KVR Audio

flyingsquirrelofdeath · Sun Mar 19, 2006 2:18 am

While I'm the first to shout out Ableton praises in many aspects of the music making process, I find it frustrating for composing MIDI loops.
I've been out of the loop for awhile on new software, so if there is a truly amazing/intuitive tool for quickly composing MIDI, I'd like to learn about it and possibly incorporate it into my Ableton setup.
Project 5? Fruityloops? Logic? etc. etc. etc. . . .

Thanks!

Dazza66 · Post by **Dazza66** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 2:22 am

I reckon you'd find FL Studio (the latest incarnation of FruityLoops) to be pretty intuitive - the step sequencer it features as its main composing tool is very easy to use and promotes creativity 'on the fly'.

bugs · Post by **bugs** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 2:27 am

Sibelius or Finale.

Ja.x · Post by **Ja.x** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 2:28 am

For me it was Muzys. Now I use eXT; it's very good, although the workflow of Muzys is still unmatched.

Ildon · Post by **Ildon** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 2:32 am

I like Cakewalk Home Studio. Open it up, start composing MIDI and everything you need is right there in front of you.

flyingsquirrelofdeath · Sun Mar 19, 2006 3:42 am

Much thanks for recommendations! Time to download a few demos. I hope one of those items will truly be the greatest thing since sliced bread. If not, I'll just wait around till the glorious day when the Devine-Machine/FX-Pansion teams try their hands at a MIDI/VST sequencing program and corner the market.

scam_artist · Post by **scam_artist** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 4:20 am

I really like Project5 V2 for MIDI composing

das Gimpue · Post by **das Gimpue** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 4:48 am

I would recommend Geniesoft Overture or Score Writer. I don't understand how you like to work or what type of music you like doing the most.

These are notation programs with a good amount of midi editing available. Plus, and this is significant, Version 4 is now a VST host as well.

They work very well, and for composing, it's a notational program! What a natural way to compose music.

I will also say, support is fantastic!

Overture is the flagship program and Score Writer is the featured reduced version. Mind you though, even Score Writer is no toy, as you can do some excellent work with it.

I highly recommend checking out the demos at www.geniesoft.com

Good day

Synthbuilder · Post by **Synthbuilder** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 9:54 am

The thing I use to generate loops, but not whole tracks, is not a piece of software at all. Its hardware and you cannot get much more inspirational than this:

http://www.p3sequencer.com/

A friend of mine can do a whole improv gig with one of these, a KS rack and Korg Electribe sampler.

Most decent hosts will support a hardware loop sequencer very easily. Live handles the P3 very inteligently and the P3 has become as important to me as the midi keyboard.

jimoche · Post by **jimoche** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 6:26 pm

How about Cantabile?
It stores its last VSTi/patch settings and automatically saves midi files.
This means you can just double-click on its desktop icon and play a tune using the computer keyboard before you forget it.
Works fine for me (laptop in XP).

cptgone · Post by **cptgone** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 6:31 pm

I love Cubase drum editor (mainly for drums, for titties I go down the artisanal road though, but never mind that)

Just listened to the first symphony of Dodoloiseau and it struck me: the third two bytes of the 128kbps mp3 are identical to the third two bytes of the sourcecode of mEMEKILLER vst.

arke · Post by **arke** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 6:40 pm

FL has THE BEST PIANO ROLL. Period. No contest. I've tried about a million hosts and none has a better Piano roll than FL.

zircon · Post by **zircon** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 6:41 pm

Seconded!

What is the BEST MIDI composing tool?