Cakewalk for Beginners
Cakewalk by Bandlab is a fully featured DAW that is absolutely FREE! Previously known as Sonar, it's extensive midi and audio capabilities, all for zero cost, I think, make it ideal for Composers just starting out.
Above is a link to my latest YouTube video, where I go through step by step the basic functions you'll need to write music in Cakewalk using nothing but free orchestral sample libraries.
Combined with the various free sample libraries that are available, you can have a complete composing setup for the investment of just the actual computer hardware (plus your time to learn how to use it!)
The program is however only available for Windows PCs (not available on Mac).
Topics in the video include:
-How to load a virtual instrument
-Recording Midi
-Editing Midi including using Modulation and Expression Controllers & Quantizing
-Entering notes manually with the mouse
-Basic Mixing functions
-Exporting Audio
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Some useful Key commands:
As an extra little bonus, here are some of my favourite Key Commands I use in Cakewalk:
Alt + Mouse Scroll Wheel - Zoom in & out horizontally
Alt + 1 - Track List View
Shift + 4 - Maximise the multidock ( for the Piano Roll Editor)
Alt + C - Show/hide the Piano Roll Controller Lane
L - Loop on and Off
F5 - Smart Tool
N - Snap to Grid on/off
Q - Quantize Setup
