DAW Recommendation -- need scoring capability

E

edon12

New member
Hi -- I'm a newbie and am looking for a DAW recommendation -- my criteria are maybe a bit different than other folks -- here they are:

1) cheap -- $150 max
2) essentially all MIDI recording at this point -- I am a keyboard player who will play all the parts -- no live audio recording
3) need scoring capability -- want to write songs and get transcripts of solos etc.
4) need collection of drum grooves that can be modified by me -- don't want to create drum patterns from scratch
5) sounds needed mostly piano, organ, drums, and bass -- nothing exotic -- but want these sounds to be very good!

I am thinking of Cubase Elements 7 -- because it can do the scoring. I really like Reaper but no scoring capability.

Any thoughts? Am I missing something? I will be on Windows 7 platform. Thanks to any willing to help me out!
 
I've never used Cubase, so I can't offer an opinion of it, although I'm sure it's excellent-- it's certainly one of the "big names" in commercial DAWs. :)

An inexpensive commercial DAW that includes a notation editor is Acoustica Mixcraft, which I do use and like a lot. As with most of the commercial DAWs, you can download a free trial of the full version ("Pro Studio"), which I think is for 3 weeks.

A "free" DAW that includes a notation editor-- including the option to enter notes on a guitar fretboard, if you're a guitarist (which I'm not)-- is Anvil Studio. The basic program-- which includes the notation or "composer" view-- is free, but certain functions require the purchase of add-ons or "accessories." Anvil Studio's composer view is pretty flexible in that you can use a wide variety of staff types. Since it's free, it wouldn't hurt to check it out-- although you may still want to purchase a commercial DAW so you get some high-quality instrument sounds and loops to work with.

There are at least two free notation programs that I know of-- MuseScore and NCH Crescendo. I haven't used MuseScore yet, but I've used Crescendo and find it very easy to use. Again, since they're free, it wouldn't hurt to check them out. I should add that although the screenshots of Crescendo don't show anything beyond very simple scores with only a treble staff, you can definitely create scores with a grand staff, or multiple staffs if you need them for the vocals, piano, bass, and other instrument parts.
 
Thanks SeaGtGruff

I've never used Cubase, so I can't offer an opinion of it, although I'm sure it's excellent-- it's certainly one of the "big names" in commercial DAWs. :)​

Thanks SeaGtGruff for your response. I appreciate the recommendations on the scoring software. I will try these out -- perhaps they would allow me to use Reaper (since it is cheap and highly regarded) to get what I need.

Thanks again!
 
Check out the various version of "Finale" and for a good piano tone you will be hard pressed to beat Pianoteq.

Dave.
 
thanks again!

Check out the various version of "Finale" and for a good piano tone you will be hard pressed to beat Pianoteq.

Dave.
​
Thank you DOgma and ecc83 for your advice!
 
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