use I get legitimately, and indeed music making is a hobby that I can only put a few hours a week into.

"On topic": I like FL, but LMMS is a really good free alternative. I think FL is more geared toward electronic music, although I have seen people pull off orchestral with it.

[Kiwibomb]

Thank you.