Trying to find Freeware Composing software

  • Thread starter Thread starter Seafroggys
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Seafroggys

Seafroggys

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Not sure if this is the best sub-forum to ask this:

Anyways, I write music by scoring instead of recording it via keyboard like most people do. I have always liked Cakewalk's score editor; however, I'm trying to transfer my scoring facilties from my aging old computer to my main recording rig. I cannot transfer Cakewalk over, and I hate Cubase LE's internal score editor (though its nice that it actually has one, seems to be a rare thing with DAW's).

I know there are plenty of freeware score editors out there, but many of them lack certain features I need.

So here's what I'm looking for:

A style similar to Sonar's editor, but doesn't have to be that close
SF2 support or even VSTi support, as I have a wrapper
Able to print and export to midi

Many freeware score editors don't have playback, or if they do, its basic piano. Some are overly complicated (one popular one I found uses programming language to set notes...what the hell?). This is mostly intended for making songs and playback, I don't intend to write actual professional scores, but its the best way I work when songwriting (however, the ability to print and transfer files will help in the future).

So now that I have been picky, what is out there?

And yes, I know I can easily get all of this if I shell out some money for a good program...I'm seeing if there are decent alternatives.
 
Close to free: Melody Assistant from http://myriad-online.com for $25

Demo on their website you can play with. Windows or Mac.

Their big program ($85 - worth it) is Harmony Assistant that is a full-page WYSIWYG that compares with the $600 notation programs.

Plus they have a $25 plugin that'll scan from sheet music to editable files and another that'll convert PDF sheet music to editable files.....
 
Melody Assistant looks to be what I'm looking for, and the built-in sound library is a cool feature. Should try out the demo, and $25 isn't bad.
 
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