Music Creation Software

RandomTom · 22 Apr 2006 at 14:36

Hi, just thinking about this and what would you recommend as decent creation software?

I'm not talking ejay's or anything here, but with the ability to import mixes and stuff, I didn't particularly like using sibellius but is that one of the best? I'd like one with ease of use and a nice interface but can produce some decent outcomes, hopefully there are some free trials around on the internet, thanks.

Seft · 22 Apr 2006 at 14:49

Sibelius - Writing scores (techincally a sequencer)
Cubase (or Logic, yuck) - Sequencer
Soundforge (Although some prefer Wavelab) - Audio editor

After that you get into fun things like VST instruments

georges · 22 Apr 2006 at 20:24

Cubase is my favourite, it has good midi functionality also and is fairly cheap.. pretty intuitive also.

What I did was get an EMU 0404 and it came with CUbase LE (restricts tracks to either 16 or 32(forgotten which) and has less processing, but works really well for non-pro stuff

SexyGreyFox · 22 Apr 2006 at 20:34

I've used Cakewalk products since the early 90's so at the moment its SONAR for me.

Sweetloaf · 23 Apr 2006 at 18:50

Also worth a look is Ableton Live 5, very easy to use and powerful

The IPB · 23 Apr 2006 at 18:56

Fruity loops over here

simisker · 23 Apr 2006 at 19:05

RandomTom said:
[...]with ease of use and a nice interface but can produce some decent outcomes, hopefully there are some free trials around on the internet, thanks.

Hmm, let's see if Ableton Live meets the criteria: Ease Of Use? Check... Nice Interface? Check... Can produce decent outcomes? Check...

Free trial? Bingo.

fish99 · 23 Apr 2006 at 19:06

Don't mean to hijack the thread here, but I've always wondered if there's any good way to make music on a PC.

I used to use ProTracker on the amiga to make 4 track sample based music. That was so easy to use and produced really very nice results. Wrote a lot of my own stuff, which ended up sounding like dance music even though I don't like dance music, but also did versions of lots of my favourite Commodore 64 music (Rob Hubbard stuff).

I've also written a handful of midi pieces on the PC using cakewalk, but oh god what a pain in the a*se to use! Also unless you've got some great custom soundfonts, midi ends up sounding very weak, on a consumer level creative card that is.

Are there any good (and easy to use) tracker programs for the PC, or indeed any easy to use midi packages? Also are there sample libraries available to purchase for not too much?

Sweetloaf · 23 Apr 2006 at 20:29

fish99 said:
Don't mean to hijack the thread here, but I've always wondered if there's any good way to make music on a PC.

Sweetloaf said:
Worth a look is Ableton Live 5, very easy to use and powerful