What is what?

I've recently read up on home studios, professional studio software, etc. I'm hoping to get into film/video game scoring someday, and I've been reading about a lot of programs and such on this website and... I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE ARE OR WHY THEY'RE IMPORTANT.

What's a sequencing program?

What is a sound pack or instrument pack or whatever it's called?

What is Logic?

Can someone tell me what I'd need to create a score? I can play a variety of instruments with acceptable proficiency, but I'm a completely dumb and deaf when it comes to the technology and software part. I just don't know what kinds of things I'd need.

EDIT: To clarify, I do know what notation programs are and what they do. I've recently downloaded the demo version of Finale NotePad. Gotta start somewhere. ;)

A sequencing program is a program you use to put together sound or midi files (for example different voices of your piece recorded via a midi keyboard, but also directly recorded sound files through a microphone). It lets you arrange those sounds, mix them, put effects over them etc. and finally produce one single file that is your audible end product. If you merely compose for human musicians, you won't need it. But if you go into film/video game music, you will often have to produce music based on musical samples (which, generally said, are single recorded notes of real instruments), an action you do in a sequencer.

A "sound pack" or "instrument pack" is probably just a "sample library", i.e. a huge collection of tiny sounds of the kind I just mentioned, which is (next to your expertise) maybe the most important aspect of how "realistic" your music sounds in the end. There exist various such sample libraries, for orchestral instruments, some of the most popular ones include different versions of GPO (Garritan Personal Orchestra), EWQL (

EastWest Quantum Leap) and VSL (Vienna Symphonic Library). They come in very different prices, depending on how detailed they are done, how many instruments they encompass etc. A basic GPO package is relatively cheap, whereas a full set of VSL costs many thousands of dollars.

Logic is a sequencer. Particularly, a Mac based one (won't run on Windows), which traditionally comes more from a MIDI direction than an Audio Processing direction - and MIDI -is- the thing that matters most if you digitally produce music with samples, whereas the strict "Audio" parts are more focused on real recordings, e.g. for sound engineers. But today, Logic and most other such programs handle both aspects reasonably well.

If you want to typeset a score professionally in a computer, today you pretty much have to choose between two programs: Finale and Sibelius. There are some other programs, but most of them have limitations, or are not as widespread under professionals, so you'll also get less support. Both Finale and Sibelius are very capable programs and it mostly comes down to personal taste which you choose. Try out the Finale NotePad you downloaded. If you get a grasp on how this works, you also got the fundamentals of the full Finale. You may also download some demo version of Sibelius and try this one out too.

All in all, if you want just to "compose" music, you don't need any technical equipment really (unless you want computer-written scores, which is recommendable to at least learn to do). But if you want to get in the film/video game industry, you'll also have to concern yourself somewhat with the production side of your music, which may mean you need things like: a sequencer, sample library, good monitor speakers to listen to your mix, a midi keyboard, a computer able to handle large amounts of samples (i.e. a large RAM), and possibly a good external HD to store your sample library.

But maybe you don't want to jump in with everything at once right now. I'd recommend first getting acquainted with your notation program (and considering buying the full version of either Finale or Sibelius plus a simple MIDI keyboard for faster note entry), then maybe purchasing a simple sample library (such as GPO) for it and try to produce some good-sounding music with just that. If you want to go further then, look into a sequencer program, etc.

Thank you for the very detailed reply. I'll look into a basic sample library as soon as funds allow for it.

Thanks again, I'll know who to ask if I have further questions.

The great thing about many DAW apps is that they all basically do the same thing. Sure they may change the name of certain functions or add or subtract the number of steps... but if you master one you can usually pick up another program more easily. Much akin to learning a third foreign language after having already mastered a second language.

I'll second what Nathan said. Price, too, can be misleading. When you're shopping for a DAW, pick the one that has the features and workflow you need, not the most expensive one (they generally range from 50 dollars to around 1500). The things to spend money on, once you are up to speed on a DAW, are good instruments and effects. Generally speaking, samples are needed for a sampler when you want "realistic" instruments (horns, strings, piano, and percussion) and instrument plugins are more for sound creation and sound design. If you plan on composing and recording everything yourself, then I recommend a DAW. If you plan on composing for others to play parts then a notation program is probably the better option. Some DAWS have scoring components, too (Sonar, Cubase, Logic, etc.).