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1. Which software do you use? Sibelius 2. Do you use it for composing or simply to typesetting A mixture of both, it depends entirely on the type of piece. Usually I use it to typeset my manuscript work. Like Asparagus Brown I will write a first draft onto manuscript (this often seems like more a bunch of sketches than a draft, but usually are created more or less in chronological order) Then I will type up these drafts, often making slight alterations, and beginning to take formatting into consideration. Some pieces that I started before I decided upon this method are being composed straight into the computer. 3. If you use it for composing, do you find that it helps the creative process? No, I find the lack of the flexibility that manuscript offers tends to hold me back. 4. In what ways does it limit your composing in either the short term or the long term? I generally take longer to compose pieces straight into my computer than onto paper first.

I also suffer from messy handwriting. When I have some time to spare I'm going to make an attempt at tidying it up. Have you ever seen Michael Finnissy's scores? He has some sample ones on his website. His scores are all handwritten, and amazingly neat. If I could write like that then I'd handwrite all my scores too! I can't imagine how time-consuming it must be though.

The problem is, most people don't have much chance to hear their work brought to life by an actual orchestra, so this practicing of orchestration will be almost entirely score-based. The lack of opportunity to hear their efforts in sound will probably hinder development somewhat. Sampling is an option, I guess, but it would take a huge amount of work to come even close to a realistic representation.

I still have trouble with that stuff. I hope I can successfully learn how to do it in a way that would help me. I usually try out passages on the piano, to make sure they're 'OK' and make corrections if it's not.

I'm exactly the same. It took some time to figure out but working within the constrictive natures of notation programs tends to leave me feeling uninspired, and generally slows things down. There's also the temptation to click play and hear it played disgustingly by MIDI, which tended to completely discourage me from working any further. My method these days is to write stuff down, freely and roughly onto manuscript, and copy it into my computer some time after I finish my session.

Great piece! It seems rather beyond me in analytical terms (for the time being) but I certainly like what I hear.

Such as...

Rzewski's "De Profundis". 4:14

I try to do at least some composing everyday, or most days, but I usually end up writing a lot of short fragments of things that never really get expanded into a full piece, which is why I have so few of them.

Meshuggah - Rational Gaze I'm quite obsessed with this band by now. Although, the extent to which it could be called pop...

Untidy computer desk. That's pretty much it. Occasionally I wander elsewhere with manuscript.

Yes, though extracting those ideas efficiently is something quite a few have trouble with. Most of my 'ideas' are very vague anyway, it takes a lot of messing around to turn them into something solid.

I'm pretty OK at doing this for a single line, within limits (speed etc.), but I have serious problems when it comes to polyphony, or just music with a lot of stuff going on. I can manage a few parts at once, but I just can't get myself to piece everything together into what the complete texture should sound like...

Speaking of Messiaen, I've become quite obsessed with La Nativite Du Seigneur, and Turangalila (particularly movement 4 - I love when he piles up all those themes on top of each other towards the end.)

Your span sounds similar to mine. Yes, it entirely relies on the choir manual being at the bottom for it to be playable. I assumed that most organs have that layout. I considered the legato problem. I think it could be solved by "glissing" the notes with the thumb. A 1-2 1-2 etc. fingering on the choir would be ideal, but probably for large hands/very long fingers only. Thanks for the feedback!