Songwriting...

[angelicminx]

...equipment, software, etc.

Any advice out there? I need to create demo CD's and there HAS to be an easier way than I am doing it.

I watched the movie "Drumline" the other night and noticed that the drums were connected to a computer which put the cadence played to paper. I know there is software out there that will do the same thing with a keyboard, but I don't know what I am looking for.

 

[Liar]

...equipment, software, etc.

Any advice out there? I need to create demo CD's and there HAS to be an easier way than I am doing it.

I watched the movie "Drumline" the other night and noticed that the drums were connected to a computer which put the cadence played to paper. I know there is software out there that will do the same thing with a keyboard, but I don't know what I am looking for.

Depending on what it is you want...

Yes, there are programs that can "record" what you play on a keyboard and make note sheets out of it. The two biggest that I know of out there are Sibelius and Finale. That's what the pros use for notation, basically. And if you don't need all the fancy stuff that's in them, I'm sure there are cheaper and simpler alternatives.

But if you want to make a demo CD, are you sure you don't want a small home studio program instead? They don't do score sheets very well, but you can record from a MIDI keyboard all the same, and then mess around with drum sequencers, string arrangements and all kinds of things in them. And record audio clips, vocals, add effects, and pretty much whetever you feel like. Mix, master and end up with fully produced songs. The result can be anything from simple but functional demo quality, to top-of-the-line professional productions, depending on how meticulous you wanna get. (and how much of a badass computer you've got - too much sounds, virtual instriuments and effects can eat up your cpu power fast. Simple things like a couple of nstruments and no heavy effects like echoes and reverbs and that shouldn't be no problem.)

For beginners, I'd recommend Steinberg's Cuabsis VST. It's got what you need, and is about as easy to learn as they come. it can to the whole thing, from recording the melodies from a keyboard, to building arangements, record vocals from a microphone, mix it and burn your CD in the end.

My weapons of choice are Reason and FL Studio, but they are both kinda dfferent from ordinary music programs and might be a bit of a headache to learn.

 

[angelicminx]

Thank you, Liar! Terrific information. Now I have a direction... can you end procrastination too?

 

[Liar]

Thank you, Liar! Terrific information. Now I have a direction... can you end procrastination too?

No, but if you ask nicely, there are some nice ladies with whips around the place who'd probably be delighted to help.

 

[Xelebes]

What kind of arranging are you doing? Are you doing it purely by recording it or making the whole song by software and a little hardware?

 

[angelicminx]

What kind of arranging are you doing? Are you doing it purely by recording it or making the whole song by software and a little hardware?

So far? I've recorded music onto cassette, played the cassette into my pc microphone while I sang the lyrics. Tedious task, but I don't know how to do it any different...Yet.

 

[angelicminx]

No, but if you ask nicely, there are some nice ladies with whips around the place who'd probably be delighted to help.

Woohoo!

 

[Liar]

So far? I've recorded music onto cassette, played the cassette into my pc microphone while I sang the lyrics. Tedious task, but I don't know how to do it any different...Yet.

With a microphone you can plug into the PC, and a multitrack audio recording program (check out Acid, for instance) you can do that without going through the tape recorder trouble. I think that would be the easiest solution for you.

 

[angelicminx]

With a microphone you can plug into the PC, and a multitrack audio recording program (check out Acid, for instance) you can do that without going through the tape recorder trouble. I think that would be the easiest solution for you.

Cool. Thanks, Liar. Checking it out now.