Apart from the appearance, there isnt really a noticeable difference (in sound quality or whatever).

Are there any freeware programs like Notworthy Composer, were I can click and drag notes onto a staff of varies instruments?

The only freeware notation software I've ever managed to use successfully is Lilypond (www.lilypond.org) although it's definately aimed at computery people due to the scripting language you need to use to get notes into it. If you're running Linux it's also worth looking into Rosegarden which seems to have good notation capabilities.

Finale (www.finalemusic.com) also do a cut down version of their notation software for windows called Finale Notepad which might be worth checking out. I've not used it but it could well be what you are looking for.

Sennheiser vs AKG ? I have them both so i know which one is better (of course that is my opinion) ... what about you?

Since youve offered the service, ill ask away :-)

Do you know of any good software to use where you can create 'realistic sounding' music by actually writing the notes, composing it.
Including notative display, keyboard display, pitch bending, all other standard musical flexibilities, the ability to create instruments with their own characteristics by inputting the wave forms and rules for wave forms, simple transposing, part grouping and additionally it has to be free ;-)

Ok mabey its a lot to ask of a piece of software; but off hand, if you know of anything... I as of yet havent found anything up to standard.

Norbi: I've never used a Sennheiser microphone, nor a pair of AKG headphones, so I couldn't make a fair comparison. I would regard both as high-quality manufacturers though.

ZedFX: I've yet to find a decent free sequencer (except possibly Rosegarden - which is linux only), let alone one which features decent notation. I use Cubase myself and even in that I haven't been wholly(?) impressed by the notation side. If you are looking for completely free software you could try:

Buzz (www.buzzmachines.com) - features the 'instrument creation' idea.
Synthedit (www.synthedit.com) - same kind of thing but relies on external midi data (from a sequencer etc).
Finale Notepad (www.finalemusic.com) - basic notation app
Modplug Tracker (www.modplug.com) - you either love trackers or hate them.

However if you are serious about your music creation, I would strongly suggest purchasing a fully-featured sequencer of some kind. I know you can pick up Cubase SE - a cut down version of Cubase - for about 100GBP which is very good value if you ask me.

Now onto a real question of mine, hope you don't mind =)...

I really want to purchase a keyboard/synthesizer ... the school i'm currently attending has the Roland Fantom X6, which is friggin amazing ... i'm looking for something similar to that, it's the price that i can't afford

I really like Yamaha as a brand, i do have a Yamaha receiver which i'm more than happy with, i know they make keyboards as well ... which one would you preffer?

I'm looking for something that has some sort of audio output as well connection to the computer ... well i guess the Fantom X6 would be the ideal way of describing it, but a bit less in price ... range $500-$1000 Canadian ... or am i wanting too much for that price? Thank you

Quote: Original post by DavW
Buzz (www.buzzmachines.com) - features the 'instrument creation' idea.
Synthedit (www.synthedit.com) - same kind of thing but relies on external midi data (from a sequencer etc).
Finale Notepad (www.finalemusic.com) - basic notation app
Modplug Tracker (www.modplug.com) - you either love trackers or hate them.

I'd also recommend taking a look at Reason and Orion.

Quote: Original post by ZedFx
Since youve offered the service, ill ask away :-)

Do you know of any good software to use where you can create 'realistic sounding' music by actually writing the notes, composing it.
Including notative display, keyboard display, pitch bending, all other standard musical flexibilities, the ability to create instruments with their own characteristics by inputting the wave forms and rules for wave forms, simple transposing, part grouping and additionally it has to be free ;-)

Ok mabey its a lot to ask of a piece of software; but off hand, if you know of anything... I as of yet havent found anything up to standard.

Cubase. I don't know if anything else can do everything you want. Cubase definitely can.

A decent synth/wavetable workstation keyboard is something I've always wanted but never been able to afford. Yamaha keyboards are generally good once you get beyond the PSR range but I've been really impressed by Korg keyboards when I've tried them. At a trade show last year I spent at least an hour experimenting with the options on one Korg keyboard. However, I've no idea how canadian$ relates to GBP so I don't know if any of them are in your price range (the one's ive looked at are between 500 and 1000 GBP).

Alternatively, if you dont use the auto arrange magic accompaniment and you have very little money to spend, you could do a lot worse than a PC running sfz (a lightweight ASIO soundfont host) with the Chorium.sf2 (no idea where it came from) GM sound bank. Together with a 70GBP midi keyboard and a 20GBP SBLive card running kX drivers you have a very capable sound generator for next to nothing. The only trouble with this is that I wouldn't trust it in a live music situation.