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How can computers assist me with my composition?

This article (written by Steve Wilkins from Ashfield Boys High School) provides valuable information on free sequencing and notation programs.

Using technology in HSC composition
A sequencing / notation program
Sound sources
MIDI keyboard and cable (optional)
Further reading / links

Using technology in HSC composition

There are a number of technological tools available that can assist you when composing a piece of music. It is possible to set up a basic music studio on your computer for no cost, and the tools available require a fairly standard computer with Internet access. You do not need to be a techno whiz, and it does not matter what style of music you are into. You will be able to throw out your manuscript and quills and replace them with a screen and a mouse.

Some basic computer skills will help you during the initial set-up of your music studio. However, minimal computer skills will be required once you start composing. All you will need are some musical ideas; that's the hard part!

Benefits

There are many musical benefits in using technology during the composition process.

Scores are neatly presented and easy to read.
What you see is what you hear. You will be able to hear your latest changes and ideas with the click of a button.
Musical ideas can be easily tried and tested.
Your composition portfolio will be created automatically, and will feature multimedia elements.
You can e-mail a work in progress to friends and teachers for evaluation.
It is fun!

The basics

You will need to obtain:

A computer
Sequencing / notation software
A sound source
A MIDI keyboard and cable (optional)

Most software is available for both Apple Macintosh and IBM-compatible machines these days. The same applies for the specialist music software required to start composing on a computer.

A sequencing / notation program

A sequencer is a music software application used to create, edit and arrange music.

A sequencer program allows you to record music into a computer, track by track as in a recording studio, and is ideal for composers who have a MIDI keyboard connected to a computer, which allows real-time recording of musical parts. Most sequencer programs allow you to view and edit musical information in a number of graphical ways, including scores.

If, however, you do not have a MIDI keyboard, or you want to compose in a more traditional way, a notation program would be more suitable, where you can enter notes directly onto on-screen staves. These days there is little distinction between sequencing and notation programs.

Years ago, sequencing and notation programs were very expensive and required special equipment and hardware. Thanks to advances in technology, this is no longer necessary, as most software makes use of the standard features of your computer. All the tools you need to get started are legally available on the Internet, for free.

Software is free as a result of software marketing strategies. Well-known music software companies give away basic versions of their software packages to encourage people to buy the full versions. You can take advantage of this, and while you are trying out their software, you will be completing part of the requirements of the HSC. Of course, there is always a catch! The software usually has some kind of limitation placed on it to encourage you to upgrade. In most cases you can work around these limitations. Remember, you are trying to set up a workstation at home for free. The finished product can probably be completed with better facilities than may be available in your school.

Recommended notation program: Finale Notepad

Finale Notepad is the most easy-to-use notation program. It is the little sibling of Finale, which is one of the best-known programs used within the music industry. Using Finale Notepad is as simple as drawing notes on a page and is suitable for composers of most styles. The quality of the score printout is excellent.

Once the software is up and running you will be led through a set-up wizard. First, enter the title of the piece and its composer (that would be you!). Don't worry if you don't know what you are going to call the piece. This can easily be changed later. In fact, it would be a good idea to change the title to the date you edit it, save the file under the same name, and you will find you are automatically collecting material for your composition portfolio.

Next, choose the instruments you want on your score, which are conveniently organised according to instrumental families. Finally, choose a time and key signature. Press Finish and your blank page of manuscript, with instruments labelled, grouped and transposed correctly, is ready for you to fill in.

Entering notes is easy, just like a word processor. Existing notes in a bar will move over as new notes are added or deleted. Choose the type of note you want (crotchet, quaver, etc.) and click on the line or space where you want it. Leger lines will appear and disappear as you need them.

Press Play and instantly hear your creation.

Program limitations:

Files may only be saved as Finale files.

Hint: If your school has a copy of the full version of Finale your file can be transferred, manipulated further and then saved as a MIDI file for use in any sequencer program.

You can post your completed composition on the web for others to hear and respond to.

Maximum of eight instruments.
Finale Notepad is available from www.codamusic.com

Recommended sequencer programs: Logic Rocket

Logic Rocket is an easy-to-use sequencer program created by the makers of Notator, a program famous within the music industry. It is a fully functional program that allows you to record both MIDI and audio data. Use this to record a MIDI song with vocal and/or guitar parts.

Logic Rocket is aimed at users who want to collaborate on musical projects with composers all around the world via virtual recording studios on the Internet. However, it works perfectly as a stand-alone sequencer program on your own computer.

Logic Rocket features all of the standard screens you would expect to see in today's sequencer programs. These include:

Arrange, where you can see the full layout of the song. Individual instrumental parts are represented as coloured bars that can be moved, cut, copied and pasted.
Score: music on staves
Matrix Editor or Piano roll - a grid across the whole screen with a piano keyboard down the left-hand side. Individual notes are represented as horizontal rectangles in the grid, where the width of the rectangle indicates the length of the note and the vertical position represents a corresponding piano key. The pitch and duration of individual notes can easily be edited in this screen.
Event list, where you can see individual data events, such as note on, note off, note pitch and note velocity in an ordered list from beginning to end.
Mixer, where volume, panning and effects can be adjusted, just like a mixing desk in a recording studio.
Transport: tape recorder controls, tempo, left and right locators to cycle within sections of a song for editing, analysis and recording.

Program limitations:

Cannot display multiple staves
Cannot print scores.

Hint: The program allows you to import and export standard MIDI files. You can then load these files into another sequencer or notation program for further manipulation and printing. Check if your school has a notation program that you can use to print out your score when you have finished.

Other sequencers

Cubasis InWired is similar to Logic Rocket. Based on the well-known Cubase program, this version allows you to co-write songs in virtual recording studios over the Internet. It has some major limitations; in particular, you cannot use it as a stand-alone sequencer because files can only be saved to the Internet.

Pro Tools Free is a professional audio editing and MIDI sequencing package. This version of the software has a limited number of tracks but more than enough for students' and teachers' needs. However, there is no score facility.

Pro Tools is available from www.digidesign.com/ptfree/index.htm

Sound sources

If your computer has a good sound card, when you use a sequencer or notation program, you will hear decent MIDI sounds. If not, you will need to download a software synthesizer that will convert your computer into a more professional-sounding synthesizer.

Sound cards

All modern standard personal computers have a sound card of some description, which, as its name implies, produces the sounds within a computer.

Looking at the back of a computer, the sound card is where the computer's speakers are plugged in. Other sockets here include a line out, line in, microphone in, and a joystick PIN socket. It is possible to use all of these sockets at various times when making music on a computer, as follows:

Line out: for connecting your computer to a tape deck to record the finished piece of music on cassette.
Line in: to connect an acoustic instrument for digital hard disk recording, e.g. guitar, effects.
Microphone (mic): to connect a microphone for recording vocals or acoustic instruments such as a flute or saxophone.
Joystick PIN socket: for connecting a MIDI breakout cable when connecting a MIDI keyboard.

Sound cards have three main roles in a computer:

to play back and record digital audio files, such as wave files, MP3s, real audio, etc.
to process digital audio
to provide a synthesizer for use with MIDI data.

It is this third role that we are mainly concerned with. A standard sound card has a synthesizer that uses FM synthesis or PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) to create sound. More expensive sound cards (such as the Creative Sound Blaster Live Value) use Wavetable synthesis, where MIDI sounds are samples of real instruments. The MIDI sounds on more expensive sound cards will be much more realistic when compared with the toylike tinkering sounds of a standard sound card. The same MIDI file will sound completely different when played through each synthesizer. It is like comparing a small transistor radio with a high quality hi-fi sound system.

Software synthesizer: Roland Virtual Sound Canvas

A software synthesizer turns your computer into a high-quality synthesizer with realistic sounds. While your sequencer or notation program is running, it will send all its MIDI data to the software synthesizer, which is running in the background.

Roland, one of the larger manufacturers of electronic musical instruments, has released its Virtual Sound Canvas for free. It is based on the Sound Canvas that is a professional sound module that is widely used within the music industry.

Program limitations:

Sound fades out after 50 seconds (demo version).

Hint: If your song is longer than 50 seconds, you can stop it and start it again to reset the clock.
This is okay if you are working at home. Remember that final versions of your music can be recorded at school, or with a borrowed sound module or synthesizer.

The program is not appropriate for live recording as there is a delay from when a keyboard note is pressed to when the sound is heard.

Hint: This will only be relevant if entering notes using a MIDI keyboard. To overcome this problem, change the MIDI device (Control PanelàMultimediaàMIDI) to the FM / standard MIDI instrument when recording and change it back to the sound canvas for playback.

Quicktime Sounds

If you are an Apple user, Quicktime can be used as an effective software synthesizer.

MIDI keyboard and cable (optional)

The best way to enter notes is by recording them into a computer live, using a MIDI keyboard. A keyboard is MIDI-compatible if it has MIDI (IN, OUT, THRU) ports on the back of it. The keyboard is connected to other MIDI instruments, in our case, a computer, via a MIDI cable.

On most PCs a MIDI breakout cable is required to plug into the soundcard's joystick port on the back of the computer and into the MIDI ports on the back of a keyboard. Apple computers require an extra MIDI interface box, which provides the MIDI ports.

If you intend to take the creation of computer music seriously, it may be worthwhile to invest in a MIDI keyboard. An excellent and reasonably priced option is the Evolution Music Creator 49 or 61. This package includes a MIDI controller keyboard with many useful buttons, a cable that connects directly to the joystick port, which also supplies power from the computer to the keyboard, and a CD with a great sequencer / notation program called Sound Studio, along with a whole range of other programs. For more information go to www.evolution.co.uk . Although this is a British company, the keyboard is available from music retailers in Australia. (Cost is around $AU230 - $AU250)