BEDA Day 24: Music Notation and Production Software

Here are some programs you might find useful, either for notating sheet music or producing audio. This list isn't particularly ground-breaking or complete, but I wish I had known about all of this software 10 years ago.

Music Notation - for creating printed music (MUS, PDF, etc.)

I use Finale 2007, about to upgrade to 2009. It's very powerful and complete, but pretty difficult to master.

Sibelius is the other main notation software. I hear it's more intuitive and easier to learn than Finale, yet has all the capabilities. They're both rather expensive.

Before college, I used NoteWorthy Composer, which is a cheap, simple alternative. This is okay for quick/smaller projects that don't require an excellent visual layout. (Don't use it for professional work or compositions, but maybe for small classroom examples.)

I have also heard that the open source (free) engraving software Lilypond creates beautiful music, but the input method using ASCII is something text-based with which I am unfamiliar.


Music Production - for creating and editing audio (WAV, MP3, etc.)

Garage Band (Mac only) is probably the easiest way to record and edit audio for home or semi-professional music production.

operationgadget.com has a 5-year old but pretty good article that lists a handful of alternatives.

You may also be interested in Audacity, which is a free, open source audio editing and recording program. It's easy to use and quick; I like it a lot.

For serious audio editing, you can get a digital audio interface such as ProTools, Logic, Cubase, or Reason. These programs are expensive and complicated, but they can do everything: record, edit, and synthesize sounds, use MIDI data, and more.

There are other crazy programs like MAX/MSP that fascinate me, and about which I know nothing.

New Music Appetizer Week #7 and BEDA Day 13: Generations

Generations (score link working now)
MP3
PDF

Can you believe it? I've been so busy with BEDA (among other non-blog tasks, of course) that this is only Week #7 of my New Music Appetizer!

Hopefully this morsel will be worth the wait.

Here, finally, is my MIDI mock-up of Generations, a 5-minute string orchestra piece written in honor of Charles Darwin, born February 12, 1809 - that's 200 years ago this past February!

Perhaps I'll self-analyze the piece in some detail in tomorrow's post. Suffice it to say that the work combined minimalism and a 12-pitch tone row, though not subjected to any row permutations. Enjoy, and let me know what you think! It's sort of a stylistic detour for me.

Note: Thanks to the wonders of MIDI, some dynamics and articulations are naturally not represented, but this does the trick... for an Appetizer at least.

Miranda Is Morning: Thursday through Sunday at CUA

Here's a sample cue from my current project. It's the closing music for Steve Spotswood's new play Miranda Is Morning, which runs this Thursday through Sunday at CUA.


Miranda Is Morning - Ending Dirge.mp3 (Click to Download)

This is certainly among the best-quality electronic sounds I've produced so far, using Cubase Studio 4, Kontakt 2 as a VST, and HalionOne, a VST that comes with Cubase.

If you have any questions about my process, suggestions for making it sound even more Danny Elfman-esque, or general comments, please please please send me a message! I'm hungry for feedback.

Most importantly, though, if you're in DC this weekend, go see the show! Call the Hartke Box Office at 202-319-4000, or stop by in person to get tickets.