Secret Composer Review

Hi karelm and Morivou,

Thanks for the good reviews. I appreciate the time it took for you to test Secret Composer and to post your comments. I wanted to briefly address some of the points that were brought up.

First, regarding some of the comments from karelm. You had mentioned that you would like to see a dictionary section. We already have that in the form of our Glossary, which appears in the left hand navigation column when you click the Glossary button. In addition to that, you can use both the Search and Index function to quickly find where in the program we use a particular term.

You had also mentioned that you would like something that moves across the score so that students can follow along during the playback. You had noticed that we had done this in the "Putting It Together-Orchestral" lesson. I want to point out that all of the full orchestral pieces in the Composition Moods also have this feature. You simply click the Animated Score button to the left of the topic's text. We included this function for the full orchestral pieces, because they would be harder to follow than a score with just 2 or 3 staves. I'm sure you noticed that we color coded the lead elements in orange and the background elements in blue.

I don't want to bore the readers of this post with my answers to your other comments so I will send them to you directly - but yes, we do have the "before" and "after" version right next to each other. And thank you for the fact that you would you recommend Secret Composer!

To Morivou, I want to thank you for both the "four out of five stars", and the "five out of five stars". The only comment I want to make is along the same lines as the comment that I made to Weca, regarding his review. Both of you recognized that for the advanced composer, their main interest in Secret Composer would be the Composition Moods and Quick Tricks sections. And I agree.

So again, the question remains as to whether $24.95 is a fair price for these sections alone. And again, I still believe it is more than fair.

I know... what it IS though, is just that... if you sell part of the program for that price and the whole program for the same as that... it just doesn't make good business to my ear. But, if you either raised the price of the full system or lowered the price of the part... it would be fine!

Hi Morivou,

It sounds as though you might be assuming that we're considering selling two products: the complete program and just the advanced package. Actually, we're not. We're selling one package. For the advanced composers, they are still getting a substantial amount of information for the $24.95.

To separate the program into two packages would be like selling two different versions of a dictionary. One version would have just the easy words and another version would have just the difficult words. And like a dictionary, Secret Composer has been designed to move seamlessly between the beginner and advanced materials.

There is no way to cleanly subdivide the program. Beginning readers might want to follow one topic to a more advanced level and advanced composers might want to double check a reference that might be considered "simple". Our goal is to make sure every composer has access to ALL the information we provide.

Then, I wouldn't raise or lower the price. It looks good the way it is, it is worth EVERY penny and more.

I mean, you COULD raise it... that wouldn't be a problem for me since I already have it, but I couldn't have bought it anyway. People would still buy it if they were beginners... my fear is that the advanced people won't see the purpose if you don't advertise at least two or three of the moods in big capital letters... cause they will look at the demo (this is what you asked me earlier) and say: "This is all really simple... I won't buy it cause I know all this stuff"

Thanks, Morivou. And you're probably right. We should demonstrate some more of the advanced topics in the demo.

Anytime! And, if you need anything else for beta testing (such as a new demo, or another product) PM me and I'll be glad to do it!

You got it!

For those of you who do not know me, I am 51 years old and have been listening to classical music for as long as I can remember. I grew up at a time when some of the best music was in the cartoons on TV and the movies were packed full of fantastic music.

I spent 15 years driving Big Trucks, going coast to coast and since radio stations fade in and out rather quickly, I amassed a huge collection of classical tapes to listen to on the long drives. I always wanted to compose music myself, but never had the opportunity or the education to do so. Finally a few years ago, circumstances were such that I could go back to college, which is where I found out about Finale Notepad, and I have been composing ever since. My major was Mathematics, so I was only able to take one composition class which did help me quite a bit. But the rest of my studies of music have been on my own thru books and sites like this. I am always looking for products, like Secret Composer, that will help me to become a better composer.

I have been a teacher since around the 6th grade, where I helped out my classmates with their Math homework. Everyone always said that I could explain Math to them in ways that they could finally understand what it was all about. I tutored the rest of my time in school and in all of my jobs since, I have taught others how to become more proficient in their endeavors.

As a teacher, I know that people learn in many different ways. Some can read a book and know how to build a house. Others can just watch a house being built and will know how to do it. Most people need someone there that can show them step by step how to build the house, and then with hands on experience, can build their own if needed. And, most importantly, show them all of the tricks that makes it all go faster and more efficiently.

I have the full version of Secret Composer, so my remarks here are not based on the demo. Secret Composer gives an in depth look into how to build a piece of music and then guides you thru the processes used to make an enjoyable piece. With numerous examples and step by step instruction, Secret Composer allows the student to find out at his own speed what will work well for him and what will not. Although there are many subjects where even the most experienced composer will learn by studying, the program is geared more towards the beginner/intermediate level. Just as there are tricks in building a house, there are tricks in composing successful musical pieces. Secret Composer shares many of these tricks.

I have not read every comment in this thread, but some have mentioned that this program is below many on this site and few would learn from it. I do not believe that at all. In fact, I believe that most all of the composers here would benefit greatly from the use of the program. There is enough information in it to satisfy even the most seasoned composers here.

I highly recommend its use to all YC members.