# recommend some (cheap) music composition software **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 17, 2006, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-cheap-music-composition-software/364867 "2006-07-17T15:55:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rainy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@rainy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rainy)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2006, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-cheap-music-composition-software/364867/1 "2006-07-17T15:55:58Z")
It needs to be cheap, as the title states, and easy…high school band was a long time ago. I just want something I can tinker around with, make some incidental music for home videos, and make sure I’m not working for a living when I’m actually the world’s next great composer. Thanks. -rainy ---
**Author:** ![XaMcQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/f9ae1b/32.png) [@XaMcQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XaMcQ)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2006, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-cheap-music-composition-software/364867/2 "2006-07-17T17:03:00Z")
Try [melody assistant.](http://www.myriad-online.com/en/products/melody.htm) It’s shareware, available for unlimited time, but it is so worth the $20.00. ---
**Author:** ![rainy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@rainy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rainy)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-cheap-music-composition-software/364867/3 "2006-07-19T14:02:43Z")
> [@XaMcQ](#): > > Try [melody assistant.](http://www.myriad-online.com/en/products/melody.htm) > > It’s shareware, available for unlimited time, but it is so worth the $20.00. Wow, that looks awesome. Thanks for the recommendation. One question, I see that the more powerful version is also shareware for only $20 as well. Should I just get it to start with, or is it better for a newbie to start on the lesser featured version? -rainy ---
**Author:** ![velvetjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f9b8f/32.png) [@velvetjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velvetjones)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-cheap-music-composition-software/364867/4 "2006-07-19T16:43:49Z")
Finale Music has a free download called Finale Notepad. I use it to make readable chord charts but it does have a play back feature. You can find it at www.finalemusic.com along with their other software which ranges in price from $49 to $600. I’ve also used [Cakewalk](http://www.cakewalk.com) and [Band in a Box](http://www.band-in-a-box.com). Cakewalk I used for writing midi sequences and Band in a box has the play back feature that makes it useful for listening to chord charts and making sure the changes are what I want. Neither of those is exactly cheap but I was able to get a copy of BiaB on ebay for around $60. ---
**Author:** ![rainy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@rainy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rainy)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-cheap-music-composition-software/364867/5 "2006-07-19T17:36:06Z")
> [@velvetjones](#): > > Finale Music has a free download called Finale Notepad. Thanks. Great screen name by the way! ---
**Author:** ![Subway\_Prophet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Subway\_Prophet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subway_Prophet)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2006, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-cheap-music-composition-software/364867/6 "2006-07-19T17:58:42Z")
It’s pretty beta-quality, and it’s primarily for guitar, but I’ve found [Pwer Tab](http://www.power-tab.net/) good for general-use stuff as well. I believe it has an option to turn off the guitar staff. Oh, and it’s free. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![XaMcQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/f9ae1b/32.png) [@XaMcQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XaMcQ)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-cheap-music-composition-software/364867/7 "2006-07-21T21:30:44Z")
> [@rainy](#): > > Wow, that looks awesome. Thanks for the recommendation. One question, I see that the more powerful version is also shareware for only $20 as well. Should I just get it to start with, or is it better for a newbie to start on the lesser featured version? > > -rainy This is hubby’s hobby, not mine, but from what he’s said, I think the Demo version is free to try forever, but giving them $20.00 will let you try out more of the features. Upgrades are free. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2006, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-cheap-music-composition-software/364867/8 "2006-07-21T21:52:16Z")
> [@velvetjones](#): > > Finale Music has a free download called Finale Notepad. I use it to make readable chord charts but it does have a play back feature. > > You can find it at www.finalemusic.com along with their other software which ranges in price from $49 to $600. I’m astonished to find anyone who can use Finale Notepad to actually do anything useful. (And this is coming from someone who uses Finale itself regularly)