On Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:48:30 -1000
david <gnome(a)hawaii.rr.com> wrote:
I use Rosegarden. The piano-roll presentation seems
like the most
useless way to work with music that I can imagine.
I use Rosegarden too, but unlike you, I find the experience of the
notation editor unsatisfactory (even though I can read notation
passably, albeit slowly).
I think this is very much a horses-for-courses issue, and folks will
use whatever is best for them, try out the options and use what
works.
I frequently do a mixture. I'll be messing about on the keyboard (I've
learnt to always have Rosegarden up and running) and something just
comes together. Maybe just a few bars long, maybe more. As soon as I'm
halfway confident with it, I'll set Rosegarden on record. Once done, I
put it in play mode with the section highlighted for looping, and the
matrix editor displayed - at this point, the notation editor would show
a hopeless mess anyway.
I edit out the accidentally hit wrong notes - although sometimes they
sound so good they become the right ones :) and correct any glaring
timing errors, otherwise keep the natural flow.
I then usually go back to messing around until something comes up that
fits what I already have. If nothing comes up I'll save it in my
musical 'bits box' and look at it later.
When the piece has reached more than a minute in length, I usually add
a bass line, entered directly into another track of the matrix editor,
and slowly build up from there, often swapping instruments around just
to see what sounds best. Some parts I'll play, some will be edited in
note by note.
This method produces the free-flowing style I like most, but timing
tends to be very loose and dynamic. I wouldn't have a clue how to
represent it notationally.
I think one of the best examples of this is my recently reworked
'Reflections'. If you're interested:
http://www.musically.me.uk/music/Reflections.ogg
I would also make the point that this is only ONE method I use!
--
Will J Godfrey
http://www.musically.me.uk