Song writing software?

Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 8:52 pm

Hello, I was curious if anyone knows of any good song writing software?

Im looking for something that I can set a specific key signature, and then place the notes on the bars, and it be able to play it back to me with different sound effects.

I used to have this one called Finale WAAAAY back over ten years ago. It was pretty cool, but it only had a piano for play back.

Do you all use anything like this?

RO Admin Joined: Mar 20, 2000 Posts: 4256 Location: Canada

It gets way better than what you are describing.

You must be familiar with midi, different software like cubase, etc, modules and so on yes?

Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 6:43 am

Finale and Sibelius are the two big ones right now. Each comes with a full orchestra of midi instruments, and you can buy better collections of sound samples and increase the quality of the playback.

Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 7:13 am

I'm a big fan of "Muziktime", which I don't know if they even still make. However, if you can find a copy, it's phenomenal. I used the version that came out in 1992 15 years after it came out and it was still exactly what I needed. However, it's only what I need, dunno if it'll work for you guys, it's not exactly the most jam packed full of options, but it's flexible as hell...

Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 9:39 am

Some of my song writing software.

http://www.ipl.org/ref/RR/
http://www.m-w.com/
http://dictionary.reference.com/tools/
http://thesaurus.reference.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://translate.google.com/translate_t

Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 12:33 am

Hi i suggest you for master writer,MasterWriter is a very powerful tool which is easy to use, easy to navigate, and fast. It was our goal to utilize the technologies of today in a manner that would not complicate or get in the way of the creative process.

Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 6:35 am

In addition to Finale and Sibelius - both great by the way - you may want to check out Band-in-a-box to speed up the process or take you in different directions.

Type in chord changes, pick a style (hundreds available) and hit play - instant rhythm section. You can even have it create a melody and/or soloist over the changes you input.

Sounds are MIDI so are dependant upon your sound module or sound card, but then can be dumped into recording software or notation software individually for replacement or editing as well.

I use it as a basis for my students. Its far from ideal for finished products, but really works well as a starting point or for improvisation practice - which can be an even better compositional tool.

Good luck

Phil

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