Trying to get into composing music - any tips?

[Ama-zake]

I've always been a music person all my life so recently I've gotten interested in composing music. However, since I'm a massive poorfag, I can't afford a decent keyboard and my Roland MT-32 is broken so I have to do without. So I ask:

1. What is some good music creation software?
2. If the answer to question 1 is FL studio, how do I make things sound less artificial?

Thanks.

[R3mix]

[url]http://www.sibelius.com/home/index_flash.html[/url]

Best music composer program out there.

[manrayer88]

I use noteflight, its pretty in-depth and there's pretty good community

Its free but you can pay to get more instruments and stuff

[url]http://www.noteflight.com/login[/url]

It's completely online

[MrJazzy]

[QUOTE=manrayer88;28032690]I use noteflight, its pretty in-depth and there's pretty good community

Its free but you can pay to get more instruments and stuff

[url]http://www.noteflight.com/login[/url]

It's completely online[/QUOTE]

Hey thanks, that's awesome. I compose music myself but I write it down by hand but it sucks so this will make it alot easier.

[mrfunkyland]

There are 2 types of music "creation" software:

1. Score editors
2. DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations)

Recent releases in both categories have started overlapping in some areas, but each one is best for what it is - there is no all-encompassing solution yet. Sibelius and Finale are the standards for score editors, but you pay a high premium. I use NoteFlight too, but I consider it more like a sketch pad for when I'm away from my home computer - it does not have near the features of Sibelius or Finale, even the paid version. Cubase, Protools, Logic, FL, etc are DAWs. These are meant to take recorded and/or MIDI sequenced music and allow you to have maximum flexibility in crafting the actual audio. You can manipulate the sounds in ways that score editors cannot, but their ability to represent music notation is pretty limited.

Hope this helps (and is not too late)

[Shostakovich]

I use Finale PrintMusic for scoring because I didn't have a compatible student discount for the full Finale at the time of purchase. PrintMusic works reasonably well. I'll probably end up buying the full version once I save enough money.
I have Cubase, and it is really nice once you figure out how to operate it, but for me it crashes too often. (This could also be because of Vista) It's also really complex for a beginner.
Audacity probably doesn't count as a DAW, but for basic recording I find it convenient.
For score editors, pencil and staff paper works well too. :smile: