Is there any programs which allow you to write music from home computer? ANY help appreciated -thanks guys?

Question

Ok... Music is something I been natural at since I was young. I play guitar and piano and play mostly by ear... (like I could play titanic theme song - never having seen the sheet music)

Anyways I know nothing about where to start looking to get music from the piano, onto a cd.
I know there is heaps of equipment available for mixing sounds etc.. but I do not want to buy the wrong thing or buy something and then realise I need to buy another heap of stuff to make the first thing work. Heaps of people have told me RESEARCH before buying anything... its easy to stuff up, but thats when I was looking for studio recording equipment... and after confusing myself even further on that one, Im now wondering if there is such a thing as a program in which you can get the sound onto the pc somehow (PLEASE excuse my naivity - I have no idea about any of this) I realise If i had a keyboard, I could plug it in to the pc... maybe (If I had a program!) and can purchase one if need be.

So, where do I start? What do I need?

I already know a grammy award winning producer, and I would love to get something together and see where this goes... I have time on my hands to learn things from scratch and money can be located if neccessary but I would just like to test this out first...

Any suggestions?

Answer 1

You are probably looking for a "midi" software such as "Cakewalk" or "Midi Orchestra". The program allows you to attach a midi keyboard to your computer and then play a song. It will capture that song as a midi file that you can replay on any computer. It will also produce a "sheet music" version of the song.

You can also use the program to type in sheet music. You drag the notes onto the staff (to match any sheet music you have) and when done, it plays the sheet music as a midi file. You can also use the "sheet music" feature to edit anything you play in. (Change the tempo, transpose keys, correct notes, etc.)

This is very different from just using a microphone to record a song like you would with a type recorder.

Answer 2

You need a decent sound card first. USB, Firewire models are available with MIDI in and out to hook your keyboard to the computer. You can then use music programs sounds instead of your keyboards. You can also record and playback keystrokes of keyboard.

You'll then need software. For recording audio you could start with Cool Edit Pro or Cakewalk, there's more, Cubase, Nuendo etc.

These programs have the ability to play virtual instruments off the computers software like mentioned previously. They also all can record multitrack audio so you can record one track, play it back and record an overdub.

There is software for notating music like Sibelious. sp?

Hope this gives you a head start, any questions let me know.

Answer 3

From what you said,i think you just need a simple sound recorder.Windows has one built in,but i wouldn't really reccoment it.What i DO reccomend is that you buy a PC microphone,and then download an audio editor.
I think the smartest and easiest to use would be ACID.You can find it at www.acidplanet.com.

If not,SoundForge is pretty good too. www.soundforge.com

Download the programs,and just press the "Record" button.When you're done you can filter out background noise,increase or decrease the tempo,cut it,paste it,etc.
When you're done,go to "File" and select "Render as",choose a quality and save.

Good hunting.

Answer 4

Try http://sourceforge.net in there try to looks for some program that have to do with piano. You may find it there. Use it like google to find the program. They are all free I think.