naia28

I wish I had gotten into composing much sooner than I did. I was a really insecure teenager and didn't think I could "cut it" in music. Not that my high school music teacher was of any help :( I started hearing music in my head when I was 14, inspired by film and video games. I didn't know how to transcribe it down on paper so I let my ideas sit in my head for two-three years. I went to a summer music camp that offered a composition class for the first time the last year I went (went for three summers, later went to teach at it for five more). I had volunteered myself to write something for a play, but I had never written anything before. I learned some techniques at this camp and became obsessed with writing. I got into college for music ed but switched after a year when the whole composing thing got a lot bigger than I imagined. I got a bachelors in music theory and a masters in music composition. Now I live in LA and I'm trying to get into writing music for film/tv/video games. I joke it was a hobby that got out of hand. I've now been composing for nine years.

I myself am torn and this whole 2007 upgrade has prompted me to do some research. I upgraded to Finale 2006 in February and have had nothing but issues with it. When I use softsynth, it plays notes that don't exist in the score, will sometimes repeat parts when there is no repeat or not play parts at all. Depending on whether or not my computer feels like loading all its RAM it will crash when I try to use GPO sounds. A Powermac G5 with 2.5 gigs of RAM should be more than sufficient to handle Finale. I check my system utility that monitors how much memory I'm using and I always have at least a gig of RAM leftover. WTF is it doing? ;) So I feel burned from 06 and I'm afriad upgrading to 07 may make things worse. On the other hand it may make things better. I've even debated switching to Sibelius. I've wanted to learn it for my copying and engraving services so I can market myself as a user of both. Has anyone else had problems with 2006 crashing? Is Sibelius more stable?

I think this program as a LOT of potential, if Nintendo actually acts on it. Wouldn't it be great if this turned into a program that allowed young students to practice their conducting skills? Young conductors tend to waver in tempo and generally when you're in a college conducting class and playing when you're not up on the podium, you're probably keeping a good beat. The student may have no idea how badly they're wavering in tempo, even after watching themselves in a video. I'd love to see Nintendo pair up with MENC or something like that to release exercises for serious musicians, maybe downloaded via their WiiConnect24 or something like that. I just hope it's not some cheesy demo that gets tagged on with Wii Sports. If they really want to expand the gaming market, they have to offer things that would draw the non-gaming market in. I think something like this would be a great tool for musicians to use.