software for classical compositions

ned-ryarson · Post by **ned-ryarson** » Wed May 21, 2008 1:45 pm

hello all. im interested in learning how to compose and arrange string ensembles. what software would be good for this? ie. where i can write information as sheet music, opposed to just in a piano roll.

thanks. dd

Post by **Stab Frenzy** » Wed May 21, 2008 2:18 pm

Logic Pro and Sibelius are two popular choices.

ned-ryarson · Post by **ned-ryarson** » Wed May 21, 2008 2:33 pm

didnt know that at all, thought it needed to be a specialist thing.

what about live 7?

ned-ryarson · Post by **ned-ryarson** » Wed May 21, 2008 2:49 pm

ahh... sibelius is a specialist thing

Post by **Stab Frenzy** » Wed May 21, 2008 2:56 pm

Live 7 doesn't have a staff, it's not really for that crowd at all.

Post by **nathanscribe** » Wed May 21, 2008 3:15 pm

My better half uses Sibelius all the time and swears by it. Good for writing direct to score, simple interface, good layout, includes Kontakt player so you can add libraries easily - but it's not cheap. If you're serious about this way of working, it's hard to beat, but it's not the best choice if you want to dabble. Cubase has a score edit mode, so you could pick up the basic version to try it out. I never found it that user-friendly though.

Neither of these programs will teach you about the compositional aspects, though I'm sure there are guides out there for studying orchestral writing techniques.

CS_TBL · Post by **CS_TBL** » Thu May 22, 2008 8:03 am

If you're not scared away by a bit o' low-level programming, how about lilypond? (www.lilypond.org)

It's supposedly the best quality printed score on this planet.

krushing · Post by **krushing** » Thu May 22, 2008 1:47 pm

Here's a good primer on orchestration:
Garritan's Principles of Orchestration