Originally Posted by Frank G
Hi, and thanks for the post. I honestly would not object to learning a DAW, and I have heard of both Cakewalk and Band in a Box. The trouble is, I am 76 yrs old, semi-disabled, and even though I have close to 90 songs now on Musescore as sheet music adaptations and have become quite an expert in it, I can't actually read music. It is easy to write music ... just place 1 note at a time in a measure, one by one. I have perfect pitch and can do so quite well. Reading it, however, requires speed. I just don't have speed and never learned how. I suspect I am too old now to master speed reading. Consequently, when I am done adapting a piece of music to sheet music in musescore, the virtual "player" then plays the song beautifully, and I've gotten very good at it. I have hundreds of followers now.

That said, I am afraid of learning a whole new software program like Cakewalk or BIAB, or Sibelius or some other program. I know I could, but it would take me a LONG time and a LOT of effort. Frankly, I'm not sure I have the fortitude to tackle it, even with YouTube tutorials. I just feel too old.

It sounds like you don't have Band in a box. (BB) You might want to pick up a copy of the basic version for $130 and play around with it. It has a guarantee. If you don't like it, send it back and get a refund. This is a good company and they will refund the money. It's really not that hard to learn how to use. It might be the answer to your problems with composition. You said you are currently doing one note at a time. How would you feel about completing an entire song in 10 to 15 minutes? It's totally possible because I do that quite often. Once you get it done, you can change style, tempo, and key with the click of the mouse.
You're only as old as you feel.

Hopefully this helps you

Edit: you don't have to read any music to use this software to it's fullest advantage. A little bit of understanding music theory is helpful but not an absolute requirement.

Last edited by Guitarhacker; 07/19/24 04:40 AM.
You can find my music at:
www.herbhartley.com
Add nothing that adds nothing to the music.
You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.

The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.