Well I thought I'd post a thread to see what people use for composition software, especially symphonic scores.
I currently mostly use Reason, the odd sample from Fruity Loops. Only problem is I'm not getting a real sound out of the instruments I want, it still sounds looped and repetitive.
Any suggestions on other software I could look at? I've heard Gigastudio with the Vienna sound library works a treat but I've also heard of it to be frustrating and hard to learn?
I'm basically after something that I can compose with a rich and full symphonic sound where I can write for every single instrument possible (some sectional samples are ok).
Comments?
There are a few orchestral libraries available.
1. Garritan Personal Orchestra - small full orchestra for note padding and getting ideas.
2. Edirol Orchestra - same thing as above. Like a sound canvas for orchestra.
3. Vienna Symphonic Library (VSL) - Expensive but professional grade.
4. East West QL (Silver, Gold or Platinum). - Comes in a Kompakt wrapper. From $400-$5,000 US depending on what you want.
I personally own EWQL-Gold but have written scores using Edirol Orchestra and also even the orchestral bank from Reason 2.
When I was writing orchestral music almost everyone was using Finale for producing the scores (it's an amazing music publishing package). I think Logic on a Macintoy (Apple bought it and killed the windoze version)would be a good choice- it's really nicely integrated score editing with midi and audio.