What's the best computer program to use for writing music?

Question

I've been wanting to start writing industrial rock music. I listen to Nine Inch Nails a lot, and want to start creating some nice instrumentals. I have so many beats in my head, but a lack of knowledge of how to get my beats onto a real song. The only tool I have is the computer. Is there any tips you can give me about how I should go about writing industrial music? I would also like to know of a good program that can help me do so.

Answer 1

For your first question, it's difficult to answer...honestly, just write whatever comes out -- don't try to conform to creative norms. Find your own voice and roll with that.

As for what program works best, it's also difficult to answer. It's nice to have knowledge in multiple programs, as I've found it's foolish to limit yourself to one specific platform.

With that in mind, and pardon my lengthy response, you should check out Ableton Live. It's an extremely intuitive program that is FUN (key word, here). The guy who taught me Live had his mom making beats in less than a half hour -- that's how easy it is.

I'll preface my suggestion of Live with some comments on the other major platforms out there. Now, I don't mean to talk bad about these other programs...they obviously work, as people are making great music with them. But this is what I've found in working with them.

Pro Tools -- the king of audio, and the industry standard. The best program to mix in. Can be difficult to understand if you're just getting started. Sequencer is sub-standard, if you are working with MIDI.

Logic -- very powerful program, lots of virtual instruments included. EXTREMELY steep learning curve...it's a tough puppy to understand.

Digital Performer -- the best MIDI capabilities on the market. Audio is so-so, but you can make it work. A little 'blah' for my taste.

Reason -- amazing program for beats, hip-hop, etc. HUGE downside is you don't have any way to record audio (vocals, guitars, etc.) within the program.

Cubase and Sonar I haven't worked with too much, but I wasn't impressed when I used them. Sonar's interface is a friggin' mess compared to the other platforms I've used.

GarageBand -- obviously the most suggested here, and it's worth a shot if you have a Mac and don't wanna spend more money on another program. But it's the most limited compared to every other platform -- keep that in mind.

A couple suggested Sibelius, which is perfect for writing scores and the such, but for industrial rock, it won't do you any good.

So what's so good about Ableton Live?? The versatility, man. It comes with countless plug-ins already installed, you can MIDI-map them to just about any MIDI controller on the planet (I've even seen people use Guitar Hero guitars and Wii-remotes), and the Elastic Audio (the key function to Live that Pro Tools 7.4, to put it bluntly, stole) conforms every piece of audio and MIDI you're working with to a single tempo. It's also capable of being a ReWire Host or Slave, allowing other programs to simultaneously work in conjunction with it (i.e. Reason), or permitting the use of Live within another DAW, such as Pro Tools.

Basically, the way I learned it, Live is like a musical sketchpad, or canvas...and I'm not kidding when I say it practically collaborates with you in writing the music. I suggest Live to anyone who wants to write music because of this. You can experiment with the arrangement and clips (See Video: Improvising With Loops), all without even pushing 'Stop'. Creating beats is a cinch (See Video: Creating Beats). Live's interface is so unique and, again, FUN!!

I could go on more but this is already too long. I included some links to Ableton's website -- watch those videos (especially the 'Uninterrupted Creative Flow' movie), check out more, try out the free demo -- you'll see for yourself how sweet this program is.

Good luck with your music!!

Answer 2

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Answer 3

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Answer 4

ignore the garage bandees... that's only an average program, though it is easy to understand.

If you are a mixologist (which is to say you aren't really writing your own music, but 'borrowing' others) then I would say, without hesitation, Ableton Live 6 is a great program. Along the same lines, for apple users, Soundtrack is a great mixing program. Also for mixing purposes, audacity is a good choice, and it's free for both major platforms.

But for someone that wants to do dedicated sequencing and composition Reaso, Logic, and Cakewalk are all equally good programs... the easiest to use among them being reason... the most full featured, cakewalk.

Answer 5

I'm going to recommend Ableton Live. Its getting to the point where that software is becoming an instrument in itself. Great user interface, new concepts in sequencing, etc. With the latest version, you can combine your hardware effects (pedals, rack equipment, etc) better than ever before, etc. Its also fun to use.

If you're on a budget and a PC user, FLStudio has become more capable over the years. Comparing it to Live is like comparing apples to oranges, but its good for learning drum programming and basic composition.

Having said that, this will be a hot topic as each person has their own tastes. I'm just stating what works for me.

Answer 6

I own a bmi publishing company, among many other interests. I've been in the business for many years. Many programs are out there, but not compatiable with PC format. What's best? That's debatable! For the PC user, a program called "Music Studio 11 Deluxe" is without a doubt probably the best on the market. It allows you to record & arrange, edit & mix, master & burn, and has virtual instruments, pro effects, notation print, track freeze, 64 tracks, unlimited midi tracks, tape simulation, tube saturation, as well as audio cleaning tools. It surpasses Cakewalk Music Creator 3, Cubase SE 3, and Sony Sound Forge Audio Studio 8.0. With it you can synchronize, import & export many different formats, extract & export video sound, and do many other things not available with most other Mac type programs. The virtual instruments are awesome on the low end drum bass, and beat box for doing hip hop, rock, techno, and even acoustic tracks. This program was featured in Electronic Musician Magazine, and others. It has too many features to list, and allows many formats such as MP-3 & others. What really stands out is the ability to print your own notation. This comes in real handy when applying for copyrights in the music segment portion of your work. This is almost the perfect program for doing what you want to do, and the good thing is; it comes in at an affordable cost of just under $100. Take it from someone who does this for a living. You won't regret purchasing this program once you use it, and get used to getting around in the different aspects of the program. I don't think (for the price) it can be beat.
Glad to help out, Good Luck!!!

Answer 7

On the page above you can also find a demo version of Finale PrintMusic!, Finale 2005, Finale Guitar and Finale Allegro which I'll talk about now. I'm supplying all the demo versions here so you can find the software that's best for you if you're looking with view to buying the full version.) If you're poor like moi, better to go for Finale Notepad or Noteworthy Composer as they're free and you can get more use out of them than the other Finale demos

Answer 8

As much as people are giving thumbs downs to it, Garage Band is definitely your best bet. I've used plenty of programs to record different types of music, and Garage Band is the easiest to figure out, yet still has plenty of good options.

Now if you KNOW how to use programs like Adobe Audition, Pro Tools, and more advanced programs, then you can do a lot more than Garage Band. But if you don't know anything about recording programs, I would not suggest starting out with anything except Garage Band.

Also, my friend used to write music in Garage Band with just his laptop's keyboard (no external midi keyboard or anything), and just the built-in mic, and he made phenominal sounding stuff. And we both have recorded plenty of music before and have had plenty of experience in it.

Answer 9

Best Music Writing Software

Answer 10

So what's so good about Ableton Live?? The versatility, man. It comes with countless plug-ins already installed, you can MIDI-map them to just about any MIDI controller on the planet (I've even seen people use Guitar Hero guitars and Wii-remotes), and the Elastic Audio (the key function to Live that Pro Tools 7.4, to put it bluntly, stole) conforms every piece of audio and MIDI you're working with to a single tempo. It's also capable of being a ReWire Host or Slave, allowing other programs to simultaneously work in conjunction with it (i.e. Reason), or permitting the use of Live within another DAW, such as Pro Tools.

Answer 11

I think Finale (the 2008 version). There's the latest version of it. It's got a whole variety of instruments to choose from, and you can set the human playback options. Really, it will sound like real music. Also, you can record your music and post it. Try the studio view! You can change it so you can hear all of the instruments, or just one. I bet if you use this software, you're going to raise the roof!