Music Software

[chelsey]

Forgive me if this is in the wrong forum;

I have a Yamaha Clavinova CLP-950, and I just received a MIDI-USB interface (Yamaha UX16). I am wondering now which software you would recommend that would allow me to do simple recording projects, and/or would allow me to compose by playing (midi notation?)

I'm pretty new to digital recording so any advice would be welcome!

Thanks!!

Chelsey

[tac-tics]

A free (not spectacular, but free) tool is Jazz++ for MIDI recording.

You can also use Audacity (another free tool, though this one is pretty fancy) for audio recording.

If your keyboard's onboard synth is any good, it might just be better to use Audacity. Using Jazz++ will let you record just as well, but it's not so useful unless you are going to pipe it to a virtual synth or otherwise edit it.

Then again, though, if you want to put your music as Background MIDI on a web site, you would obviously want to opt for Jazz++.

[chelsey]

Thank you for your reply;

 I downloaded Audacity but found it did not record from a MIDI input but from a mic. I am hesitant to download Jazz ++ as I am looking to preserve as much original sound of my piano as possible. I am willing to purchase a program if it is worthwhile, but I'm not in a place to spend $100s on it (being a 'starving student' and all).

[mariocast]

The two music notation programs that you should look at are:

Finale and Sibelius

Both are industry standards.  Each software title is available at different price levels, depending on how complex your notation is going to get.

I have most experience with Finale.  Finale has a free "Notepad" that is downloadable, but I don't think it supports MIDI input.  The next level that supports MIDI input is Finale Allegro and it retails for $199.

Looking at Sibelius, it looks like the Sibelius Student Edition is the best deal for you.  It is $99 and does support MIDI input.

As far as simple recording of your playing, I use GarageBand 2.0.  It comes free with every new Mac and is part of the iLife '05 suite.  But I'm assuming you're running a Windows PC, so I'm not sure whether they offer a similar program for free or not.  I've used GarageBand in conjunction with a Virtual Grand Piano Software  plugin.  I think you'd be surprised at the quality of the recordings.  You can sample the recordings on my podcast.  Just follow the link below...

[timothy42b]

I just bought a MIDI-USB interface and had the same question you did.

For entering notation, I use Noteworthy Composer.  It handles midi input fine, but doesn't adjust the note values, so you need to keep a hand on the number keys, but this still speeds up note entry greatly. 

I have Audacity which is nice, but as mentioned it does not handle midi.

For recording in real time, so I can hear my mistakes, and also to play along, I use the free downloaded AnvilStudio.  There are lots of better sequencer programs out there but I didn't want to spend a lot when I don't know what I will end up needing, and this one was reasonably intuitive. 

[mariocast]

Here's a working list of music software by Peter Webster and David Williams in association with their Experiencing Music Technology textbook:

https://homepage.mac.com/peterwebster/softwarelist.htm

They break it down into categories like Notation, MIDI sequencing, and digital audio editing.

[mattm]

Have you considered programs like Reason, Cubase, or Logic ? ?  They can get pricey, but are worth every penny.