SoundCards & Synthesizers Best for CakeWalk Software?

[Wallace]

Hi everyone, I am interested in purchasing Cakewalk's Overture music notation program which is capable of supporting several instruments (voices) for score playback. What I wish to achieve is faithful sound reproduction of the many instrument voices as close to the real thing as practical given the limitations of Cakewalk programs (if any). What sound card would be most worthy and will I need some kind of Synth to accurately reproduce the instruments? I want it to sound like there's a live band in the house.

All suggestions appreciated.

 

[kennedy connor]

soundscape mixtreme and gigasampler

 

[rjt]

How much do you want to spend? What kind of live band.... rock, jazz, Latin or Orchestral. How "real" does it have to sound a why?

For example, you can buy a sampler (software or hardware) and a sample CD of great bass notes and bass playing, then spend hours doing bass notes, slides, vibrato etc etc. There is the additional cost of the sampling CD and the huge number of hours needed to make it sound "real". On the other hand, you can get a module and get "reasonable" (depending on your standards and goals) basses. If I were trying to make money scoring a movie, I would do the former and if I were writing scratch demos to train the band, I would do the later. Depends.

Sound cards and their features vary widely. Do you need lots of tracks or do you plan to do most of the mixing in your computer? Will most music be synth generated or will it come from live instruments? Will it be connected to a tape deck (digital, 2 or 8 or more track) or will you record in one pass and eventually burn a CD on your computer?

The Cakewalk site has a list of sounds which they recommend for Cakewalk products. The list also compares features. good luck!!