Music Composition App?

[Dario D.]

Is there a good musical composition app (like whatever composers use to write movie sound-tracks) that lets you keyboard your music right into each track on screen, and then play it back in Midi or something?

Does such an app exist?

 

[nofx]

Ya, you can try Reason seems complicatedbut it really isnt after a month or 2 weeks. You just need a GENERAL midi thing and about 300$ for reason or some bandwidth ;p

 

[Hazar]

try getting guitar pro

you can also use it to dl tabs off of mysongbook.com for quite a few songs

 

[Dario D.]

Hmm, interesting, thanks.

Guitar Pro seems more like what I'm looking for (looked it up)... but then again, I'm not entirely sure what Reason is used for.

 

[Adrien C]

e-jay is great, fun and simple.

 

[CrazyHarij]

Reason is used for anything you can imagine, more geared towards electronica though. It's very quick and easy to use once you get a grip of the way the program works but at the same time packs a whole lot of power, and expect to be spending a lot of time learning all its aspects.
i've been using it for more than a year and still suck at it

Fruity loops is said to be good if you're looking for something that's not so complicated.

i think professional (orchestral) movie composers write their stuff with a keyboard that can register the notes as sheet notes and then print it out, or something like that.

 

[Reaktor4]

Is there a good musical composition app (like whatever composers use to write movie sound-tracks

logic and pro tools are the most commonly used

 

[NotATool]

Composers who use strictly instrumental and orchestral types of music use Sibelius. Very easy to figure out and use, and I use it with my keyboard all the time.

However that could get expensive, unless you beleive the ends justify the means , then you might have to shed some bucks.

Here is an absolutely great free application for doing exactly what you said. It's basically sibelius minus all the cool features you'd probably never use anyway unless you were composing classical in the full sense: http://www.finalemusic.com/notepad/

 

[NotATool]

Pro Tools requires specialised hardware to use, though. I believe you have to get it directly from the manufacturer, and that costs a lot of money.

I was under that impression too, but I'm pretty sure there is a version that does not require the specialised hardware.

 

[Adrien C]

Aight, so...umm, I kind of borowed the programs from people I don't know and this is what I have to say:

Ejay (all versions) : For me, the most simple and fun. Its easy to use, and at the end you get a satisfied work done in no time. It has a lot of sounds and great options to use.

Reason : I quite that crap 5 minutes later, to dificult to understand how to use, tons of options, looks like more pro oriented and the GUI is the worst.

Pro tools : Couldn't even load the thing as it asked me for some hardware from the manufacturer. I think its the more profesional oriented as I0ve read a lot of bands use it.

FL Studio ( Fruit loops) : Its quite dificult actually, tons of pro options and stuff to change that that don't really make a diference when I use them. Quite dificult to use, and GUI quite ugly.

 

[Vegeta897]

FL Studio ( Fruit loops) : Its quite dificult actually, tons of pro options and stuff to change that that don't really make a diference when I use them. Quite dificult to use, and GUI quite ugly.

If you think FL Studio is difficult, your scope is way off... And what's your problem with the GUI's of these programs

If anything, Ejay has a bad GUI... Who wants an application to be full screen, disabling your ability to easily do other stuff on your computer without having to alt-tab every time?

 

[Adrien C]

I'll take your point for Ejay. Ok, I'm giving another shot at FL. I'll tell you about it later.
Edit : Looking good... at the first 5m

 

[Reaktor4]

I was under that impression too, but I'm pretty sure there is a version that does not require the specialised hardware.

theres an old free version that doesnt need the hardware

If you think FL Studio is difficult, your scope is way off...

+1

Ejay

ejay is shit in every way. its a toy for kids.

 

[Qhartb]

If you think FL Studio is difficult, your scope is way off... And what's your problem with the GUI's of these programs

If anything, Ejay has a bad GUI... Who wants an application to be full screen, disabling your ability to easily do other stuff on your computer without having to alt-tab every time?

... like Half-life 2 ...

Just kidding. I usually use Finale, which is pretty much the de facto music notation program. But you're all talking about loop-based stuff, so eh.

 

[thefiznut]

Two words.

Acid Pro

 

[CrazyHarij]

Two words.

Acid Pro

crappiest program ever when it comes to anything but importing loops and pasting them in the program.. just forget trying to use vst instruments etc. i only use it for postmastering my tracks.

 

[Jangle]

Is there a good musical composition app (like whatever composers use to write movie sound-tracks) that lets you keyboard your music right into each track on screen, and then play it back in Midi or something?

Does such an app exist?

Sibelius? But if you're wanting all this techno techno loop based stuff then it's probably not so good.